The Tire Rack SCCA® ProSolo® Series hit its halfway point, round six, during the Tire Rack SCCA New Jersey ProSolo at New Meadowlands Sports Complex on May 3-5, 2024, with 231 drivers recording runs in the competition.
The New Meadowlands Sports Complex is a comfy home for SCCA’s Solo® program, with Northern New Jersey Region playing host throughout the weekend once again. That included a Friday night welcome party and course walk around courses designed by Eric Simmons and Ken Houseal. Both courses were different, but up for the challenge as a dry run and, as the field would find out, as a wet test.
Despite the clouds, everyone got runs in on the dry during Saturday – the rain waited until darkness had fallen. It even started dry on Sunday before drizzle came late in the afternoon, but by the time the Super Challenge began, it was full wet – adding another fun element to the competition.
The Howard Duncan Greenlight Fund brought two competitors out for their first ProSolo event. Matthew Peterson drove his STH-prepared Ford Fiesta in the Street 5 index, while Thiyag Krishna was in the Street 4 class in his D Street Subaru WRX. Both also showed well in their debuts.
You can help introduce more drivers to ProSolo by contributing to the Greenlight Fund by making a donation to the SCCA Foundation, which can be earmarked specifically for the Greenlight Fund.
Classy Contributions
Usually, we talk about some of the class winners in this space, and that’s coming – but everyone loves a good story.
Eric Anderson missed a few runs on Saturday due to a clutch issue in his Street 1 Mazda Miata. What’s a man to do but solve the problem? Anderson dove in and changed the clutch in just about two hours, and while he finished third behind Randall Wilcox and Joshua Thal-Pruzan, it was a remarkable effort in a stadium parking lot – plus, he earned a trophy.
The courses apparently lined up for F Street machinery. Sam Strano’s Ford Mustang Mach 1 took the top spot in the class, but Brian Karwan’s Camaro SS, Tim Mason (as Strano’s co-driver), Kevin Henry and Erik Knormeier (both in separate Camaros), Chad Englert (Mustang), Jeffrey Darbig (Camaro) and Colton Hobaugh (Englert’s co-driver) were all within a second of Strano.
The SCCA Women on Track program continues to support autocross competitors, and New Jersey’s recipient of extra coaching via the Women on Track Driver Development Program was Abby Stockton. Stockton, coached by Eric Peachey, finished seventh in an impressive Ladies 2 class that featured a number of multi-time Nationals trophy holders. Shelly Monfort led the way in the class – and by a huge margin, claiming the win over Ivy Chang by 2.439sec.
Another big margin of victory came in E Street, where Eric Peterson drove his 2003 Toyota MR-2 to a 2.288sec margin of victory over Mark Krueger in a 1999 Mazda Miata.
The flip side of that coin came in Street 4, where the closest margin of victory for the event occurred. In the 14-driver class, Chris Travis in a 2023 Tesla Model 3 bested Josh Luster and his 2006 Mitsubishi Evo by just 0.024sec. Impressively, the gap between first and third-place finisher Jeremy Eisen and his Model 3 was just 0.323sec.
There was more action that took place during the weekend, and for that, check out the class results.
Up For the Challenge
Rain washed out Sunday’s Bonus Challenge, but the Ladies and Super Challenge awarded full points. The Challenges were officially declared “wet,” allowing for setup changes going into the bracket competition.
If rain is the great equalizer, Amy Houseal truly earned her Ladies Challenge title. Houseal was third in class competition in her STX-prepared Mazda RX-8, but took down class winner Jen Fox and then Shelly Monfort to win the Ladies Challenge.
In the Super Challenge, all-wheel drive Teslas and rain-tire shod Kart Modifieds worked their way through the knockout rounds and brackets. But they weren’t enough for one pesky Mazda Miata. Rich DiMarco topped Jeremy Eisen (Tesla), Robbie Campbell (Kart Modified), and Chris Travis (Tesla) in order to take the Super Challenge win in New Jersey.
Springtime In Nebraska
A good Nebraska storm can stir up some excitement, though the next stop on the Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Series is guaranteed to bring the thunder.
The ProSolo field joins up with the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour for the annual Memorial Day weekend Spring Nationals, which includes a ProSolo at Lincoln Airpark on May 23-25 followed by the Solo National Tour on May 25-27.
This two-event autocross extravaganza is the annual preview of the Tire Rack ProSolo Finale and Tire Rack Solo National Championships taking place in late August and early September. Unfortunately, both Spring Nationals events are already sold out, but that doesn’t mean you can’t plan to enter other ProSolo Series and Solo National Tour events this year while waiting for registration to open for the Solo National Championships.
Photos by Hilary Anderson
