Friday morning on the Lincoln Airpark’s East Course at the Tire Rack Solo National Championship saw the crowning of six Champions, opening the final day of competition.

Bill Rogerson, of Seelys Bay, Ontario, captured his first SCCA National Championship in the No. 90 Subaru STI in A Street Prepared after setting his best time of day in his third run and then hanging on as Aaron Miller fell 0.236-second short in his final attempt.

“My co-driver that owns the car, Eric Janveaux, we’ve been working on this for three years,”Rogerson said. “it’s not a class winning car, it’s an underdog. We knew that going in. This year, we changed the suspension and put on 315 Hoosiers for the first time and the car was transformed. Because we live in Canada, our amount of seat time is limited, so we made a concerted effort this year to make more events. We were in Wilmington in April when we were digging the trailer out of seven feet of snow, and just did as many big events as we could make to get the seat time, and I think that changed everything.”

Doug Rowse, of Phoenix, Ariz., needed every bit of the time he posted on the final run to win D Street Prepared, taking his third National Championship by just 0.017-second in the No. 92 Hoosier/Evolution/Cortez BMW 330.

“It was just the last run,”Rowse said. “Everyone is so evenly matched in this class. We were sitting there basically all stacked together, the top four of us were all within two-tenths of each other yesterday. Today, it basically just came down to one run and being really aggressive, really early on the throttle, and being on time for the transition stuff.

“It means a lot. Especially with the group of guys we have here, it’s been fantastic. John [Vitamvas, in second place]has been developing this car for quite a while, and now he’s really coming up to speed. Between he and Julian [Garfield, third place], they’re lightning fast, and it means a lot to be able to beat somebody that’s at that kind of level.”

Bartek Borowski, of Elmwood Park, Ill., send the E Street R class out with his fifth consecutive National Championship in the class before the full conversion to street tires for next year.

“It was good to close off a very successful year in the R Compound world, where this car has been a blast on the Hoosiers,”Borowski said. “The nicest feeling about it is being able to do it once more on the sticky tires.”

Gretchen Austin, of Minnapolis, Minn., came from behind in C Street Prepared Ladies to take her second National Championship, and first since 2008, in the No. 198 Apruve/Vision Speedworks/Mazdaspeed/Hoosier Mazda Miata. Austin swapped positions with Katie Lacey on the final day.

“it’s very stiff competition,”Austin said. “We had a lot of National Champions in the class. They’ve been working really hard on this car, and it’s been a pleasure to drive it all year. Unfortunately, we had a diff break in practice runs, so we did a little scramble.

“We kind of threw some settings at it and hoped it would work since we were running first heat, but it worked great and I’m just excited.”

Nicole Wong, of Moorpark, California, sent her No. 46 Toyo Tires/Pro Parts USA Honda Civic Si off the car she shares with her husband, Jeff (a three time National Champion in the car) in style.

“The motor had problems last week, so we got it back together and got here,”Wong said. “We felt unprepared set up wise, but we’ve been working on the test and tune course and got it working in time.

“This might be the last year in the car, so I wanted to do it again. This is number four [for the car], but I wanted to get close to the open class [times].”

Greg Reno, of Lawrence, Kan., took his third consecutive National Championship in E Street on Friday after leading both days in the No.36 MiniUSA/Baron Mini BMW/Kumho Tires Mini Cooper.

“I was hoping for dry runs, and we got that, just barely,”Reno said. “I just went in trying to do my best every time, and I think I did that.

“It means a lot, especially because it seemed H Street was on the verge of dying earlier in the year. I think the class brought it back, and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

More information on the Tire Rack Solo National Championships can be found at SCCA.com/SoloNationals.

Despite the threat of rain and the radar showing a large patch of green directly over the Lincoln Airpark, nothing in heat two on the East Course of Friday’s Tire Rack Solo National Championship was influenced by the weather.

Ron Bauer, of Seatac, Washington, won an absolutely thrilling D Prepared battle that could have gone either of three directions on the final runs. Steve Hoelscher set the mark in the No. 27 Race-Keeper/TerrieHoward.com Toyota MR2 with the fastest class time of the day on his final run, but could only watch as Bauer crossed the line to move 0.271-second in front. Just a few seconds later, the No. 196 K&K Racing/Tight-N-Tidy Racing/Jim’s Detail/ChaseRace Mazda Miata of Keith Brown crossed, but didn’t improve his time and remained just 0.009-second behind Hoelscher to complete the podium.

“I feel awesome,”Bauer said. “Steve [Hoelscher] put it together on his first run today, and really made it work. I run against Keith [Brown]all the time. We had four of us from the Northwest Region all in the top five at the end of yesterday. I’ve been running really fast at home but the cold temperatures today was not to our benefit. I won back in D Stock in 2004, but it was one of those issues where we had a dry day and the second day was wet. I was able to take the win this year, but it’s always a little tainted when you’re dealing with rain. To basically go out there today and have the wettest of all the runs be my fastest, it just meant a whole lot. And having my best buddies here in DP around to be able to share it with is fantastic.”

The fastest time of the day came, unsurprisingly, from the A Modified class, where Dan Wasdahl, of Massillon, Ohio, took his sixth A Mod National Championship. Wasdahl’s two-day time of 97.725 was 3.635-second ahead of his closest competition.

“My confidence was at quite an ebb this year. I bought a new car this year, and had been working on it to get it to where I wanted to be. I wasn’t quite there, so I switched late in the season back to this. I was hitting cones and doing kind of a messed up jobs. Partially due to bad driving, and partially because this car turns in so early. I came out here early and made 10 runs on the practice course and got used to the car again. Then I over prepared the car, and reduced the number of things I had to think negatively about. I guess that tipped the balance, because the night before the first runs I started feeling the regular mojo.”

Eric Peterson, of Hillsborough, North Carolina, ran the best time on both courses to take a 0.884-second win in E Street behind the wheel of the No. 84 Solo Pro Driving/Atomic Empire Toyota MR2 Spyder. It the first National Championship for Peterson.

“This is fantastic,”Peterson said. “It still hasn’t sunk in yet. Especially after winning the ProSolo, I had never won a national championship. Everyone in E Street is especially nice, and it’s great to run against people you respect.”

Laura Harbour, of Stamping Ground, Kentucky, opened competition with the lead in G Street Ladies and held on through the second day of competition to take her second National Championship. Taylor Towns topped the class on Friday in the No. 115 Storybook Farms Toyota Celica, but fell 0.181-second short at the finish.

More information on the Tire Rack Solo National Championships can be found at SCCA.com/SoloNationals.

2014 Solo National Championship

Rain tried to play havoc with the Heat 3 drivers on the East Course at the Tire Rack Solo National Championships on Friday, and the short shower followed by drying conditions made sure that each driver got at least one run to let it all hang out, even if the others were more difficult.

No one felt the nerves of that more than Mark Daddio, of Beacon Falls, Connecticut, who had to battle more than the changing conditions in his brand-new No. 27 Chevrolet Corvette. Daddio, now an eleven time National Champion after this A Street win, held off the charge of Ryan Otis and Glenn Hernandez to win by 0.309 and 0.481-second, respectively.

“I’m relieved,”Daddio said. “It was kind of a nail biter there. Ryan [Otis, the runner-up]and I’s third runs got rained on, and we were way off the pace. So it came down to our second runs, and my second run and Ryan’s second run were both close. Glenn [Hernandez, third place]’s third run, it dried out again. He got me today, but I had him yesterday.

“It was more nail biting for me because I’d never driven this car in the rain, because I just got the car, and I’d never driven these tires in the rain, so I had no clue what was going to happen. My fellow competitors were nice enough to tell me air pressures and what to expect, so I’m getting acclimated quick.”

Chris Dorsey, of Littleton, Colo., had enough of an advantage on the opening day to hold on to a 1.644 second win in E Prepared in the No. 82 034 EFI/3Rauto.com/Cobalt Friction/Apiko Toyota Corolla GTS.

“It feels great,”Dorsey said. “This is four in a row in this car, and five overall, all in EP. I love E Prepared. I’ve been in the class for 15 years now, and it’s the class I want to be in. it’s so awesome to see all the diversity. There’s so much diversity in this class. Being able to best these guys this week, it’s unbelievable. it’s a bit of an ego boost for my driving and my car building skills, and it was a lot of fun.”

Billy Davis, of New Haven, Conn., improved his C Street Prepared class leading time on the final run on Thursday to stretch his lead going into the final day, and then held serve on Friday in the No. 196 MiataRoadster.com/EvoSchool.com Mazda Miata to take his first career National Championship.

“I feel pretty good,”Davis said. “I’m really happy that I added the extra four tenths lead yesterday, because with the changing conditions today, we had no idea. We really thought it was going to get to full wets, and I’m really glad we were able to stay on drys. I’ve never run wets on this car. I’m just glad I was able to run on the dry, and that it was the same for everyone.”

Christine Grice, of Redondo Beach, California, held the opening day lead by 1.8 seconds in A Street Prepared Ladies behind the wheel of the No. 172 Berry Family Racing/ChaseCam Mitsubishi Evo, then held on in the rain to take her seventh career championship, and third in a row in ASPL.

“They got the drier conditions on the first two runs, and I got the wetter one, and then it swapped on the last run,”Grice said of her competition. “By the time I took the last run, the lead I had on the other side had held, so I was able to go out on a bonsai run, and use the dry conditions as well. So that was fun.”

More information on the Tire Rack Solo National Championships can be found at SCCA.com/SoloNationals.

2014 Solo National Championship

While still cold on Friday afternoon, the East Course’s fourth heat of the final day at the Tire Rack Solo National Championship missed the rain that had fallen earlier during the day.

Brian Coulson, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, came from second in the A Street R class to take his first National Championship, posting the best time of the day in the No. 148 Hoosier/StranoParts.com Chevrolet Corvette and then watching Paul Kozlak, Jeff Jacobs and Tony Savini try to top him on their final runs. Kozlak, the Thursday leader, came the closest, but fell just 0.164-second short and an emotional Coulson took the top prize.

“I don’t know how to feel,”Coulson said. “Last year I was kind of in the mix, but I fell behind the second day. After first runs, that’s what was happening today. I managed to tune it out and focus on the execution and that second run was just magic. It was enough to hold up. I can’t believe it. I never thought I’d be here.”

Anne Robinson, of Highland, Indiana, used her first day lead in D Prepared Ladies to carry through the final day to her fourth National Championship and second in a row. Robinson’s No. 84 Indiana Plastic Surgery Toyota MR2 Spyder wasn’t the quickest on Friday, as that honor went to runner-up Tami Daniels, but Robinson held on by 0.426-second.

“it’s been a rough couple of days,”Robinson said. “I really get very stressed about these. it’s fun, but it’s also very hard and I don’t sleep much so it’s nice to have it done and with a good result. I feel good about that. Tami Daniels and I have traded over the years, and knowing there’s only three people in class you win or you don’t get a trophy. I wanted to test myself. It was a little unfortunate for her that her car broke, she didn’t get to drive her own car. I don’t know that I did the best I could do, but I did enough to get out alive.”

Ron Williams, of Topeka, took the Street Touring Compact crown in the No. 98 Toyo Tires/Southwest Auto Service Honda Civic for his fourth career National Championship. Williams was just barely the quickest on both days, but his combined total was 0.362-second ahead at the finish.

“To come out here with this group of guys that are this good and this serious and all the cars are fairly spec, I feel great,”Williams said. “I was cursing the weather after the first runs. I ran a safety run and thought maybe it’s going to down pour, and then I knew it was going to stop raining and I had to lay them down. That’s what I did, I just went out and drove her hard on the second one, and that was good enough.”

Fred Zust, of Tempe, Arizona, took his sixth X Prepared title in seven years behind the wheel of the No. 196 Blackwatch Racing Lotus Elise. A coned run on Zachary Sober’s final pass made the 1.047-second margin of victory look wider than it really was, as Sober would have been in the hunt based on raw time. As it was, Zust snuck through the cold tires on his early runs and laid down his best on the last one to take the title.

“The first runs were garbage,”Zust said. “Thankfully the rain held off. These cars aren’t built for the rain, and they’re no fun in the rain. Everybody was glad to run in the dry, so that was awesome.”

More information on the Tire Rack Solo National Championships can be found at SCCA.com/SoloNationals.

2014 Solo National Championship

The final four National Champions were crowned on the East Course of the Lincoln Airpark during heat five on Friday at the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships, which ended just minutes before rain began falling again.

It was fortuitous timing for Mark Scroggs, of San Ramon, Calif., who needed his final run to win G Street in the No. 49 Stranoparts.com/Edge Motorworks Ford Focus ST. Scroggs moved around runner-up Trevor Jones with his final run to win by 0.390-second for his first title.

“I feel very, very good,”Scroggs said. “It hasn’t sunk in just yet. Trevor has been pushing me all week. I knew it was going to be tight between the two of us. I could see him go out because he was ahead of me and I watched him complete his run and I knew all I needed was a tenth. All week, I have been playing protect mode, be safe, get runs in the books. For the first time this entire week, I felt like I good go autocrossing right there. It was all or none. It felt pretty good most of the way though. I couldn’t believe the timer when I came in. It felt really good to get that run out when I really needed to.”

Dave Montgomery, of Cincinnati, Ohio, picked up last year’s F Prepared winning Porsche 914/6 and added to its lore, winning his first National Championship by just 0.292-second over Troy Acosta.

“I didn’t come here expecting to win,”Montgomery said. “I knew the car was good enough to win, but I had some really stiff competition all year. I am just over the moon, I’m so excited. I was nervous after yesterday because it was like a reset button between me and Troy. I came into today just thinking I had to nail it. I must have gone over the course 100 times in my mind. And then there was the threat of weather, so I was just a big ball of stress all day.”

No one knows how sweet a National Championship can be after falling just short better than Holly Schwedler, of Lakewood, Ohio, who has narrowly missed a title for four consecutive years before locking down the H Street Ladies crown this year. Schwedler won by 1.648 seconds for her first National Championship.

“I’m beyond excited excited!”Schwedler said. “This is my fifth Nationals, and every year I’ve been the runner-up until now. I don’t even know what to say. I was just hoping for dry runs. I run really well in the wet, in general, but the course just looked so fun.”

Lacey Otis, of Scappoose, Oregon, dropped a final run that was low enough to win A Street Ladies by just 0.037-second in the No. 80 LocketsByLacey.OrigamiOwl.com Chevrolet Corvette. Otis topped Kandy Johnson with her final run for her first Nationals victory.

“I’m still in shock,”Otis said. “I’m excited and happy, but definitely shocked. When we came, my expectations were that I might finish in the middle of the group. I don’ t compete against these ladies very often, but I listen on Ustream and know how they’re doing and I know it’s a really fast group of ladies. I’ve been driving this car since 2009, but probably in just the last year have gotten more serious in my autocross and trying to learn from my husband Ryan. I don’t have a lot of trust in the car, it’s a little bit scary for me because to go fast you have to drive it at the limit. Coming here, I knew it was tough competition and thought if I finished in the middle of the pack I’d be doing well.”

More information on the Tire Rack Solo National Championships can be found at SCCA.com/SoloNationals.

2014 Solo National Championship