ROMULUS, N.Y. (July 12, 2010) The high heat of July across most of the country hasnt slowed the competitors of the Tire Rack® SCCA Solo National Tour, with over 550 entrants competing in the first two weekends of the summer month at the Northern States Championship at the Grissom (Ind.) Aeroplex near Peru, Ind., July 3-4, and the Finger Lakes National Tour at the Seneca Army Depot in Romulus, N.Y, July 10-11. The Indianapolis Region hosted the traditional Fourth of July event for the 11th-consecutive year in Peru, with this years edition being named a States Championship to qualify class winners for the Solo Triad Award. The Triad recognizes those drivers that win championships at three levels of National Solo competition: a Divisional Championship, a States Championship National Tour, and a National Championship, all in the same class. The course at Peru was designed by Raleigh Boreen, and made good use of the old alert pad of the Grissom Air Base. Boreens course avoided the rough sections of the Base, while still laying out a flowing course that was both brisk and technically challenging despite temperatures in the low 90s. In addition to designing the layout and serving as the event co-chair, Boreen also used his role as a Director on the SCCA Foundation Board to help create a fundraiser for the Foundations support of the Tire Rack Street Survival® program for teen drivers. For every cone hit during competition, competitors were given the opportunity to voluntarily donate a dollar to the cause, which raised over $400 during the weekend. The Cone Relief Fund program will continue through the remainder of the 2010 Tire Rack National Tour season, including the 2010 Tire Rack Solo National Championships in Lincoln, Neb. On the track, the action was just as intense, with seven classes decided by less than two hundredths of a second. The Stock Category housed three of the seven close battles, beginning with the F Stock class. Sam Strano, of Knoxdale, Penn., turned his best time on his final run to finish ahead of Lee Piccione, of Severn, Md. by just 0.178-second in his 2011 Strano Performance Parts Ford Mustang. Steve Wynveen, of Germantown, Wis., and Matthew Braun, of Northville, Mich., took the Super Stock battle to their last runs of the weekend as well. After all six runs were completed, Wynveens 2004 Mercuryracing.com Chevrolet Corvette Z06 held a 0.137-second victory over Brauns 2007 PowerPlug Lotus Elise. Even the Super Stock Ladies got into the act with the closest battle in the Stock Category, where Crissy Weaver, of Beavercreek, Ohio, piloted her 2004 Body By Rick/RAFT Chevrolet Corvette Z06 to a scant 0.090-second win over Donna Marx, of Suffolk, Va., in her 2002 Team Jester Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06. A pair of Street Touring® classes finished with a blink of an eye separating the winners from the field. David OMaley, of Greensboro, N.C., and Jeff Mabrey, of Findlay, Ohio, each posted the fastest Street Touring class times in their last two runs of the weekend. At the end, it was OMaleys 1989 Race Technology/KONI/ASR Honda Civi Si that was 0.188-second ahead of Mabreys 1990 Honda Civic Si. In Street Touring Xtreme, Christopher Cline, of Greensboro, N.C., topped Milwaukees Craig Mankiewicz by 0.195-second. Cline posted his best times early in the weekend in his 1995 Mann Motorsports/Discount Tire BMW 325is, then watched a late surge by Mankiewicz in the 1989 Redshift Honda Civic Si fall just short of the combined time needed to claim the title of Northern States Champion. In Solo competition, its not unusual for a pair of drivers to share a car for the weekend. Naturally, behind the wheel of the same car, nothing but driver skill determines the better driver. For two classes at the Northern States Championship, teammates drove to the top two of their class at nearly identical times. In Super Street Modified, Brian Johns, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Dan Chadwick, of Smyrna, Tenn., shared a 1993 Tweakit Racing/Prudential/1220 Exhibits/ABC Plumbing Mazda RX-7. After six runs each, just 0.085-second separated Johns win from Chadwicks runner-up finish, a successful weekend for the pair. Eric Campbell, of Canal Winchester, Ohio, and Alex Shchipkov, of Albany, N.Y., split a 2001 Shchipkov Racing/SoloRacer.com/BMW2002.com BMW 330 Ci in the D Street Prepared class. While Campbell left as the winner, the duo may as well have just flipped a coin, as a remarkably slim 0.003-second margin of victory separated the pair. In all, more than 305 competitors were on hand to celebrate Independence Day at the Northern States Championship. One week later, 250-plus Solo competitors were back at it again at the Finger Lakes National Tour event at the Seneca Army Depot in upstate New York, just 30 miles around Seneca Lake from the historic road-racing venue at Watkins Glen, N.Y. While many drivers tried to sweep the back-to-back weekend, only F Stocks Strano managed the feat with a 0.838-second win in Romulus. As in Peru, the weekends competition was close, especially among the larger classes. In Street Touring, 14 competitors battled until Chris Haydu, of Dallas, Penn., stood tall in his 1991 PenTeleData Honda Civic. Dale Kunze, of Grand Island, N.Y., fell just 0.464-second short of Haydus combined times in his 1989 Honda Civic Si. C Street Prepared saw the weekends closest margin of victory, after Edwin Jefferies, of Henrietta, N.Y., and Joseph Brennan, of Kingston, Penn., each posted a pair of best times at the end of the weekend. Jeffries 1990 BaldTurboFreak.com Mazda Miata was enough to edge Brennan by 0.258-seconds at Jeffries home region event. Three Stock Category classes also saw the top-two competitors within a half second of each other. A pair of Canadians ventured south and left with a classic battle in D Stock. Montreals Carl Wener posted his best run of the weekend on his final trip around the course in his 1998 Perry Performance Racing Acura Integra R, which left him with a 0.439-second advantage over teammate Bruno Lajoie, of LaPrairie, Quebec. New England Region competitors Matt Murray and ChangHo Kim poised a battle in H Stock. Kim, of Maynard, Mass., posted a fast time early in the weekend to grab a lead in his 1989 Fun Hondas Honda Civic. Murray, of Westport, Conn., reclaimed the lead on his next run in his 1996 Hoosier Racing Tire BMW 318i. After the fifth of sixth trips, Kim was back in the lead with the best run of the weekend, but Murrays time on his sixth event was enough to give him a 0.403-second win. The B Stock Ladies event was the closest competition of all of the Stock Category events. The race between Heather Everett, of East Amherst, N.Y., and Michelle Quinn, of Oswego, N.Y., also came down to the wire. Quinn posted the best class time of the weekend on her final run in a 2006 Subaru STI, but it was too little, too late to knock of Everetts 2009 stranoparts.com Honda S2000. Everett escaped with a 0.347-second win in the class. For more information on all upcoming Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour events, visit www.scca.com/solo. The Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour returns to action August 7-8 at the Packwood National Tour in Packwood, Wash. Full results for the Northern States Championship are available directly at http://scca.com/documents/resultfiles/peru%20results4.pdf, with results from the Finger Lakes National Tour available at http://scca.com/documents/resultfiles/NY%20results5.pdf.
