LINCOLN, Neb. (Sept. 9, 2009) The first 29 SCCA National Champions were crowned today at the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships. Drivers battled the course, the clock and lady luck in the conclusion of the first set of Championship-crowning days at the Lincoln Airpark. Additionally, records were set for the closest and widest margins of victory for the event, in its 37th running.Tuesdays competition was run under beautiful conditions, but Wednesday morning brought threatening skies, and around 10 a.m. local time, mist that changed to rain. Unfortunately, the conditions changed dramatically midway through the first of three runs in the second heat of classes, meaning several drivers never had the opportunity to run on a dry course.All four second heat classes crowned a Champion that did not lead after day one, and many of day ones leaders found themselves struggling to even win a trophy. In C Prepared Ladies, Brianne Maier, of Livermore, Calif., jumped from third to take her first-career Championship by more than three seconds in her Maier Racing Ford Shelby GT. Lloyd Wilson, of Bowling Green, Ky., jumped from fourth to first in his Team BlenderBlaster-South Toyota MR2 Spyder to take his first-ever title in D Prepared. The stage was set for another epic battle between Andrew McKee and Erik Strelnieks, who were one-two in Super Street Modified after Tuesday. However, the rain came after fourth-place Dan Chadwicks first run and the Smyrna, Tenn., driver captured his first Championship in the Tweakit Racing/1220 Exhibits Mazda RX7.The biggest jump, however, came from Tom Kotzian, of Gladstone, Ore., who moved from eighth in Super Stock to win in his Thanks Ryan Chevrolet Corvette. It was Kotzians third Championship, and his first in 11 years.Not all Championships held as much drama. Ryan Buetzer, of Long Beach, Calif., took his third-consecutive C Stock Championship in dominating fashion, winning by a cool 1.438 seconds in his The Dent Guy/Evo School/ChaseCam Pontiac Solstice. In D Street Prepared Ladies, Deanne Caraballo, of San Jose, Calif., jumped to the lead on her final run in the Komush Engineering Subaru Impreza to take her first National Championship. Overnight leader Melanie Pora, of Arvada, Colo., held the lead until the third, and final, run on Wednesday. Rebecca Zacharda, of Sherwood, Ore., also moved ahead of Pora, to push her down to third.Book-end records were also set Wednesday for margin of victory. Erick Kohler, of Grand Prairie, Texas, recorded the narrowest margin of victory ever at the SCCA Solo National Championship event of 0.001-second over Nick Roberts, of Olathe, Kan., in Formula SAE. The record will have an asterisk, though, as the class currently has supplemental status, existing for university competition rather than to crown National Champions. The record for a class with full status is 0.002-second by Chris ODonnell in D Modified in 1995.The widest victory margin was also recorded, when Kim Wilson, of Bowling Green, Ky., beat the only other car in her D Prepared Ladies class by 11.553 seconds, 0.001-second more than the previous record, held by Karon Flippo in 1975s DL class competition.Also of note, Shelly Monfort, of Saratoga, Calif., won Super Stock L in her Spin Sweet Lotus Elise to earn her first National Championship since 1993. The 16-year span between Championships ranks fourth on the all-time list.A total of 549 drivers have already competed at the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships. The remaining drivers will take to the course Thursday morning and compete for the remaining class Championships through Friday afternoon. For full results, please visit www.scca.com.LINCOLN, Neb. National Champions from 29 classes competing Tuesday and Wednesday in the 37th Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships at Lincoln Airpark with class, driver, hometown, car and notes. Drivers in bold with asterisk (*) after class were not the day one leader. Double asterisk (**) and italics denotes that class results are under protest. Super Stock*: Tom Kotzian, Gladstone, Ore., Chevrolet Corvette; Third National Championship, first since 1998.Super Stock L: Shelly Monfort, Saratoga, Calif., Lotus Elise; Third National Championship (first since 1993)C Stock: Ryan Buetzer, Long Beach, Calif., Pontiac Solstice; Third-straight CS Championship, fifth overallC Stock L: Sierra Danielle Pedroza, Round Rock, Texas, Mazda MX-5; First National ChampionshipE Stock*: Jerry Jenkins, Vancouver, Wash., Mazda Miata; Second-consecutive ES ChampionshipE Stock L*: Jodi Fordahl, Bremerton, Wash., Porsche 944; Ninth National ChampionshipF Stock: Sam Strano, Knoxdale, Pa., Ford Shelby Mustang; Sixth National Championship (third straight in FS)F Stock L: Laura Molleker, Granite Falls, Wash., Ford Shelby Mustang; Eighth National ChampionshipH Stock*: Jimmy Crawford, Milwaukee, Wis., MINI Cooper, First National ChampionshipH Stock L: Stephanie Chang, Morris Plains, N.J., MINI Cooper; Second National ChampionshipStreet Touring*: Bill Bounds, Atlanta, Ga., Honda Civic Si, -0.050-second; First National ChampionshipStreet Touring L: Leslie Cohen, Cardiff By the Sea, Calif., Honda Civic Si; Third National ChampionshipC Street Prepared: Matt Mccabe, Omaha, Neb., Mazda Miata; Second National ChampionshipC Street Prepared L*: Juliann Pokorny, Ft. Worth, Texas, Mazda MX-5; Third National ChampionshipD Street Prepared*: Ben Martinez, San Jose, Calif., Merkur XR4ti. First National Championship.D Street Prepared L*: Deanne Caraballo, San Jose, Calif., Subaru Impreza RS; First National ChampionshipC Prepared: Mike Maier, Livermore, Calif., Ford Sheby GT; Third National ChampionshipC Prepared L*: Brianne Maier, Livermore, Calif., Ford Shebly GT; First National Championship.D Prepared*: Lloyd Wilson, Bowling Green, Ky., Toyota MR2; First National ChampionshipD Prepared L: Kim Wilson, Bowling Green, Ky., Toyota MR2; Fifth-consecutive DPL Championship. Largest margin of victory ever, 11.553-seconds.F Prepared: John Thomas, Tampa, Fla., Datsun 240Z; Record-extending 16th Championship in an open (Men or Women)F Prepared L: Beverlee Larsson, Anaheim Hills, Calif., BMW E36; Fourth National ChampionshipSuper Street Modified*: Dan Chadwick, Smyrna, Tenn., Mazda RX7; First National ChampionshipSuper Street Modified L*: Sue Eckles, Malcolm, Neb., Honda S2000; Second-consecutive SSML ChampionshipStreet Modified: Mike Simanyi, Santa Ana, Calif., BMW M3; First National ChampionshipStreet Modified L: Katy Nicholls, San Diego, Calif., BMW M3; Rookie National ChampionA Modified: Dan Wasdahl, Massilon, Ohio, BBR/Phantom DVS-1; Second-consecutive A Modified ChampionshipF Modified*: Salvatore DiPompo, Berlin, N.J., First National ChampionshipF Modified L: Beth Smith, Vermilion, Ohio, KBS Mk 4; First National ChampionshipImage: Sam Strano, who won the JCJ Cup for the overall Tire Rack ProSolo Challenge Championship on Sunday, capped his season with the F Stock National Championship Wednesday.Credit: Jimmy Sykes
