BYLTHEVILLE, Ark. (June 3, 2009) A strong turnout was on hand for the first Eastern States Championship at the Tire Rack® SCCA Blytheville National Tour, May 30 31. The best Soloists in the East descended on the Arkansas Aeroplex hoping to capture the first leg of the new Solo Triad Award as well as preview their likely Solo Nationals competition. The entire Blytheville community rallied around the event, making it part of a 10-day celebration and fundraising effort entitled Cars and Cycles Against Cancer, which is also slated to include the upcoming Tire Rack ProSolo event, a Tire Rack Street Survival class and a classic car show. Signs could be found all across town welcoming SCCA and, on Friday evening, competitors had the chance to mingle with residents and city council members at a welcome party hosted by the local fire department.It seems that superior hospitality breeds superior competition, as numerous classes were decided by fractions of a second in Blytheville. Such was the case in A Stock, where Jadrice Toussaint, of Charlotte, N.C., drove his Stork Racing/Captial City OBGYN Honda S2000 CR to a 0.030-second victory over Marc Pfannenschmidt, of Lousiville, Ky., in a Gods Blessings Honda S2000 CR. Just as close was the battle for the Street Modified win that went down between Dan Smythe, of Memphis, Tenn., and Dave Hardy, of Braselton, Ga. It was actually Hardys teammate, Brett Howell, of Roswell, Ga., who set the fastest time on Saturday, but ran into trouble Sunday, passing the fight onto Hardy in the DILYSI Motorsports Honda Civic Si and Smythe in the Dead Horse Motorsports Mitsubishi Evo R. In the end, it would be Smythe by a scant 0.039-second.The closest contest of the weekend was in C Prepared, which was won by Kurt Janish, of Plano, Texas. Todd Farris, of Bryan, Texas, in a Farris Competition Chevrolet Z28 nearly caught Janish on his final run, but the combined times gave Janish and his JANCO Custom Fab/Montaic Pontiac Trans Am the win by a slim 0.027-second. It was a spectacular final run that won Jason Frank, of Racine, Wis., the Street Touring® class. Driving a Bridgestone/datatoys Honda Civic Si, Frank struggled on his first two Sunday runs, but got it right when it counted, and took the ST win by 0.411-second over Tim Smith, of Tucker, Ga., in a Toyo/Moton/RPG/NABC Honda Civic Si.Even family members werent going easy on each other as evidenced in E Stock, where brothers Bartek and Hubert Borowski, of Elmwood Park, Ill., went back-and-forth in their Mazda Miata. Bartek walked away with the win, but only by 0.411-second.Some classes did baulk the tight finish trend in Blytheville though, including Super Stock. Matthew Braun, of Northville, Mich., was unstoppable in the PowerPlug Lotus Elise, winning SS by more than two seconds over the Team Wheelspin Chevrolet Corvette of Jeremy Foley, from Dallas, Texas. Four-time National Champion Michelle Seeling, of Edmond, Okla., put in an impressive showing in Street Touring Sport Ladies, taking the win by more than three seconds in a Bridgestone/Maxqdata/Carbotech Honda CRX Si. The dominant win was a far cry from the open STS class, where Matthew Glagola, of Atlanta, Ga. just barely walked away with the win in a Honda CRX. Second-place finisher Tim Herron, of Independence, Mo., was only 0.168-second behind Glagola in the Evolution Driving School Honda CRX.All class winners at the Eastern States Championship have now accomplished the first leg of the Solo Triad Award. To complete the Triad, drivers must also win a Divisional Championship and National Championship in the same class.The Arkansas Aeroplex will host the fourth Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo event of the 2009 season this weekend, June 6 7.The next stop on the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour is slated for June 13 14, at Seneca Army Depot, in Romulus, N.Y. For full results from Blytheville and information on future Solo events, click the orange "Solo" tab at the top of the screen.
