DEVENS, Mass. (June 11, 2008) The competition was as hot as the weather at Moore Airfield, when the New England Region hosted the The Tire Rack® SCCA Devens Solo National Tour.Devens National Tour regulars have grown accustomed to an occasional rain shower at the northeast Massachusetts event. This year, however, Mother Nature had some different plans, which included unseasonably high temperatures.First time National Tour course designer, Robert Huiest, put together a pair of fun and challenging courses that provided close finishes across the board.Even the 19-car strong A Stock was settled by a mere 0.190-second. Despite coning his first Sunday run, Paul Kozlak, of Litchfield, Maine, represented the New England Region well in the Red Haus Racing Porsche 993, topping the Pontiac Solstice GXP of Dave Heinig, from Yorklyn, Del.B Stock was closer still, as Keith Scala, of Shelton, Conn., used the SCM Insurance/Mazdaspeeed Mazda RX-8 to beat Warkwick, R.I. resident Mike Montalbano and his Nissan 350Z by 0.072-second.In E Stock, Jerry Enger, of Thorndale, Pa, piloted a Cannon Fodder Racing/Just Tires Toyota MR2 to a 0.055-second victory over Grant Winston, of Larchmont, N.Y., driving a Mazda Miata.Joseph Austin, of Montgomery, N.Y., won the battle of the MINI Coopers in H Stock, topping Philadelphias Jeff Jacobs by a scant 0.098-second.The closest finish of the weekend, however, came in B Street Prepared, where Don Slevin, of Spring Valley, N.Y., nearly coned away a shot at the win on Saturday in the FYS Computers Mazdaspeed MX-5. Slevin came back on Sunday with three clean runs, beating Christopher Carris, of Hopewell Junction, N.Y., in a Holvnfie Mitsubishi EVO by a mere 0.033-second.Of course, there were classes at the opposite end of the spectrum, including F Street Prepared, where Neil Schelly, of Tyngsboro, Mass., won by a convincing 3.114 seconds in a Subaru Impreza. Richard Wayne, of Floral Park, N.Y., also scored a win by more than three seconds in X Prepared, driving an Axis in Training Lotus Exige. Street Touring® Ultra competitor Corey Ridgick, of Allentown, Pa., was yet another winner with a victory margin over three seconds, driving a COBB Tuning/Phoenix Mitsubishi EVO IX.The most dominant performance of the day was that of Steve Rosenberg, from Plymouth Meeting, Pa., who captured the F Modified win in a Race Ready Technolgy Raptor F500 by 5.3 seconds.Husband and wife team Paul and Julie Shaver, of Hilton, N.Y., swept the trophies in E Modified, with Paul outpacing wife Julie in the Radical Racing MG Midget by 1.017 seconds.Organizers were happy to see the large turnout for Formula Junior. David Maldari, of Leominster, Mass., may not have taken the top spot in adult kart class, but son Kevin got the job done in FJA. Same story for Rober Woodruff, of Morris, Conn., who finished second in the adult kart class, but daughter Melissa took home the gold in FJB.He may have been runner-up in D Street Prepared by a slim 0.889-seconds, but Mike Shield, of Temple, N.H., put in the most consistent times on Saturday. Varying his three runs in the AmbrosiaSW.com/GFab Racing BMW M325isR by only 0.187-second earned him the Pace Lap Challenge award. Making the trip from Canada, DS competitor Car Wener, of Montreal, Quebec, took home Sundays award, with only 0.033-second separating his three runs in an Acura Integra R. Both drivers are now entered in a year-end drawing to win a new Pace Pursuit® trailer.The Grissom Aeroplex will host the next Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour stop. The Peru Indiana National Tour is scheduled for June 28 29. For more information and full results from Devens, click the orange Solo tab at the top of the page.
