LINCOLN, Neb. (May 26, 2015) – The fifth of nine events on the 2015 SCCA Tire Rack National Championship Tour calendar, the Tire Rack Lincoln Spring Nationals Championship Tour, was held at the Lincoln (Neb.) Airpark this past weekend. The two-day event, May 24-25, was held on the same site that will host the Tire Rack Solo National Championships, later in the year.

For several reasons, this is one of the most popular SCCA Tire Rack Championship Tour events. Chief among those reasons is many competitors use this as a measuring stick to prepare for the National Championships later in the year. A total of 292 drivers did battle across 52 classes on the expansive concrete surface in Lincoln.

The competition utilized the same competition format as the National Championships which allows each driver to take a total of six runs throughout the weekend. With the expansive real estate at the Lincoln Airpark, organizers were able to construct two completely separate courses much like what is done at the National Championship. Competitors were given three runs on the west course on Sunday, which was Lee Piccon’s 2014 Nationals course run in reverse. On Monday, the field transferred over to run the East Course designed by John Hunter.

Weather conditions were of paramount concern for each on Sunday. Wet conditions were present throughout the day, forcing drivers to slow down and take some different driving lines. The changing conditions throughout the day put a premium on being able to be flexible and make the best out of each run. Monday was a different story, although not less tricky. The proceedings started under overcast skies with one heat run during light sprinkles. But, sunny skies were present by the end of the day.

H Street featured a battle that came down to the wire between winner Greg Reno (MiniUSA/Baron Mini-BMW Mini Cooper), of Lawrence, Kansas, and Trevor Jones. Heading into the overnight break, Reno held the advantage by 0.009-second. On Monday, he came out of the box on fire by setting the fastest timed run by anyone in the class on his first lap. That would be the decider, which allowed him to take the win by 0.096-second.

Street Touring Ultra saw another close battle that included a Lawrence, Kansas resident. This time, however, it was Robert Pendergest (Grimmspeed/Racecomp Engineering Subaru STi), of Wichita, Kansas, that beat out Lawrencian Mark Hill. Pendergest had the advantage following the first day of competition, after opening the meet with his fastest lap. He then logged the best time of the class on Monday, resulting in a 0.180-second margin of victory.

Bob Bundy (949 Racing/MAZDASPEED Mazda Miata), of Anacortes, Washington, took home a narrow victory in Super Street Modified. Bundy progressively worked his way down to setting the fastest lap of the day in the class. On Monday Bundy did not capture the best time, but had built enough of a gap to take the win over Randall Wilcox by 0.178-second.

The battle for supremacy in Street Touring R was won by Ricky Crow (My Wallet Honda S2000), of Bulverde, Texas, but it was not looking like that would be the result following the first day of competition. David Whitener finished the first day as the top driver in the class, with a 1.3-second lead over Crow. On Monday, Crow came roaring out of the box by setting the fastest time posted in the class on his first run. It proved to be enough to change the tide of the competition resulting in a 0.321-second win for Crow.

Tom Harrington (Seventh-Gear.com Honda CRG), Austin, Texas, drove to victory after bouncing back from a slow lap on day one to take the Kart Modified class win. On Sunday night, Harrington was at a 0.5-second deficit to Ryan Windfeldt. However, on Monday, Harrington bounced back with a blistering lap that cleared Whindfeldt’s time by 0.9-second that resulted in a 0.465-second margin of victory.

In Street Touring FWD, Jeremy Salenius (Dare 2 Dream Motorsports Mini Cooper), of Bonner Springs, Kansas, went into the Sunday night break with the clear lead in the class. On Monday, he set the fast time in the class, but had built enough of a lead to ensure his win in the class by 0.499-second over Kim Whitener.

Additional information on the Lincoln Tire Rack Championship Tour, including full results, can be found at http://www.scca.com/events/index.cfm?eid=8375. The next stop for the Championship Tour is scheduled for June 13-14 at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colorado.

Additional information on the SCCA Tire Rack National Solo program can be found by visiting SCCA.com/Solo.

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2015 Tire Rack Lincoln Spring Nationals Champ Tour