MINERAL WELLS, Texas (June 11, 2015) – Kevin Youngers, of Greeley, Colorado, cashed in over the weekend by winning the Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Super Challenge that took place June 6-7. The event was the seventh of 11 ProSolo events scheduled in 2015. Meredith Brown, of Los Alamos, New Mexico, was the big winner in the Ladies Challenge bracket.

ProSolo is one part autocross and one part drag racing, resulting in a truly unique and exciting Solo experience. The event is run utilizing a pair of mirror-image courses arranged so that drivers start side-by-side. A ‘Christmas Tree’ borrowed from the drag racing world directs drivers when to leave the line, with staggered starts to equalize different classes of cars.

Competition on Saturday and Sunday morning utilizes the tree, but the driver with the fastest lap on each course is deemed the winner much like a normal autocross. On Sunday afternoon, drivers are seeded into a 64-car bracket based on margin of victory during the class-based competition. Once seeded, the drivers go head-to-head, with one run on each course, to determine the winner of each matchup. The last driver standing in each bracket is the winner.

Rain was something the whole state of Texas had been getting in spades in the weeks leading up to the event. Fortunately for the event hosts, Brad and Jennifer Maxcy of Texas Region, organizers and participants, the forecasted break in the rain held true. Temperatures hovered around 90 degrees, but it was a welcome break from the soggy alternative.

Youngers (F Street, Youngers Insights Ford Mustang) finished the class-based competition in second, behind Ken Orgeron, by a margin of just 0.114-second. Based on that result, Youngers matched up with Kinch Reindl (Street Touring Sport, Riptide Hosting.com/RDP Hosting Honda Civic Si). Youngers did what he needed to dispatch with Reindl and move onto the second round.

There, Youngers met, and beat, Daniel McCelvey (Street Touring Xtreme, Thanks Raghvan! Subaru BRZ). That win allowed Youngers to move forward to the Super Challenge quarter-finals.

With the opportunity of a semi-final appearance on the line, Youngers was paired up to take on Stephen Hui (B Street, Chevrolet Corvette). Youngers made it happen against Hui, knocking him out of the competition.

Waiting on the other side of the semi-final ladder was Vivek Goel (A Street, Automotive Specialist/Eagle Transmission Chevrolet Corvette). Again, Youngers proved his mettle by downing Goel. The win punched Younger’s ticket to the finals, where he met Paul Brown.

En route to the bracket final, Brown (E Street, Toyota of Santa Fe Toyota MR2) took out Brian Franke (Street Touring FWD, NXT.org/Supernet.org Honda Civic Si) and Stan Whitney (Bump Class 4, Fliegenschwein Racing Porsche Cayman S) in the first and second rounds, respectively.

In the quarters, Thomas Grant Watkins (Street Touring Sport, Whitener Racing Shocks Honda CRX) was the next fall to Brown. Then Brown moved on to take Andy Neilson (C Street, Mazda RX-8) out of the competition, putting Brown to the bracket final.

Once the dust settled, it was Youngers that ultimately put a stop to Brown’s run. Completing the podium, with a win in the third-place runoff, was Goel.

“I was so happy,” Youngers said. “I have been running the Pro Solo series since my second year of solo in 1995. I have made it to the challenge semi-finals many times, but I have never been able to win the final pairing. I finally did it. The last run was particularly satisfying. Even though I was pushing the car to the limits, I felt like I could place the car wherever I needed to put it.

“The biggest hurdle was my poor execution on course, especially Sunday morning when I failed to improve my times on either course. During my first run, with cold tires, I came close to my fast time on the left. I clipped a cone on my second run and had a red light on my third run. By my last run, my driving was better, but the tires were too warm to show any improvement. I was disappointed to take second, but I knew I could run faster times.”

In the Ladies Challenge, Meredith Brown (Ladies Class 2, Toyota of Santa Fe Toyota MR2) was paired with Donna Marx (Ladies Class 2, Team Jester Racing Chevrolet Corvette) in the opening round.

Brown emerged the winner and moved to a semi-final meeting with Stephanie Boehm (Ladies Class 2, Mazda Miata). In that duel, Brown ended up on the winning side moving her forward to the Ladies Challenge final.

On the other side of the ladder, Mindi Cross (Ladies Class 3, Scion Racing/JDL Auto Design Scion FRS) lined up against Brown in a winner-take-all battle.

Cross earned a spot in the final by taking out Su Brude (Ladies Class 2, Fliegenschwein Racing Porsche Cayman S) and Kyung Wootton (Ladies Class 3, Wootton Racing Mazda Miata) in the first two rounds, respectively.

Following one run on each course by the two drivers, Brown was the first to the finish line. Boehm completed the podium after beating Wootton in the third-place runoff.

“It has been a few years since I won a Challenge,” Brown said. “It was great to take the win at Mineral Wells. As usual, things happened fast and furious in the Challenge with only four pairs of drivers and several red lights, including the one that handed me the win in the final round. Each year, competition gets deeper in the ladies classes and any one of the Challenge qualifiers could have taken the win. So, I feel lucky.

“Between the competition and a bad back, which went out on me Friday morning, I was struggling. The adrenaline in the Challenge carried me through. In fact, my back felt great for about an hour after the win! This is my first Challenge win of the season. So, if I can improve on my class points in the next Pro, I should be in a fairly good position going into Nationals.”

Taking home top honors in the Bonus Challenge was Michael Holzmann (Street Touring Sport, Honda Accord), of Irving, Texas.

“It was really exciting to win,” Holzmann said. “All of the drivers did really well, and it was a lot of fun. I felt really lucky just to have the opportunity to compete in the Bonus Challenge.

“The biggest hurdle for me was not getting caught up comparing myself to other drivers. With so many great drivers, I just had to focus on my own times and my personal improvement over the weekend. My plan is to continue doing as many local events as possible and, hopefully, make it to another ProSolo or National Tour event.”

Additional information on the Tire Rack SCCA Lincoln ProSolo, including full results, can be found here.