FOUNTAIN, Colo. (June 16, 2015) – The Tire Rack SCCA Solo Championship Tour made a stop at Pikes Peak International Raceway this past weekend for a two-day event. The competition marked the sixth of eight race weekends scheduled for the series of meets.

The event utilized the same competition format as the National Championships which allows each driver to take a total of six runs throughout the weekend. Competitors had three attempts on Saturday’s course, and then the layout was changed for Sunday’s three remaining runs.

Heading into the weekend, the weather looked downright ugly with rain forecasted for both Saturday and Sunday. However, the weather held off with sunny skies as the order of the day while cars were on course throughout the weekend.

Roger Johnson designed both courses that were considered fun by many competitors. Johnson’s course was tighter than most, but featured a mix of transitions and sweepers. It proved to create wide separation between those who understood the course and those who struggled with it. That resulted in varying degrees of separation amongst each of the class leaders and the rest of the pack.

Jake Dawson (Super Street, BlackWatchRacing.com Lotus Elise), of Albuquerque, New Mexico, set the top indexed time of the event and in the process beat out many former National Champions. He also took home the class victory by a wide 5.9-second margin.

E Prepared had two entrants, but it proved to be a dogfight to the end. Corky Newcombe (Honda Civic Si), of Colorado Springs, Colorado, did not begin the competition on the right foot by scoring a DNF on his first run. Throughout the day Newcombe stepped it up, but finished behind John Dorchak. On day two, Newcombe put the pieces together and leapfrogged to the lead on the strength of his final run. Newcombe’s composite time ended up 0.164-second ahead of Dorchak.

Keith Pizio (A Street Prepared, Subaru Impreza STI), of Fort Collins, Colorado, was the class winner following a solid performance. After Saturday’s three runs, Pizio led the class by a few tenths of a second over Todd Briley. Come the finale day of the meet, Pizio did what he needed to do to expend his lead to 0.296-second.

B Street produced another closely-contested battle between eventual winner Hsun Chen (Subaru WRX STi), of Longmont, Colorado, and Andy Hecox. Hecox held the advantage into the overnight break by nearly a half second. However, Chen came storming back on Sunday by setting a time nearly a full second quicker than Hecox best. The result was a 0.327-second win for Chen.

Paul Leonard (B Modified, Global Garage Flooring & Design Radical ProSport), of Monument, Colorado, took the class win in a closely-fought battle between father and son. Following Saturday’s runs, Paul – the senior of the two – led by a slim margin of 0.07-second. One Sunday, Paul proved the saying ‘Old age and treachery outpace youth and enthusiasm,’ as he sealed the win. Paul finished 0.392-second ahead of his son, Evan.

Additional information on the Tire Rack Colorado Championship Tour, including full results, can be found here. The next stop for the Tire Rack Championship Tour is scheduled for July 10-12 at the scenic Hampton Mills competition site, in Packwood, Washington.

Image: Kevin Youngers scored the win in F Street at the wheel of his Ford Mustang.
Credit: Jodi Fordahl