Brown Takes Tire Rack ProSolo Super Challenge Win at Hampton Mills

PACKWOOD, Wash. (July 21, 2015) – Paul Brown, of Los Alamos, New Mexico, brought home the Tire Rack ProSolo Super Challenge title at the Hampton Mills competition site in Packwood, Washington. Mina Ingraham, of Lake Oswego, Oregon, was the big winner in the Ladies Challenge.

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 32-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.

The hot asphalt, as a result of sunny skies, helped to create two challenging courses that required some real guts to go fast. The quickest drivers were able to put trust in their machines to adhere to the surface of the competition venue. There wasn’t much separation between a fast lap and pushing the car slightly too hard, resulting in a slow lap or spin.

After finishing first in his class, Brown (E Street, Toyota of Santa Fe Toyota MR2) started the bracket portion of the competition as the top seed in the Super Challenge. That meant his opening matchup came against Navid Kahangi (H Street, Edge Motorworks Ford Fiesta).

Brown put together one strong run on both courses that allowed him to move to the second round. There, Paul Brown was pitted against Keith Brown (Bump Class 1, Tight-N-Tidy Racing/Jim’s Detail Ford Focus). Paul got the better of Keith, which put Paul through to the quarter-finals.

In the quarters, Brown met, and defeated, class winner Christopher Dorsey (Race Tire Index 2, 034 EFI/3Rauto.com/Cobalt Friction Toyota Corolla). That pushed Conners one step closer to the final.

In the semi-finals, Brown was slated to go up against Chris Cox (F Street, Mike Maier Inc. Ford Mustang). Brown kept his mojo intact by taking the win over Cox. That pushed Brown onto a final-round meeting with Mitch Fagundes (Super Street Prepared, R5 Audi R8).

Fagundes started the bracket competition as the No. 26 seed. He was able to notch wins against Christopher Miller (Street Touring FWD, TCKline Racing/DirtFish Rally School Mini Cooper) and Kevin Dietz (Street Touring Roadster, Evo Schools/Jim’s Detail/Chase Race Honda S2000). In the quarter-finals, Tim Weidermann (Street Touring Ultra, MAPerformance/Taco Time/G and T Racing Mitsubishi Evo) and Eric Clements (Race Tire Class , Honda Van Diemen) were the next to fall to Fagundes as he moved to the final.

In the final, Brown took home the win over Fagundes. Clements completed the podium after beating Cox in the third-place runoff.

“I felt elation and relief, once it was over,” Brown said. “That is an incredibly intense five rounds. The weekend went entirely according to script. I had a few tenths in the bank and nearly threw it all away in the second round, save those tenths, but dodged that bullet by 0.004-second to stay alive. Mitch got me on time in the final round, but spun after the finish and took out some cones, so I had the luck that is so useful in Challenge competition.

“We did have a bit of an adventure as we got ready to leave home to head to Packwood. When I went to load the car in the trailer, it cranked but would not start. A few hours of troubleshooting ensued. We eventually traced it to mice chewing on the wiring. So, instead of hitting the road after work on Tuesday, we patched some wiring, and I headed out first thing Wednesday morning. As for the rest of the season, we just have a couple of regional events before the Solo Nationals. We have lots of maintenance to do on the car and RV before then, but no more big events for the season.”

In the Ladies Challenge, Ingraham (Ladies Class 3, Fluffy Uniquorn Racing Subaru WRX STi) began the bracket competition as the No. 2 seed. In the opening round, Ingraham took the win over Meredith Brown (Ladies Class 2, Toyota of Santa Fe Toyota MR2).

Ingraham then scored a round two-win against Barbara LeRoy-Boehm (Ladies Class 2, C2 Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette). The final came down to a faceoff between top-seeded Laurie Hyman (Ladies Class 1, Cobb Surgeline/GT-RR Nissan GT-R) and Ingraham.

Hyman reached the bracket final after notching wins against Michelle Miller (Ladies Class 3, TCKline Racing/DirtFish Rally School Mini Cooper) and Laura Molleker (Ladies Class 2, Subaru WRX).

In the final of the Ladies Bracket, Ingraham would not be denied as she scored the victory in the heads-up battle. LeRoy-Boehm completed the podium positions by winning the third-place runoff.

Bob Bailey (Street Touring Roadster, Thanks Dee! Mazda MX-5), of Denton, Texas, was the winner of the Bonus Challenge.

“I’m absolutely flabbergasted,” Bailey said. “I finally got those nasty turnarounds down. This was my very first Bonus Challenge participation at a Pro Solo event. Who could ask for more?

“Getting used to the suspension tuning my co-driver, Steve O'Blenes did on my car, Bandit III, was my biggest challenge throughout the weekend. I cannot thank him enough for his help, knowledge and friendship. Plus he finished second in STR, right on Kevin Dietz's heels.”

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

The final regular-season round of the Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo weekend takes place Aug. 1-2, in Wilmington, Ohio.

Facts on the entire Tire Rack SCCA National Solo Program can be found by visiting SCCA.com.

Image: Caitlin Snell, left, and Jodi Fordahl take to the mirror-image courses at the Packwood ProSolo.
Credit: Mike Brausen