TOPEKA, Kan. (Sept. 6, 2015) – Andrew Pallotta, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, brought home the Super Challenge win at the SCCA Tire Rack ProSolo Finale, at the Lincoln (Neb.) Airpark, Sept. 5-6. Kim Whitener, of Fort Worth, Texas, completed her campaign for the Fletcher Cup with a Ladies Challenge win at the final ProSolo of the season. Scott Fraser, of San Jose, California, emerged as the top driver in the final Speedway Motors Invitational Super Challenge of the season.

ProSolo is two 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.

Pallotta (E Street, Bridgestone/Stranoparts.com Toyota MR2) started the bracket-style Super Challenge as the 12th overall seed. That resulted in an opening-round match with Evan Schickel (B Street, HAMFIST Racing Chevrolet Corvette). Pallotta beat Schickel, allowing him to move on to a meeting with David Marcus (Street Touring Xtreme, Death Grip Racing Subaru BRZ).

Pallotta then downed Marcus, pushing him into the quarter-finals versus Nick Barbato (Street Touring Ultra, SmallFortuneRacing.com/Barbato Speed Nissan 350Z). Pallotta proved to have the edge in that match, giving him passage to the semi-finals.

In the semis, Pallotta met Mitch Fagundes (Super Street Prepared, R5/Caliber Customs Audi R8) who narrowly earned his advancement in the tournament with a win over Randall Wilcox. However, Pallotta brought an early end to the day of Fagundes, which pushed Pallotta toward the finals.

In the finals, Andrew was paired up against Paul Russell (Kart Modified, Seventh-gear.com Tony Kart/Honda). Russell began his dual title defense, as last year’s Tire Rack ProSolo Finale Super Challenge winner and the JCJ Cup Champion, from the 8th seed after winning the KM class.

Russell drew first blood with an opening-round win over Mark Hill (STU, JAYHAWK Racing Mitsubishi Evo IX), then took down Matthew Braun (Super Street R, Power Plug Porsche 911) in the second round.

In the quarter-finals, Russell ended the day of Billy Davis (C Street Prepared, MiataRoadster.com/EvoSchool.com Mazda Miata), and followed that up with a win over Mark Daddio (A Street, Daddios New Auto Parts, Inc. Chevrolet Corvette) in the semis.

In the final matchup Pallotta was the victor over Russell. Daddio finished the competition in the final podium position as he defeated Fagundes in the third-place runoff.

“When I go into a Super Challenge, I just try to take the pressure off and treat them as bonus runs,” Pallotta said. “I feel like I have a bit of a target on my back, and have felt that way all year. To jump into this car and take to it so well, I feel really confident about the next couple days. It has what it takes and I just need to get it done behind the wheel.”

Whitener (Ladies Class 3, Black Armor Helmets/Texas Track Works) started her march to the final round of the Ladies Challenge, from the No. 3 seed. That seeding paired her against Meredith Brown (Ladies Class 2, Toyota of Santa Fe Toyota MR2). Whitener proved the quickest driver of the two earning her a spot in the second round.

In Round Two, Whitener beat Su Brude (Ladies Class 1, Fliegenschwein Racing Porsche Cayman) then moved on to take out Jordan Towns (L2, Dixie Audacity Subaru WRX) in the semi-finals. Whitener met Christine Grice (L1, Berry Family Racing/Chase Cam Mitsubishi Evo IX), in the final.

En route to the Ladies Challenge final, Grice took three straight wins over Chris Peterson (L2, Atomic Empire Toyota Spyder), Laura Campbell (L2, Subaru WRX) and Heidi K. Ellison (L3, Honda S2000), in that order.

Whitener proved to be the top driver after scoring the win over Grice. Towns completed the podium with a win over Ellison in the third-place runoff.

“This win was the result of a lot of hard work,” Whitener said. “I tried to get a lot of seat time in the car and also attended more national-level events this year. It allowed me to see this competition as less of the Finale and more just coming to hang out with my friends.

“Up until we got into the challenge, I was able to keep my nerves under control. Once we got there, I knew this was it, and it was a little more difficult to keep those in check. Being able take home this win has so much to do with the mental approach. Being consistent at the lights, and on the course, is key.”

In the CAM Invitational, Fraser started the bracket competition seeded as the 22nd of 32 cars. In the opening round, Fraser (CAM-Sport, Ford Cobra) matched up with Tanya Voth (CAM-Contemporary, Chevrolet Camaro SS). Fraser emerged as the winner of that round, then moved on to the second round against Robert Lewis (CAM-C, Ford Mustang), where he took another win.

Fraser went on to beat Mary Pozzi (CAM-Traditional, Chevrolet Camaro) and Josh Leisinger (CAM-S, Chevrolet Corvette) in the quarter- and semi-finals, respectively. The string of wins allowed Fraser to get to the final against Jared Leisinger (CAM-T, Chevrolet Camaro).

Jared’s path to the final came with a quartet of wins, starting with Lance Hamilton (CAM-C, Chevrolet Monte Carlo). Jared then scored victories over Robby Unser (CAM-T, Chevrolet Nova), Chris Carmenini (CAM-C, Ford Mustang) and Al Unser, Jr. (CAM-T, Chevrolet Camaro) to earn a spot in the final.

In the end, Fraser proved to be on his game as he took down Jared during the two-run duel. In the third-place runoff, Unser, Jr., completed the podium positions after beating Josh .

“Last year was pretty difficult since we qualified and put the car in the trailer after it started to rain,” Fraser said. “I didn’t get the chance to race. When we heard rain was on the way, I stared looking hard for another car to drive. Luckily, the rain held off and we were able to bring home the win.

“Throughout the early rounds, I took the competition pretty slowly. That resulted in some pretty slow reaction times at the starting line. But, I just tried to step it up little-by-little to become quicker. You don’t really know what you’re going up against each round, with the format we had. I don’t know any of these drivers, so that was really difficult.”

Additional information on the Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Finale and Speedway Motorsports CAM Invitational, including full results, can be found here.

Image: Christine Grice gets the green light in the final round of the SCCA Tire Rack ProSolo Finale Ladies Challenge at Lincoln Airpark.
Credit: SCCA