Contributions by: Andy Hollis, Kevin Dietz, John Rogers, Mike Johnson, Dan Pedroza and Heyward Wagner Spring Nationals marked the first attempt at a Pro and Tour on the same weekend.  While there were some hick-ups here and there, the format was largely successful and very well received.  In an effort to minimize the complication, the Tour course utilized many of the features of the Pro course.  While it is unconfirmed at this point, but there is an intention to keep the event on the schedule for 2012 with plans for completely unique Tour and Pro courses. One of the biggest factors for both events was weather.  There was a threat of rain during the Pro that eventually hit on Sunday morning.  The result was many classes failing to improve times in the early morning.  The skies cleared as the third heat continued, and the course dried completely midway through the session and conditions were prime for the challenge rounds.  Day one of the Tour started wet, and did not dry out until heat 3.  Day 2 saw dry conditions but significant winds, strong enough to blow over cones.  After several re-runs had to be granted all of the cones were double stacked to ensure they would remain upright. In the ProSolo C-Stock saw a familiar name at the top, but this was actually the first ProSolo for Chris Fenter.  Fenter took an early lead and carried the momentum through the entire weekend until the 3rd round of the Gumout Super Challenge where he was eliminated by Gumout Super Challenge winner, Robert Thorne.  Fenter made it a double, taking the win at the tour as well.  However, the margin over 2nd place finisher Steve Pounds in a 370z, was only a half second each day.  Given the course length and tendency toward transitions, this certainly suggest that Pounds and co-driver Daniel McCelvey, who finished 3rd, can run with the roadsters and very well maybe challengers for the top spot at Nationals should the coursed favor their Nissan. Another ProSolo rookie who had a good weekend was Andrew Elias.  Elias entered the event in a Ford Focus in Street Touring.  He quickly found that the last minute changes he had made to the car were not to his liking, but managed to soldier through the event finishing toward the back of the ST pack.  However, Elias’s luck would turn as his name was among those selected for the Bonus Challenge.  From there everything seemed to go his way as, round by round, Elias moved through the bracket ultimately taking the win.  As it turned out, Elias was also the top driver in his ST on Kumho tires so in addition to the free ProSolo entry he won in the Bonus Challenge; Elias took home a nice check from Kumho as well. Street Touring was the only class to put three drivers in the Gumout Super Challenge.  Class winner, Jason Frank and Will Kalman looked good to make the Challenge after their final runs on Sunday.  It was Craig Mankiewicz, however that stole the show with a pair of runs in drying conditions to slot himself 7 hundredths behind Frank and 5 hundredths ahead of Kalman.  Kalman got the last laugh though, as he moved past Tom Berry in round 1 of the Challenge while Frank and Mankiewicz both struggled on the tree and were eliminated. With a win in Lincoln, Kevin Youngers now has a pair of ProSolo wins and looks to be making a run at the F-Stock ProSolo Championship.  Youngers was able to establish a lead on Saturday afternoon that wet conditions initially protected on Sunday morning.  The win, however was not secured until Jason Huepenbecker and Don Knopp ran from the 2nd drivers line.  Huepenbeker and Knopp were among the first drivers in the event to improve time as the course dried.  In the process they exchanged the third spot a number of times before Knopp claimed it on his final run and sealed the victory for Youngers. The talk of the tour was a substantial wager between B-Stock co-drivers, Marc Phannenschmidt and Jadrice Toussaint.  What neither of them counted on, however, was a stand out day 1 performance by Kevin Dietz.  Dietz, with zero seat time in a S200 CR prior to the event, carried the lead into day 2, but was ultimately was not able to hold off a charging Toussaint.  In the end, Jadrice took the win and the wagered amount from Phannenschmidt.  Jadrice was quick to point out that the wager was all in fun and that he intended to use he funds to help make it possible for a driver to come to nationals and compete in B-Stock. E-Modified saw some familiar names in a very unfamiliar vehicle.  Bob Tunnell and Jeff Ellerby competed in Del Long’s 1956 Jeep YC-J.  Typically a photo, being worth a thousand words, would tell the whole story.  That is not the case here.  The “Jeep” is actually a retired ¾ scale circle track car, powered by a Solstice GXP motors and rebodied as a 1956 Jeep.  The Jeep showed some potential, and Tunnell said there was a decent chance that he will again be in it at Nationals, but the class pace was again set by the Sprite of Jeff Kiesel, running 3 seconds faster, per day. The battle in Street Touring Sport Ladies may have given us a glimpse into the sport’s future as Katelyn Johnson, Hilary Ann Anderson and Kim Whitener challenged past Champions Laura Harbor and Michelle Seelig.  In the end, Whitener was the class of the field, going fast right from the start and taking the win.  Harbour, driving the only Miata in the class, methodically chipped away at the lead on every run but ultimately was unable to overcome the CRX’s advantage on the slalom intensive course.  Anderson dug herself a hole and jumped right in with penalties on each of her first two runs each day.  Undaunted, she put down fast times when it counted and ended up second, in front of the two past champs.  Johnson, a product of the Formula Jr program and sporting a newly minted driver’s license, split the difference between the two champs, ending up only a tenth out of the trophies in third. In Super Stock it was, perhaps, the end of an era, as Matthew Braun in the Elise succumbed to Sam Strano piloting the new C6 Corvette Grand Sport.  The battle was not without drama and the lead fluctuated back and forth between the two when Strano would hit cones in the much wider Chevrolet.  The win is even more impressive when one considers the large amount of slalom content in the courses, which would typically favor the Lotus.  The only question remaining is whether Strano will drive this car at Nationals or the ESP Mustang he is also developing. GP is the home of the Kansas Mafia, with all of the entrants save one hailing from the sunflower state.  “Old guys in really old cars” describes the clan where just finishing the event with a running car is an accomplishment.  In the end, Bo Radar dominated with a margin of 1.7 second over Jeff Dodds, both of them in vintage Austin Healey Sprites. D-Stock has quite the variety of drive trains in the 12-car field. Front wheel drive, all wheel drive and Rear wheel drive platforms were all in the mix and this became even more interesting as weather played a factor on day 1.  Some drivers went for wet tires, others hoped for improving conditions and started on dries and some drivers flip flopped their decision. Craig Wilcox on Kumho wets was a force to be reckoned with, he was methodically fast in the wet taking quick time for the day. Mark Smith and co-driver Tom Berry chose to keep the dry tires on the Audi and use the improving conditions and heat from the two-driver car combo to their advantage. Smith was able to power his way into second only a tenth out after day one. Day two brought dry conditions and no tire changing. The Audi TT was dominant on day two and Smith drove it to the win. Tom Berry posted fast time for class moving him to 3rd, just behind Wilcox. In C-Street Prepared Matt McCabe lead this class wire to wire in the wet and the dry with Bill Schenker chasing all the way.  For Schenker the weekend was frustrating as mechanical problems haunted him at the Pro and wet conditions at the Tour took the southern Californian out of his comfort zone.  Regardless, he held on for second place only a few tenths behind McCabe on day two. Becker co-driving the car with McCabe started of the weekend with a DNF but was clean on every run thereafter netting him the third podium spot. 4th place David Feigner only had two clean runs all weekend but as we all know that’s all you need, one each day.