WILMINGTON, Ohio (April 16, 2014) – Laura Campbell, of Madison, Ala., took home last weekend’s opening round of the newly-formatted Tire Rack SCCA Match Tour Pro Shootout competition held at the Wilmington Airport. Randall Prince, of Auburn, Ga., won the Super Shootout, while Cindy Duncan, of Louisville, Ky., took home the Ladies Bracket title.
Weather conditions were ideal for the 215 racers in attendance. Temperatures were in the upper 70s with no threat of rain either day, which is the best one could hope for during spring in the Midwest.
For 2014, the Match Tour program has undergone some changes aimed at maximizing track time for the competitors. Sunday’s Pro Shootout was seeded based on the four fastest indexed times of each run group from Saturday’s class-based competition.
Driving her Thanks Lee! Mini Cooper, Campbell was a reluctant to pit her skills against the other top-32 qualifiers even though she was the clear winner in the Street Touring FWD Ladies class during Saturday’s competition. Heading into the competition, Campbell was hoping to compete in the Ladies Challenge. However, those feelings melted away the deeper Campbell progressed in the bracket-style competition.
After a bye in the opening round, Campbell took out Chris Harvey (C Street, Tire Rack Mazda MX-5) in the round of 16. Campbell then dispatched with David Wampler (Street Modified, IAG Performance/OS Giken/Evolution Subaru STI) in the quarter-finals.
In the semi-finals, Campbell kept her winning ways as she beat Jed Peterson (A Street, Honda S2000). That victory put her in the Pro Shootout finals matched against Darrin DiSimo (Street Touring Sport, Pronto Timing System Mazda Miata).
DiSimo’s road to the Pro Shootout finals started with an opening-round win against Perry Ellwood (Street Touring Xtreme, Mazda RX-8). Sean Murphy (Kart Modified, IC Engineering Energy Honda) was the next driver to fall to DiSimo, during the round of 16. He then took out Chris Fenter (C Street, My Beautiful Wife and Girls Mazda MX-5) and Eric Peterson (E Street, Solo Pro/Atomic Empire Toyota Spyder) in the quarter- and semi-finals, respectively. In the Pro Shootout final, Campbell proved too much for DiSimo as she took the win. It was an impressive run for someone that had their sights set on another bracket.
The Super Shootout was made of 16 drivers that fell outside of the top four indexed times in each run group from Saturday, following additional Sunday morning qualifying. In this bracket, Prince took a quarter-final win over Jason Proksch (F Street, Jackie Treehorn Racing BMW M3), then moved onto beat Matt Colley (A Street, Pontiac Solstice) in the semis.
All that resulted in a matchup between Prince and Alan Sheidler (Kart Modified, Competitive Vehicle Services Birel Honda) in the Super Shootout final. Once the dust cleared, Prince was the last driver standing. The competitors in the Ladies Challenge consisted of the remaining ladies who qualified for neither the Pro Shootout nor the Super Shootout. Duncan’s (D Street R Ladies, Ford Mustang) run to the Ladies Bracket title started with a first-round win over Shelby Turbevil (F Street Prepared Ladies, Mazda 323).
She then took down Crissy Weaver (Super Street R Ladies, Fatt Boyz of Dayton/Muffler Pros Chevrolet Corvette) in the semi-finals, and capped the day off with a final-round win over Jennifer Bedell (E Street Ladies, Atomic Empire/Solo Pro Toyota MR2 Spyder).
More information, including full results, of the El Toro Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo event can be found here. More information on the entire Tire Rack SCCA Solo program is available at www.scca.com/Solo.
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