IRVINE, Calif. (April 16, 2014) – Greg McCance, of Ramona, Calif., took home the second Tire Rack® SCCA ProSolo® Super Challenge win of 2014, held this past weekend at the El Toro Airfield. Christine Grice, of Redondo Beach, Calif., was the last driver standing in the Ladies Challenge.
Competitors were treated to favorable weather conditions throughout the event weekend. Temperatures stayed in the high 60s, with partly cloudy skies. The wind was not a factor either day, as it never topped 10 mph.
Saturday and Sunday morning's traditional class competition yielded some large fields. Street Touring X was the largest class boasting 20 drivers, while Street Touring R had 18 competitors. The Ladies Class 3 and SP/SM Index A also had 17 drivers set times on course. McCance qualified for his spot in Sunday afternoon’s 32-car Super Challenge bracket after taking the E Street Prepared class victory in his Subaru WRX.
In the opening round of the bracket-style competition, McCance put down Mack Tsang (Street Touring X, Kidder Trans/OS Giken/Auto RnD BMW 325i). McCance then got to the round of eight by besting Gary Thomason in his Super Street R, ProParts USA Dodge Viper.
McCance moved to the quarter-finals with a win over Tom Berry (SP/SM Index A, Berry Family Racing/Hoosier Tire Mitsubishi Evolution IX). "Tom Berry's red light that was memorable," McCance said. "I knew he would be hard to beat without a bit of luck. I like to think I scared him, but the truth is his car probably just hooked more than anticipated.
With four drivers remaining, McCance finalized his trip to the event final after beating Jeff Stuart (C Street, Berry Family Racing/Racetraceapp.com Nissan 370Z). In the final showdown, McCance lined up next to Paul Russell.
Russell (Kart Modified, Seventh-Gear.com CRG Road Rebel Honda CR125) took out David Rock (Street Touring Roadster, Sliding Rock Racing Toyota Spyder) in the quarter-finals, and Doug Rowse (SP/SM Index B, Hoosier Tire/Evolution/Cortez BMW 330) in the semis, en route to the match up with McCance.
After the dust settled McCance walked away with the overall win. Rowse completed the podium after winning the third-place runoff. "It always seems like you acquire a pit crew as you get deeper in the challenge," McCance said. "Mine was Morgan Trotter and Karen Kraus. Whether they're spraying tires, checking pressures, or telling you if you're up or down as you come back, it is always awesome to have the support. So, a big thank you goes out to them."
In the ladies competition, Grice was primed for a good performance at El Toro. Before jumping into the bracket-competition, Grice won the traditional class competition taking the Ladies Class 1 victory in her Berry Family Racing/Chase Cam Mitsubishi Evolution IX. Once the head-to-head competition began, Grice took down Teddie Alexandrova (Ladies Class 3, Charlie's Angels/AIT Subaru BRZ), Gwen Baake Habenicht (Ladies Class 2, Audi TT) and Meredith Brown (Ladies Class 2, Nissan 370Z) on her way to the final match up.
Once there, Grice beat Annie Gill (Ladies Class 3, Thanks Max!/OS Giken/Gearheads Garage Subaru BRZ) for the win. Shelly Monfort (Ladies Class 2, Strano Parts.com Ford Focus ST) completed the podium with a win in the third-place runoff.
Jonathan Hartendorp (Street Touring X, FRSport.com/Racing Lifestyle/Crown Auto Repair Subaru BRZ), of Los Angeles, was the winner of the Bonus Challenge bracket.
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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