On Course Pictures by Brent Robbins - If you'd like to see more of Brent's pictures, please click here for his Flickr page

Big Wheel Pro Solo Pictures by Jay Yost

Beautiful weather and picturesque scenery provided perfect conditions for the SCCA Rocky Mountain Match Tour this past weekend in Fountain, CO. While the majority of competitors were from the local scene, there were a few travelers in attendance from neighboring states as well as some from California, Washington, Wisconsin and Texas. No matter where anyone was from they were all here to see who had what it took to take top spot on the Karen Babb designed course. And with a mix of off and on camber turns and the playful use of "the hump" down the middle of the lot it was no easy task.

Friday morning started off with junior kart orientation. It was the first time ever for one Jared Hyman to race in a junior kart. And judging by how well he took to the competition atmosphere it appears Godzilla Jr. will be around for a long time. The Evo Advantage school run in the afternoon helped to bolster an already strong contingent of drivers from the Rocky Mountain and Colorado Regions. A spaghetti dinner and beer social satiated everyone's appetites at the welcome party. Finally course walks under a mountain-setting sun closed out Friday evening. A very large percentage of competitors chose to camp under the grandstands so there was plenty of bench racing banter going on well into the night.

Saturday's competition started off strong as heat 1 was comprised of all stock classes as well as several ladies classes. Being a match tour all focus was on who would be top 8 in index for the heat. After 4 runs were done the locals had to bow to the out-of-towners as top 3 spots were taken by Trevor Jones in his (Defyant Motorsports / Buschur Racing) GS Focus ST, Lane Borg in his (Stranoparts.com) BS Corvette and Shawn Hill doing an arrive-and-drive also in a GS Focus ST. Rounding out the top 8 were Chris Kirkland (GS), Paul Brown (CS), Chad Lipscomb (BS), John Carpenter (DS) and Jason Miller (DS). Heat 2 was just as exciting if not moreso. With all of the ST, and SR classes included there was plenty of great competition. But the strong classes here were STX and SM representing 7 of the top 8 on index. Leading the 2nd heat charge was Eric Hyman in his (Cobb Surgeline / GT-RR) SM Nissan GT-R followed closely by William Hill in an STX Scion FR-S and Mark Baer in his (SCR Performance / StopTech Brakes) SM BMW M3. Finishing 4th through 8th were Tom Reynolds (STX), Salil Shukla (STX), Tyler Faucett (SM), Kevin Youngers (FSR) and Van Townsend (STX). Heat 3 definitely did not disappoint as well. Here we saw all the SP and P and M cars competing. Taking top spot for the heat (and for the entire event) was James Darden in the (Riptidehosting.com / BMW2002.com / PerformanceShock.com) FSP BMW 2002. Close behind was Mike Forsythe in the (3Rracing / A&L'S Sheet Metal / S.S.H.R / Import Sports) SMF Honda Civic and David Jobusch in the (SCR Performance / StopTech) DSP BMW 325is. Rounding out the 3rd heat top 8 were Shawn Larson (SMF), Lee Michael (DSP), Christopher Dorsey (EP), Bill Schenker (CSP) and Ryan Neff (ESP).

Once competition runs were over was when the real fun began! With a few modifications, the course was setup to be run in reverse for fun runs. Match Tour staffers, Brian Harmer and Kim Whitener, have an ongoing head-to-head competition they hold during match tour fun runs at every event. Coming off a strong win at the Devens event in a RWD car, Harmer was feeling confident in his abilities to take on Whitener in her weapon of choice, a spec STC Civic. When all was said and done, Harmer once again came away with the win! Orange Kit Kats on Kim yet again. Feel free to write in to the SEB: Brian Harmer for this year's Driver of Eminence. Soon after the end of fun runs was the awards ceremony, Super Shootout bracket draw and a wonderful brisket dinner hosted by the local region. Of course Mr. Eric Hyman was everyone's best friend with multiple pitchers of fresh made margarita on hand. With bellies a full and brains a buzzing, the crowd moved on to the big wheel prosolo course. This year we saw a new format to the race, mirrorkhana style. Two teams, two big wheels, one winner. In the juniors bracket the duo of Petra Mannix and Kristina Dorsey came away victorious and earned themselves a free entry to any local RMSOLO event. With 12 teams battling in the adult division, competition was fierce, ego's were bruised and knees were bloodied. But when all was said and done Team Untitled (Chris Kirkland / Van Townsend) ended up the victors of the day and also earned free entries to any RMSOLO event later in the season.

Sunday morning brought more nice weather and setup for perfect conditions during the Club Shootout Knockout Rounds. Those who did not make the top 8 in index in their heat on Saturday got two shots at the course to make top 16 in index for the morning. Then those 16 took one more run to see which 10 drivers were fastest. Yet one more round of runs whittled the field down to 5. At the end of 1st heat rounds only Laurie Hyman (SML), Christopher Cook (GS), Keith Papulski (DS), Aaron Miller (DS) and Iain Mannix (SS) survived to make the Club Shootout later in the afternoon. Second heat saw more of the same exciting action as 1st heat. Here we saw Hsun Chen (STR), Bryce Kliewer (STX), Jay Yost (STC), Christian Nissen (STR) and Kim Kliewer (STX) survive all 3 rounds of knockout competition. Third heat knockout rounds added another 5 strong competitors to the shootout: Meredith Brown (CSL), David Walker (ESP), Bob Ely (CP), Evan Leonard (BM) and Paul Leonard (BM). The 16th spot went to GS driver, Lew Thomas.

Once the Club Shootout competitors were determined the event moved on to the Super Shootout. Drawings from Saturday had determined the pairings and they did not disappoint. With dial-ins based on class winner times from Saturday it was a test to see who could run the best times without breaking out too much. First heat competitors battled it out ending with Paul Brown taking the win over Jason Miller. Second heat saw Kevin Youngers eventually taking out Eric "Godzilla" Hyman for the win. Third heat was interesting in that the final pairing ended up between two drivers in the same car. Ryan Neff ultimately got the better of car owner, Drew Little. Once those winners were determined they drove one more run to determine the overall winner. Congratulations to Kevin Youngers for earning the Super Shootout win!

The ladies shootout consisted of the top 4 ladies who did not qualify for either Super Shootout or the Club Shootout. In the end it was Maegan Contreras who came away victorious over Jamie Yost by breaking out on almost every run as she became more and more comfortable in the Kinch Reindl-owned STC civic.

Last up was the Club Shootout. Starting with 16 drivers the shootout consisted of some exciting pairings. Making it to the final two were Bryce Kliewer and Meredith Brown. Kliewer, who had broken out in an earlier round, continued to stay strong and narrowly took the win over Brown by less than 0.1 seconds!

And so ends another successful national event at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, CO. Be sure to make it out next year and continue to support this sport that we all love so much!