Tune-In to the 2015 Tire Rack Kentucky Match Tour!
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In just a few days time, the Bowling Green Match Tour will commence to kick off the 2015 Match Tour season. Not only will this be the first event of the season for this particular brand of Tour, but it's also the first official event on this site held by the National SCCA staff. Big, flat, smooth asphalt is a relative rarity with national event sites, and it should be a new challenge for both newer drivers, and more experienced drivers that are typically used to sticky concrete like Toledo, Wilmington or Lincoln.
We will be having nearly 150 competitors show up to this event, which is an astounding number for a new site that is running in parallel to the Blytheville ProSolo. There's quite a few good match-ups that have developed on the registration list - here's the ones you need to be watching:
STX - Nobody seems to have thought it was a good idea to bring a Twin out, so STX will be the battleground between blue propellers and magic Doritos. Look for Kyle Herbst and Gordon Maciulewicz in the 128i to do particularly well - it's a very interesting choice for the class, and is close to E36 weight with E46 power. This year it's got more power and a real diff, and both drivers are certainly competent - Kyle won STX at the Toledo Pro last year in the same car, and Gordon narrowly missed a National Championship in GS in 2013 by a whole 0.004.
FS - Tied with CAM for the largest class at the event with 10 entries, and dominated entirely by American muscle with the exception of one German interloper - John Laughlin in a 2012 BMW M3 ZCP. John finished 3rd in FS at Nationals last year in a Shelby GT, and after that, decided that outspending the rest of the class was the best way to go faster. But don't count out Dave Feighner or Jadrice Toussaint in shiny new 2015 Mustang GTs - both are serious drivers and Jadrice is a multi-time National Champion. Expect a three-way fight to the last run. UPDATE: Jadrice will most likely not be attending due to a passing in the family. We'll miss you, Jadrice!
STU - All Corvettes, all the time - at least in 2015. A fitting class considering the venue, but look for Sam Strano and Shelly Monfort in their usual spots at the top of the class. This is assuming that Sam doesn't feel like towing his *other* Corvette out that goes a whole bunch faster and won't spontaneously combust. 'murica!
FSP - Depending on who you ask, this class acronym actually means "For Serious Partiers" or possibly "Freaking Soft PAX". Lots of good drivers in this class, driving around in cars that are just itching to oil down the course. Assuming all goes well, just about every driver here has a legitimate chance to win - it should be a close race between Steven Duckworth in the Lamborbunni, Scott Giles and Renee Hines in the camo CRX, and former CM National Champion Nick Myers in a borrowed Corolla GTS. Throw Justin Barbry in there as well if his ECU works.
Stay tuned to the UStream feed and Sololive (sololive.scca.com) for any up-to-the-minute timing updates once the event kicks off, and be sure to read the Match Tour rules for tips on the format.
