Photo Credit: Perry Bennett: http://autoxpix.com/
375 entries.
That's three hundred and seventy five folks about to descend on the best autocross site east of the Mississippi; Wilmington Air Park in Wilmington, OH.
Is that a record # of tour entries? I don't know. What I do know is that if you're a serious autocrosser and you're within driving distance of Wilmington and you aren't coming this weekend... You've made a mistake. This weekend is going to be great!
Take a look at some of these class entries... C Street leads the way with 25 people. Can Grogan repeat his Pro performance and keep the MX-5 of Fenter and Harvey behind him? Word on the all knowing internet was that the TRD parts wouldn't make a difference for the FRS's relative performance but someone forgot to tell Sean as he's been tearing it up all year long. However, anyone that's paid attention knows that Fenter and Harvey have made a history of making their “uncompetitive” car win (and raked in some significant money from Mazda along the way). But they aren't the only folks to watch. Potocki (either one) has found speed before. New guy to the national scene Mike Ferchak has been quietly sneaking up the standings over the year. And will Andrew Pallotta end up in CS after he sold his RX-8 earlier? There's a name that can shake up standings wherever he lands. Make time to watch the most popular class in the Street category!
After a bit of a slow start last year, E Street isn't far behind with 21 entries. Who to watch here? John Ryan was fast out of the gate this year but has been a bit eclipsed lately by his mid season hot shoe codriver, the afore-mentioned Pallotta. Will Andrew bump John's wife Vicki into ESL and try to put his stamp on E-Street before we all head to Nationals? I wouldn't bet against it. And lets not forget Eric Peterson... Things haven't gone his way this year in the ProSolo series, but a Tour is a different kettle of fish and he's got a score to settle. Dark horse candidates? Give a nod to Steve Rife in a new ride or perhaps Bryan Hertweck. Rife is in an MR2 Spyder like Ryan and Peterson but Hertweck is bucking the trend and sticking with the tried and true '99 Miata that dominated in R-Comp days of yore. Will this be the event that everyone learns to ignore history at their peril?
Who else should you watch? Its an East Coast event and that means Super Street R will have big numbers. In what has to be called a preview of the 2015 Solo Nationals nearly all the big hitters from SSR will be ready to play. Sam Strano has been winning a lot this year, but Josh Luster has been keeping him honest with a host of fast drivers behind him. Will Grant Reeve be able to haul the “nearly a teenager” c5 z06 Corvette into the top spot yet again? And how about Tony Savini? Tony upgraded his old c5 corvette to the z06 model this year so that he could keep running the tires he likes and he's shown flashes of speed, but not enough to knock off the big dogs. Will this be his breakthrough event? Who else should we keep an eye on? Gotta say that Matthew Braun is the odds on favorite to pee in the Corvette punchbowl. Another mid season car swapper like Pallotta, Braun is in the feared 997 GT3 and is looking to prove that its as dominant as people say it is. However, he's saddled with the stock electronically controlled shocks, which the rules effectively do not allow him to change, and that is introducing some challenges.
In Street Touring, check out STX with 21 entries, our largest ST class. Keep an eye on Kyle Herbst in his BMW 128i. Herbst has been crushingly dominant at some events and crushing absent at others... Which Kyle will show up this weekend? Dave Santel is likely to be in the mix as well. "Diagnosis by throwing parts at it" has worked on his poorly running STX FRS and if the car is right and he's on, he'd be a hard guy to bet against. And check out Todd Kunze and Eric Kutil in their Integra Type R... I don't think they got the BMW, RX-8, and Twin memo. Do they know something we don't?
In STU action, we're going to see the Wampler and Kriz combo in their Subaru STi on a tour course and not a ProSolo. The talk all year has been whether their dominance at Pros will translate to the Tour format. Who's going to be trying to show them up? Give a nod to Brian Flanagan in his 350Z. Brian is frequently fast, but is his first year car fully prepped? We're going to find out.
In Street Prepared, FSP is usually quite strong in this part of the country and this event looks to follow the mold with 10 entries. Greg Anthony continues to beat his head against a Neon shaped wall while Geoff Zimmer forces his old VW Rabbit to do things it was not intended to. Meanwhile you've got Scott Giles and Renee Hines in the family CRX with Steve Meritz in another. This class is a study in inexpensive economy cars going way the heck faster than they have any right to and is usually one of the more entertaining of the weekend.
Keep an eye on ASP as well. A surprisingly good turn out here and a nice mix of cars. Aaron and Frank Miller are out in their Evo and have to be considered the odds on favorites; but there's an STi in Bill Rogerson and Eric Janveaux hands with another piloted by Greg Pressley, a BMW 1M for Ryan and Cory Hockenbury, a Porsche Cayman for Frank and Kristi Gaus, and even a Toyota MR2 for Ryan Lutze and Tyler Faucett. Interestingly, all but one car in this class has two drivers!
Speaking of SP classes to watch, ESP should remain high on your list. PJ Corrales and Bryan Mancuso are bringing back their "against the mold" Infinity. Did they solve all their ProSolo woes? Expect them to be quick if so. Ron Bistrais and Mark Pilson will likely be leading the charge trying to ensure that American Muscle stays on top and expect Ryan Finch to be fast as well if he can keep the front hubs from exploding on his '99 Camaro.
In Street Modified, SSM is winning the entries battle with 15 entries. The question is how many of those folks will actually show up? Namer's car is rumored to be having issues and Brian and Tara Johns haven't been out in their car all year. Mark Andy is staying in the Valent MR2 in SSM, but Martin is heading off to XP chasing some much needed contingency tires after both drivers suffered at the Wilmington Pro with a car that eventually stripped 2nd gear. Matt Glagola and Marc Osgood are in Glagola's beautifully done Elise and the ever present Wilcox and Anderson are back in Eric's manly Miata. Wilcox has been the guy to beat all year in SSM and Glagola/Osgood are in the car many folks expect to become the dominant platform... Who will win? Maybe a better question is, "Do those headlights work?" as SSM runs in the last heat...
SMF is also strong this weekend with Brian Kuehl, Chris Haydu, Jinx Jordan, and Jason Tipple. Any one of those four names wouldn't be a surprise to see on the top step at Nationals, so this is another class that's shaping up to be a preview for what we'll see in Lincoln in a few weeks.
In the Prepared world, its an event in the midwest and that means CP will be there with a strong presence. Ten entries are on tap for the class with more tire width than sense. 2014 Nationals 2nd place finisher Mark Madarash is on the list, but is his car ready? He was asking for advice about whether or not to put in the big motor for the 2015 Nationals, so hopefully we'll see him out here setting the bar. Make sure to check out Ethan Bradury's awesome Ford Thunderbird also. He trophied in this car at Nationals and then DROVE IT TO THE BANQUET. This has got to be the fastest street legal CP car around.
Check out E Prepared as well. Can the newly classed limited prep car of Denise and Allen Kugler get to the top of the box in EP? If Darrin DiSimo has anything to say about it the answer will be no. And let's not count out the HART entries...
In Modified action, Dan Wasdahl is on the entry list for AM so chances are we know who's going to get FTD. Last year the weather threw him a curveball, but surely that won't happen twice in a row? David O'Maley appears to be embracing his feminine side in AML as well, but when I tried that they made me run Open. Will he challenge Wasdahl?
Speaking of challenging for FTD, B Modified looks to be another class of potential Nationals winners. Clemens Burger and Dan Stone will see if they can keep sports racer dominance over the formula car of Dan Cyr and Bradley Lamont. This may be one of Cyr's first events this year however and that hurt him last year at the Wilmington Tour. Will he be on the pipe with the rust gone?
Those are just a smattering of the classes on offer and people to watch this weekend at the Wilmington National Tour. Follow the action on SoloLive (http://sololive.scca.com/) and uStream (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sccasolo). And if you're at the Tour, remember to donate to the Wilmington Fence Fund by SPS (see Mark Andy on site or paypal your donation to marka@maracing.com... All proceeds are being donated to the local Wilmington High School in exchange for help erecting and removing the required snow fencing around the pad). When you need food, be sure to check out Wilmington's great restaurants like the General Denver (http://generaldenver.com/menu.php) or Generations Pizza (https://generationspizzeria.com/) as well.
See you this weekend!
