2018 Tire Rack Packwood ProSolo Fast Notes

For some, the Packwood ProSolo® is a pilgrimage. For others, it’s a tradition. Regardless of why competitors were at the event, this past weekend saw great competition, surrounded by even greater views in the shadows of Mt. Rainier. This year featured a different course and grid layout with competitors launching toward the north and the grid in the southwest corner of the lot. This reduced congestion but did make paddock to grid access a bit more distant. The course layout was slalom/transition-heavy with a tight turnaround. The left course was about 0.6-0.7 seconds longer than the right and featured more off-camber corners due to the crown in the lot.

Some classes ended up with surprisingly small margins of victory. In Street Touring Ultra, Doug Mikko took the lead by 0.006 second on his last run, only for Bill Zerr to retake the lead on his final run, winning by 0.001 second. Ladies Index 3 was won by a 0.011-second margin with Kim Whitener taking the victory over Tasha Mikko. Jessica Podhola and Catherine Tran claimed the remaining trophies and Tran went on to win the Ladies Challenge. In C Street, Brian Coulson claimed victory by a relatively large margin of 0.273 second. But just behind him, Andrew Kessel and Charles Crampert tied for second. Their second fastest pair of runs placed them in second and third respectively.

Street Touring Xtreme had a lot of movement in the trophies as Saturday’s leader and runner-up finished second and fourth respectively. Steve OBlenes proved that a Mazda RX-8 could still hold its own, finding nearly a second on Sunday morning to take the win. Tony Rodriguez improved on his last views of the course, but it’d only be enough for him to hang onto second, behind OBlenes by 0.360 second. Michael Carpenter’s BMW 128i is a rare car for the class but seemed to be effective as he claimed third. Mack Tsang held onto the final trophy position in fourth.

Dave and Kim Whitener made the pilgrimage to Packwood, staying in their traditional STS and L3 classes, but hopping into Eric Stoltz’s Mazda Miata. David and Eric finished first and second respectively in STS, with Kim winning L3 as mentioned above. The car was up for the challenge it’s new driver’s put it through, going deep in both the Super and Ladies Challenges.

The Bump Class made for an interesting mix of cars and speeds as cars as slow as H Street and as fast as E Modified came together. Most drivers put down their fast time on their last two runs of the weekend, with Jeff Kiesel taking the win in his E Modified Sprite, 0.305 second ahead of Ryan Otis in the STP Chevrolet Camaro. Mitch Fagundes and Ron Bauer claimed the remaining trophies in third and fourth respectively.

CAM was tight, with the four trophy spots separated by only 0.352 second after their index adjustment. James Paulson took the victory in his Chevrolet Camaro SS with John Laughlin just 0.155 second back in a Ford Mustang. Both of those drivers made the Super Challenge. David Rock and Dennis Healy were close behind, claiming the third and fourth place trophies.

Complete results from the Tire Rack Packwood ProSolo can be found here.

Challenge Winners:

Super Challenge: Michael Carpenter, STX
Ladies Challenge: Catherine Tran, L3
Bonus Challenge: Karl Coleman, STX