New sites keep the Tire Rack SCCA® ProSolo® experience fun, and that was especially true during the June 23-25, 2023, weekend for the inaugural Tire Rack SCCA Frederick ProSolo at Frederick Regional Airport in Oklahoma. The site doubles as the home to the World War II Airborne Demonstration team, who had their hanger open with lunch available for purchase in the mess hall.
The Friday welcome party was held by the Tillman County Historical Society at the Great Plains Technical Center. Thanks to the Frederick Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club prepared breakfast and lunch in the mess hall, offering coffee and breakfast burrito deliveries to the paddock on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The town was excited for the event to be there, and so were the drivers.
As could be expected, Oklahoma in the official opening week of summer brought the heat. Despite it being over 100 degrees on each of the two days of competition, Oklahoma Region made the most of it as event hosts, with all 124 entries knocking their way around the Andy Cost-designed asymmetrical courses.
Kevin Beavers and Kelly Rowe entered the Oklahoma Region event courtesy of the Howard Duncan Greenlight Fund. Named for the SCCA Hall of Famer and SCCA staffer credited with growing the ProSolo program, the Howard Duncan Greenlight Fund is supported by the SCCA Foundation and offers free entries to select, first-time ProSolo entrants.
It was an appropriate honor, as both drivers are less than a year into the sport and were assisting with the event operations in addition to driving. Beaver ran 14th in a deep CAM class, while Kelly Rowe finished fourth in Street 3.
Donations to the SCCA Foundation can be earmarked to go toward the Greenlight Fund via the Foundation’s website.
Class Runs
When it came to class competition, D Street was king of the weekend. Ron Williams and Mark Scroggs butted heads in their Honda Civic Type R and Subaru BRZ, respectively, running nearly identical times all weekend. At the finish it was Williams in front by just 0.094sec to take top honors in the class.
In Street Touring® Sport, Gerry Terranova carved out a 0.218sec win over David Whitener during the class runs – and it certainly came down to the driver, as the pair were sharing the same 1999 Mazda Miata. It was no surprise that the Whitener Miata was the car to have, as Kim Whitener topped Ladies Class 3 in the same vehicle – and that “blurple” colored Miata will make more appearances in this story during the Challenge section below.
By definition, the Bump Class is a mixed bag of classes, cars, and styles. At the end of the weekend, Brad McCann and his GS-classed Honda Civic Si topped the nine-car class, leading the way over Kerry Coughlin (CS-classed Mazda Miata) and James Yom (SS-classed Porsche 911 GT3). Coughlin and Yom took home a trophy for their efforts as well.
The results for all of the classes can be found by clicking the link below.
Head-To-Head Challenges
Remember that Miata that had the Whiteners running at the top of the charts? It was back in the head-to-head challenge format, and it was back in a big way.
Both David and Kim took Tire Rack ProSolo Challenge victories at Frederick, with David qualifying and marching through the Super Challenge to earn full points for the weekend. Kim did the same in the Ladies Challenge, making the little Miata a two-time winner and taking both trophies home to Texas as a new set of bookends.
Not to be forgotten, Aaron Best had a strong Miata of his own. Proving how difficult the Terranova/Whitener topped STS class was, Best drew into the Bonus Challenge and topped the field to be the third driver to spray the Mazza Sparkling Wine during the weekend.
Coming Soon
If you think Frederick was hot, wait until June 28-30 when the Tire Rack ProSolo program heads to America’s favorite short track, Bristol. The Bristol ProSolo may be outside the famous bowl, but competition is just as close. Will tempers flare ala NASCAR? That’s highly unlikely – but the only real way to find out is to enter yourself.
Registration for that event is still open. There’s a short waitlist, but the way things often work out, if you get on that wait list soon then there’s a solid chance you’ll get in.
You can also pull up to the starting line for all 2023 ProSolo events on the schedule by visiting the ProSolo webpage.
Photo by Christopher Dunn
