As the 2023 Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo season continues its march to the Sept. 1-3 ProSolo Finale in Nebraska, the regular-season point race held its ninth event of the season, this time at a completely new location.
The original site for the event, the traditional Toledo site, was pulled from under the Region late in the game. A search began, with a preference to stay in the same general geographic area to accommodate those who had already solidified plans to attend. That led to a never-before-used lot at Cleveland’s International Exposition (I-X) Center, in a NEOhio Region that hadn’t hosted a National level event in years. Event Chair Brandon Anderson gathered up volunteers, borrowed equipment from neighboring Regions, and hit the ground running to put on a successful event in near-record time. Those volunteers included a number of NEOhio Region members who normally hold flags at road racing events, as well as other road racing Region members, making this a true SCCA effort.
The I-X Center lot had plenty of paddock and grid space for the 187 drivers, and Alex Piehl created a mirrored, flowing pair of courses to help ensure success. The Friday night welcome party included competitive axe throwing and a karting competition that lasted well into the night.
Thanks to the Howard Duncan ProSolo Greenlight Fund, Brian Blatt and Joe Harbert scored complimentary first appearances at a ProSolo. Recipients of the fund receive free entry to their first ProSolo event, courtesy of the SCCA Foundation. Both were bumped into the Street Tire 5 index, where they got to try timing the ProSolo lights in their hot hatches for the first time.
Donations made to the SCCA Foundation can be earmarked for the Greenlight Fund here.
Class Competition
The location might have been new, but as is ProSolo tradition, battles for trophies were tight.
Sean Greer was only 0.238sec in front of Brian Conners in Super Street – and Conners was third. Pat Salerno slipped in between the two for the runner-up trophy, with all three in Porsches – Greer in a Cayman GT4 and Salerno and Conners sharing a 911 GT3.
Mark Daddio took the top spot in D Street, completing both sides of the course 0.147sec quicker than Ken Roller. Eric Peterson was 0.292sec quicker than Bartek Borowski in E Street, and Evan Williams was just 0.038sec ahead of Chris Yoder in G Street. How good were those street classes this weekend? Based on the Super Challenge to end the weekend – really good. Daddio, Borowski, and Yoder all showed up again in the Super Challenge semi-finals.
Is there anything DJ Alessandrini can’t do? After opening the event by playing the National Anthem on his trumpet, he calmly strapped on his helmet and topped a 19-car Solo Spec Coupe class by 0.102sec.
There was plenty more action, which can be seen in detail in the class results.
Challenge Accepted
As is appropriate for a new site, all three challenges in Cleveland were conquered by first-time winners.
Bonus Challenge: Justin Batten was fifth in the CAM class competition, but drew into the Bonus Challenge and made the most of it. Batten’s Cadillac cleared Kent Weaver, Cameron Asbury, and squared off with Greg Zimmer in the finals. Zimmer’s kart and Batten’s Cadillac were a battle of opposites, but at the end it was the Cadillac taking victory.
Ladies Challenge: Carmen Rowlands had a weekend to remember in Cleveland. Beginning in class competition, Rowlands’s Subaru STI was quickest in Ladies Class 3 – which set her up to do battle in a stacked field. Rowlands topped Emily Brown and Jennifer Bedell to square off against Shelly Monfort in the finals – and came away with her first Ladies Challenge victory.
Super Challenge: When the dust settled post qualifying, Street category contenders Yoder, Borowski, and Daddio brought their machines to the semi-finals along with Jason Tipple. Tipple, who advanced from Street Tire 5 in a Street Touring Hatch Honda Civic, fell to Yoder while Borowski topped Daddio on the other side of the bracket. At the finish, Bartek Borowski claimed in the inaugural Cleveland ProSolo Super Challenge and the full range of points to carry into the finale.
Coming Soon
The Tire Rack ProSolo season is quickly approaching the Finale, with just two regular season events remaining before the country converges in Lincoln. Up first is the Tire Rack SCCA Peru ProSolo at the traditional Grissom Aeroplex site in Peru, IN, on Aug. 4-6. The regular season ends with a visit to the Brunswick Executive Airport in Brunswick, ME, Aug. 11-13 – the final chance to earn points toward the ProSolo Finale.
Registration is open for both events, so sign up today.
Photos by Ryan Lower
