Round five of the SCCA® ProSolo Series saw 178 drivers recording runs at the Tire Rack SCCA Crows Landing ProSolo in Crows Landing, CA, over the April 19-21, 2024, weekend, with a fantastic assist from the San Francisco Region.
The aptly named site is one of the classics of West Coast autocross, pulling together the irreplaceable features of grippy World War II era concrete and lots (and lots and lots) of space. The former Naval Air Station now owned and utilized by NASA held the Andy McKee-designed, asymmetrical courses. Each offered something different for drivers, opening up the competition as the weekend progressed.
Best in Class
Jonathan Lugod, whose Shaftworks company helped provide the tacos on Friday night, used that power to propel himself to the Street 1 win in his DSP-prepared Subaru BRZ. Lugod took a 0.150sec win over Jeff Wong.
Speaking of course designer McKee, he clinched Race Tire Index 3 class points with the win. McKee’s X Prepared Mazda RX-7 topped Jeff Kiesel’s E Modified KFR Turbo Sprite with the index factored in by 0.888sec, with Zak Kiesel just another 0.027sec back in third.
A grand total of 21 Street Touring™ Roadster cars made up the largest single class on the grid, and Mark Shrivastava drove his Mazda Miata the best, taking a 0.879sec margin of victory over Matt Jones.
Three drivers at the Crows Landing ProSolo got some extra assistance throughout the weekend.
Running for free in their first ProSolo event thanks to the Howard Duncan ProSolo Greenlight Fund were Suze Morrison and Kevin Chauvin. Morrison drove to sixth in Ladies Class 1, piloting a Solo Spec Coupe Scion FR-S in an outrageously competitive field. Chauvin competed in a Scion FR-S of his own in the open SSC class, where he finished ninth.
Help out the Greenlight fund by making a donation to the SCCA Foundation, which can be earmarked specifically for the Greenlight Fund.
Meanwhile, Kristen Barnes earned her own reward as the SCCA Women on Track Driver Development Program recipient. One woman is randomly selected at each Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour and ProSolo event for a one-on-one, 30-minute virtual coaching session with a top-tier driver from the sport. Barnes grabbed a session from Teresa Neidel-McKee to help improve her time and experience in the Ladies Class 1. Her SSC-spec Scion FR-S was ninth in the class at the conclusion of the weekend.
Check out the complete event results to discover who else finished on top.
Challenge Accepted
No maybe about it, Kendra Mabie was among the eight drivers selected for the Bonus Challenge and made the most of her three challengers in the bracket. Bouncing back from an eighth-place finish in Ladies Class 1, Mabie knocked off Mark Kettering in the final to take the Bonus Challenge win in Crows Landing.
Nicole Wong’s season got even better at Crows Landing when she added a Ladies Challenge win to her class victory. Wong, who already had a runner-up finish at Vegas 1 and qualified for the challenge in Vegas 2, added a victory over Shelly Monfort (who now has a not-too-shabby pair of runner-ups this season herself) at Crows Landing.
Taylour Wargo missed the SSC class win by 0.295sec behind François Langlier, but came firing back in the Super Challenge. Wargo marched through McKee, Jeff Wong, and runner-up Michael Yanase to take the Super Challenge win. The points will march Wargo well up the standings for the Johnson-Clark Johnson Cup end of the year title.
Check out the points race for each ProSolo class and Challenge by clicking here.
Eastbound and Down
The Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Series moves back to the East Coast for the New Jersey ProSolo at the New Meadowlands Sports Complex on May 3-5. The New Jersey event is followed by the annual Lincoln Airpark extravaganza on May 23-25, which serves as an early-season preview for the ProSolo Finale at the same location in September.
Or, check out the complete Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Series schedule.
Photos by Taylour Wargo
