Bounce Back Victories at Crows Landing Champ Tour

The checkered flags have fallen on the 2016 Tire Rack Crows Landing Championship Tour with 41 drivers claiming top trophy honors, glory and bragging rights. Saturday’s course was defined by lots of fun and high speeds, and Sunday followed suit with a slightly slower course but included a “yee-haw” finish that put some drivers in the dirt. Full results can be found at the SCCA website.

The B Street battle featured a come-from-behind win as Dan Bullis, third after Saturday, moved up to claim top trophy honors by almost a full second against Alex Muresan. Tony Rodriguez, the day-one leader, moved down to third–just .116 behind–in the eight-person class. And C Street witnessed another driver move up to take the win as Jeffrey Bandes climbed two spots to defeat Jason Stroud by .167 second. Day-one leader Jonathan Stroud fell to third with Ahren Renner and Eric Chang finishing fourth and fifth.

Another tight fight came down to the wire in H Street as Grant Wood, second after Saturday’s runs, moved up to first defeating Robert Luis by only .056 second. Russell Bowlus, the day-one leader, fell down to third in the six-driver class. John Laughlin likewise took home the crown in the five-person G Street Class by .143 after co-driver Kit Gauthier, Saturday’s leader, coned his third run.

Super Street Prepared also saw a shift in the standings as Steve Lau overcame his day-one deficit to take the Class by .654 second. And Eric Clements earned a come-from-behind victory in C Modified, beating Ben Martinez by 1.4 seconds, while George Schilling found the final trophy spot.

Not to be overshadowed, D Prepared was another Class highlighted by a bounce-back win as Bret Dodson gained back his .028-second margin Saturday to defeat Ron Baker by the slightest span, .010 second. Howard Wolf found the last trophy spot to finish third in the nine-person class.

Next up on the Championship Tour is the 2016 Tire Rack Lincoln Spring Nationals Championship Tour taking place May 28-30 at Lincoln Airpark in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Tire Rack SCCA Solo Championship Tour events take place over three days on two separate courses. Friday consists of Test and Tune opportunities, as well as a social gathering. Then on Saturday, competitors each get three chances to drive one course, and on the second day get three runs on another course. Like any other Solo competition, runs are timed to 1/1000th of a second and knocking a cone down means a two-second penalty added to the time. The best times from each course are added together for the final class standings.  For additional information on Tire Rack SCCA Solo, visit http://www.scca.com/solo.

Story: Lauren Kane / SoloMatters

Image: A competitor attacks the Tire Rack Crows Landing SCCA Championship Tour course.