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19/09/2005: "Rain and Records at Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nationals"

With early morning downpours delaying the start by more than two hours, and more rain moving in during the afternoon, action-stopping weather was the story during day one of competition at the 2005 Tire Rack ® SCCA Solo National Championships in Topeka.


History Made on Second Day of Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships
After rain clears, first champions crowned at Topeka


Topeka, Kan. (Sept. 14, 2005) – Many competitors at the 2005 Tire Rack ® SCCA Solo National Championships were left shaking their heads after a harried first day of competition that included a long delay and instantaneous condition changes. Wednesday, on the other hand, was much different as skies cleared and the first Solo Champions of 2005 were crowned. Then, Thursday, the rain returned.

Showing an amazing ability to adapt over the first two-day stretch was Kyung Wootton, of Austin, Texas, who powered through Tuesday’s troubles and stayed on top Wednesday in C Stock Ladies for her sixth consecutive Solo Championship. In fact, Wootton has never lost since she began coming to Topeka .

So does winning ever get old?

“Not yet anyways,” Wootton said. “We’ve spent the past couple of years doing SCCA ProSolo events. They give you a lot of seat time and many top drivers are at those events, which is a plus. It sort of lets you know where you are as a driver throughout the year as you get ready for Solo Nationals.”

Driving her 1999 Mazda Miata, Wootton turned the CSL battle into a rout Wednesday, turning in a 54.338 – the class’ best time of the day by more than 1.5 seconds. With that, Wootton beat out Tristan Kotzian-Coulter, of Hillsboro, Ore., who was 2.102 seconds behind in her Kumho/Loyal Kittson Excavating 1999 Miata. Marchell Fletcher, of Durango, Colo., was third in her SoloArts, LLC. 1999 Miata.

Rita Wilsey, of Lake Elsinore, Calif., made it a day to remember for lady Soloists everywhere as she became just the second woman in Solo Nationals history to win an Open class national championship, becoming the first to do so since Shauna Marinus won A Street Prepared in 1998.

Wilsey, in her Kumho 1989 Chevrolet Corvette, ran a magical 57.301 on her final attempt (more than a second faster than her previous best) to leap to the front of the pack in B Street Prepared over Lee Piccione, of Severn, Md., who led the class in his BimmerHaus/Autocrossers Inc. 1995 BMW M3 for most of the two-day stretch. Even though his best time (58.289) also came on his final run, Piccione could not touch Wilsey, who finished 0.499sec. in front. Doug Newhard, of Odenton, Md., was third, co-driving the Piccione BMW.

Street Touring S was an absolute barnburner as Ken Motonishi, of Orange, Calif., overcame a first-day deficit to squeak by Kevin McCormick, of Lincoln, Calif. for the STS title. Motonishi, in his Kumho/King Motorsports 1989 Honda Civic Si, blasted the course on his second run Wednesday with a 55.894 – the best in the class. McCormick, also in a 1989 Honda Civic Si, answered back with his best effort of the weekend – a 56.008 – which put him 0.051sec. behind Motonishi.

Motonishi couldn’t top his previous mark on his last run, but neither could McCormick, who could only muster a 56.054, which left him in second. Andy Hollis, of Austin, Texas was third in his Soulspeed 1989 Honda Civic Si.

Starting the final day in sixth, Brandon Burkhart, of Kansas City, Mo., led a complete shakeup of the Street Touring Ultra podium as he tore his way through the STU ranks to win the class crown by 0.166sec. in his Dieman Motorsprots, ITM Computers 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX. Michael Neary, of Eldersburg, Md., was even more impressive Wednesday, posting a 61.692 (far and away the best time in the class) and torching his way to second behind Burkhart after a tough Tuesday had left him and his Nisus/Boolistic.com 1995 BMW M3 in 17 th. Jeffrey Vogel, of Tulsa, Okla., finished third in his Idiot Savant Motorsports 2004 Subaru WRX STi after beginning the day in fifth.

For the second straight year, Erick Kohler, of Arlington, Texas, won the Formula SAE class, and with it, the second Dr. Bob Woods Cup, which is given annually to the top-finishing student in the class.

Co-driving the University of Texas Arlington 2005 UTA Formula SAE ride with the award’s namesake, Kohler was never seriously challenged either day and cruised home with the win by 4.075 seconds over Mike Murray, of Ballwin, Mo., who was representing Missouri Rolla University . Dr. Bob Woods finished third for the second year in a row, 0.810sec. behind Murray .

In all, 38 champions were crowned Wednesday, closing out the first of two chapters in this year’s Solo Nationals event.

Thursday ran under much of the same conditions that befuddled other Soloists on Tuesday. If there was a positive to running in the cool and damp conditions, it may have been the resulting separation, or lack thereof, between several class leaders and the rest of their respective fields.

A Solo National Champion in 2001, B Stock Ladies competitor Anna Hedly-Goeke, of Kirkland, Wash., improved her time with each attempt in her Team Butt Heat! 2005 Mazda RX-8, ending up with a 62.498, which was good enough for a slight 0.067sec. lead over Annie Bauer, of Renton, Wash., going into tomorrow. Bauer, in her Kumho/Bauerspeed Racing 1995 Porsche 968 (the only non RX-8 in the class), is in second by a much larger margin over current third-place holder Jennifer Isley, of Ladera Ranch, Calif., who is 1.849 seconds back in her Kumho Motorsports/Mazdaspeed 2005 Mazda RX-8.

While BSL is close, things are nearly as tight in Street Touring Xtreme as Steve Rankins, of Huntersville, N.C., used a fantastic first run (66.008) to jump on top of the class leaderboard with one day remaining. In his Boxer4racing/Subaru/Continental 2000 Subaru Impreza RS, Rankins leads the motor-force.com 1992 BMW 325is driven by Tommy Regan, of Leander, Texas, by just 0.085sec. Joshua Sortor, of Glendale, Ariz., isn’t far behind in third, trailing Regan in his Progressauto.com/Yokohama/5Zig 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX by only 0.163sec.

A Mazda tops more than one class as Peter Maassardjian, of Escondido, Calif., has his Carvin/Mazda/Hoosier/ARE/7part 1993 Mazda RX-7 in front of the B Prepared ranks by 0.139sec. over co-driver Jeff Kielsel, of Poway, Calif. Stan Whitney, of Frisco, Texas, is further back in third place after day one, trailing Kiesel by 0.606sec. in his LG Motorsports/Janco/ARE 2004 Chevrolet Corvette. Running the oldest car in the class (Reliable Car Shop 1966 Chevrolet Corvette), Randy Dale Herrick, of Topeka, Kan., is fourth, 0.523sec. behind Whitney and 1.268 seconds off of Maassardjian’s pace.

Of continental U.S. competitors, A Stock competitor Paul Kozlak, of Litchfield, Maine, may have traveled the farthest to come to Topeka . At least through the first day of his class’ competition, the trip appears to have been worth it for the seven-time National Champ as his Red Haus Racing 1997 Porsche 993 leads AS by 0.136sec. over two-time B Stock Champ Jason Saini, of Lake Forest, Ill.

Saini, in his over6racing.com/Motorsport-Exchange 2001 Honda S2000, won B Stock in 2003 and last year and has a 0.531sec. advantage over third-place driver Mike Bullis, of Lake in the Hills, Ill., in his Frohman Racing/R&R Autoglass 1995 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1.

After winning the Hawk Performance Super Challenge portion of Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo National Series Finale last weekend, James Gunn-Wilkinson, of San Diego, Calif., is halfway to making his Topeka stay a lot sweeter. With three runs remaining, Gunn-Wilkinson, in his Maxwell Racing/Kumho 2002 Porsche GT2, holds a sizable 1.348sec. lead over Geoff Newman, of Brier, Wash. (Fordahl/Barstow/Netversant 1999 Porsche 911). Jeff Barstow, of Federal Way, Wash., is co-driving the Newman Porsche and is 0.637sec. behind his teammate.

The 2005 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships come to a close Friday as the final 32 classes crown their champions. Competition begins will finish in Friday afternoon at Forbes Field.

(this article was written by Curtis Kitchen and taken from speedtv.com)