Toppled Cones Lead to Surprise Wins at San Diego National Tour
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (March 19, 2008) -- The San Diego Region welcomed
Soloists to Qualcomm Stadium this past weekend for the second stop on the
2008 Tire RackŪ Solo National Tour.
The new bar code driver identification system continued to operate
flawlessly and while rain threatened to hamper Sunday's events, it
instead came early Saturday during the final runs and gave everyone a
damp course to start with on Sunday.
And a challenging course it was, put together by D Stock driver Carl
Miller. While it may have been a touch slower than previous San Diego
Tour courses, there were no complaints from the more than 250 entrants
who appreciated its character.
Gary Thomason had a rough start and end to the weekend, collecting two
cones on his first Saturday run and then another three in his final Super
Stock run on Sunday. It made for a tight finish between Thomason's
Kumho Porsche 911 GT3 and Jason Munchhof's Lotus Elise, with
Thomason, of Oceanside, Calif., taking the win by 0.649-second.
Closer still was the A-Stock showdown between Scott McHugh, of Santa
Clarita, Calif., and Joey Schilling, of Lakewood, Calif. After a DNF in
his first run on Saturday, followed by a cone penalty on the next run,
Schilling did what he needed to do on Sunday, posting fast time of the
day. Unfortunately for Schilling and his Dial ONE Schilling Plumbing
Honda S2000, it wasn't enough, and McHugh took AS by 0.048-second
in a Kumho/McRacin Chevrolet Corvette. The lone female in the AS open
class, Rita Wisely, of Lake Elsinore, Calif., followed 0.165-second
behind Schilling in a Kumho/Skin Perfect Chevrolet Corvette.
A-Street Prepared was a spirited battle between Kevin Dietz, of Federal
Way, Wash., and Ken Motonishi, of Orange, Calif. Dietz'
Evolution/Realty Executives Chevrolet Corvette was the faster car on
Saturday, but lost considerable ground to Motonishi's Kumho
Chevrolet Corvette on Sunday thanks to some cone trouble. Motonishi would
take the win by a slim 0.110-second. Meanwhile, Randy Chase, of San
Diego, Calif., nearly stole the runner-up spot from Dietz, finishing only
0.060-second back in his ChaseCam/Lotus Garage/Blackwatch Lotus Elise.
Ryan Buetzer, of Long Beach, Calif., trounced the C Stock competition in
his Evolution Driving School/TimBo Motorsports Mazda Miata, including his
own co-driver, Tim Albin, of Torrance, Calif. Buezter took the win by a
massive 4.613 seconds.
Making the trek from Des Moines, Wash., Keith Brown jumped out of his D
Prepared Mazda Miata to run the family Mini Cooper S with wife Kristi.
The couple swept G Stock and G Stock Ladies in the Chase Race/Tight n
Tidy Racing Mini Cooper S.
The largest class of the weekend, C Street Prepared, was won by Scott
Fraser, of San Jose, Calif. Fraser's Siastuning/A.R.E. Mazda Miata
took a 0.908-second win over the MiataRoadster.com/HiDef Racing Mazda
Miata of defending National Champion Bill Schenker, from Los Angeles, who
might have had a better shot had it not been for those four cone
penalties.
Street TouringŪ Ultra Ladies competitor Annie Bauer earned
Saturday's Pace Lap Challenge award for the most consistent runs of
the day and B Stock Ladies entrant Jennifer Isley took the honor on
Sunday. Bauer's three runs varied by only 0.277-second on Saturday,
Isley's by a mere 0.215-second on Sunday. Both are now entered to
win a new Pace PursuitŪ trailer at the end of the season.
Also handed out at the Tire Rack Awards Ceremony hosted by Bridgestone
Motorsports were the Solo Performance Specialties Top Performer Awards,
which went to A-Stock's runner-up Schilling and Street TouringŪ S
winner Jason Flores for both coming from behind to claim their class
trophies.
Soloists have more than a month off before the next Tire Rack Solo
National Tour stop, May 3 -- 4, at Texas Motor Speedway, in Fort
Worth, Texas. The Tire Rack ProSolo Series will kick off shortly however,
March 29 -30, in El Toro, Calif. Full results from the San Diego Tour and
information about upcoming Solo events are available at
www.scca.com/solo.
-credit: scca
