Article from SCCA.com

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 Rack® 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 Touring® 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 Pursuit® 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 Touring® 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 by clicking the orange Solo tab at the top of the page.