RALLY: RallyCross round two Homestead summary

SCCA RallyCross National Challenge Invades Sunshine State

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (March 10, 2009) -- From the cold and ice of New England to warm and balmy Homestead Miami Speedway in Florida, the second stop of the 2009 SCCA RallyCross National Challenge wrapped up Feb. 28 -- March 1.

Setting up in a vast parking lot outside of Homestead Miami Speedway, the Rally-enthusiastic Florida Region welcomed the SCCA RallyCross National Challenge as part of its regional RallyCross weekend. The stop is a unique one for the series as the lot is composed of hard coral, which is notorious for eating tires, and a surface that National Challenge competitors will not see again for the remainder of the season.

Many class winners made sure to get a good head start on the competition in day one, including Carlos Filipe, who took the Stock All-Wheel Drive win in a Subaru WRX STi. Filipe's times were quick enough to place him ahead of both Performance class winners on the final tally. In Stock Front-Wheel Drive, Bruce Hollander in a Mini Cooper S just edged the Mini Cooper of Cahit Doogan in a close battle. The sole SUV entered in the event, a Jeep Cherokee, driven by Emmanuel Alphonse, earned the Stock Rear-Wheel drive win.

The overall fastest drive of the weekend came from Modified Two-Wheel Drive winner Huan Cardozo, whose Ford Focus outpaced Nick Martinez' Mitsubishi Mirage for the class win. Modified Four-Wheel drive was also claimed by a Ford Focus, this one piloted by Duncker Felix, who took a commanding win over second-place Alphonsoo Lopez in a Toyota Celica.

Small compacts earned big wins in the Performance category. M Lee Culpepper took home the Performance Rear-Wheel Drive win in a Mazda MX-5 over the Ford Mustang of Derek Soutar. The Performance Rear-Wheel Drive victory went to Tim Mincey Sr., piloting a Honda delSol.

The SCCA RallyCross National Challenge stays below the Mason-Dixon Line for Round Three, which is scheduled for April 26 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., site of last year's RallyCross National Championship. For more information on RallyCross and full results from Homestead, visit www.scca.com/rally.

-credit: scca