SOLO: Denver ProSolo event summary

Dietz Takes Second Challenge Win of 2006 Over Record Denver ProSolo Field

DENVER, Colo. (July 24, 2006) -- While seven of SCCA's finest Soloists moved to the top of their class points and Colorado drivers earned nearly half of the event's trophies, it was Kevin Dietz, of Federal Way, Wash., who took the biggest prize at this weekend's seventh round of The Tire Rack® SCCA ProSolo National Series at Denver International Airport.

With an event record 182 competitors on hand for the two-day competition, Dietz was the one at the top of the mountain in the shadows of the Rockies after beating out the 31 other drivers in his C Stock class Jim's Detail Shops/Evolution Pontiac Solstice to take the Hawk Super Challenge. It was Dietz's second Hawk Super Challenge win of the season, joining his victory at the opening round in Fontana, Calif.

In becoming the first two-time Challenge winner, Dietz ruined what could have been a perfect weekend for Paul Brown. Brown, of Los Alamos, N.M., took home his third E Stock class win of the season in his Isotope Wheels/Automotive Professional/Hoosier Toyota MR2 by a stout 2.311 seconds, inheriting top qualifier status for the Hawk Super Challenge after event Chief Steward Bob Tunnell excused himself from that portion of the competition. Despite the class win, the top qualifier status and the event's only perfect reaction time in one run, Brown could not top Dietz in the final battle, and he settled for second.

In the challenge-within-a-challenge portion of the weekend, Erik Strelnieks was the top Honda finisher in the Super Challenge, thus earning the Honda Challenge trophy, and Jeremy Johnson earned the similar honor in the Subaru Challenge. Danielle Engstrom added her second Ladies Challenge win of 2006 to accompany her Peru, Ind. victory. Tyler Faucet took the Bonus Challenge, and Lawrence Edwards earned a free ProSolo entry for being the top finishing rookie.

In class competition leading up to the Challenge portion of the weekend, several drivers made big jumps in the point standings as the season winds down toward the finale in Topeka this September.

In A Stock, Colorado Springs' Bob Klingler piloted his BK Racing Honda S2000 to a 0.596-second victory over Barry Ott. The second win of Klingler's season moves him into a first-place tie in AS points with Scott McHugh.

Eric Jones, of Austin, Texas, narrowly pulled off the same feat in B Stock, beating Brian Coulson in his Without A Clue Racing Mazda RX-8 by just 0.099-second. With two more rounds plus the finale remaining, Jones joined Carter Thompson atop the standings.

Andy Hollis, of Austin, Texas, may be stuck at 36 Street Touring® S2 points after starting the season off with two second-place finishes in the first three events, but he leads all drivers in class wins, earning his fifth of the season, and the fourth in STS2 driving his Soulspeed/SRT/GRM Mazda Miata.

Other drivers who moved atop their respective class point standings with wins this weekend included: Joshua Sortor, of Surprise, Ariz., in his Street Touring X class Yokohama/Progressauto.com Subaru WRX; Mark Madarash, of Red Oak, Texas, in his E Street Prepared-class Pontiac Trans-Am; Stan Whitney, of Frisco, Texas, in his X Prepared LG Motorsports/Janco/ARE Chevrolet Corvette; the aforementioned Tunnell, of Superior, Colo., in his BimmerHaus/Hoosier/H&R Springs BMW M3 in Street Modified; and Engstrom, who pilotied her "Thanks Donnie!" Toyota MR2 Spyder to the Ladies 2 class win over Patty Tunnell to tie Tunnell for first in season points.

Also of note, Kinch Reindl, of Denver, took the closest class win of the weekend, beating Mark Alan Smith, also of Denver, in D Stock by only 0.037-second in his ww.riptidehosting.com Acura Integra R. It was the second-straight week the pair battled to the last thousandth, as Reindl edged Smith by just 0.002-second in last weekend's Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour for the win.

Additionally, Graeme Weston-Lewis, of Loveland, Colo., took his first-career ProSolo class win in G Stock, besting veterans Beth McClure-Strelnieks, of Austin, Texas, and Anthony Savini, of Cochranville, Pa.

Round Eight of The Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo National Series is set for Packwood, Wash., Aug. 5-6. For series information and event results, please visit www.scca.com.

-scca-