SOLO: National Tour Huntsville summary

Huntsville Solo National Tour Debut a Success

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (June 8, 2007) - Mother Nature smiled on the entrants for the inaugural Huntsville National Tour as rain clouds threatened the Milton Frank Stadium parking lot both days of competition, but never delivered as the weather stayed dry throughout the event.

First time Nationals course designer Charles Wright put together two very technical courses which looked wide open yet demanded precise vehicle positioning in order to maintain speed on course. Competitors who strayed off line by even a few inches found themselves hopelessly out of position down course.

Andy Hollis, of Austin, Texas, clinched the win in his 1992 Mazda Miata over 14 other competitors in a large STS2 class. Second-place competitor Rick Cone, of Lawrenceville, Ga., who finished day one 0.310-second behind Hollis, coned his final run on day two, to finish 1.160 seconds back. Darrin DiSimo, of Coral Springs, Fla., who recently came to the class after years of successful competition in C Stock, finished in third place, 0.546-second back, driving a 1989 Honda Civic CRX Si.

Mike King, of Jacksonville, Fla., in a Bridgestone-equipped 1989 Honda Civic Si smoked a 3.540 second win in the Street Touring X class with a time that would have produced a trophy in any of the Street Prepared classes. Bryce and Gary Merideth, of Ocoee, Fla., finished second and third in a co-driven 1997 BMW 328is. Gary Merideth ended up 0.507-second out of second.

X Prepared has come alive this year with an injection of new talent and equipment. Long time E Stock competitor and 2006 National trophy winner Jesse Naughton, of Atlanta, Ga., in a 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder held off a final run challenge by second-place competitor David Newman, of Allentown, Pa., in his 1970 Porsche 911, to win by 0.148 seconds.

Competition was intense in Super Stock as Brian Connors, of Philadelphia, Pa., driving a 2005 Lotus Elise extended a 0.131-second day one lead in the 13-car class to win by 0.549-second over Albert Chan, of Howell, Mich., in a 2003 Corvette Z06. Dennis Bay, of Livonia, Mich., also in a 2003 Corvette, was close on his heals in third, just 0.127-second behind. Steve Waters, of Smyrna, Ga., in yet another Corvette finished out the fourth and final trophy position only 0.123-second back.

Carter Thompson, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., took his second National Tour win of the season in B Stock driving a 2004 Mazda RX-8. Thompson defeated the Walnut Ridge Tour winner Asher Wunderl, of North Little Rock, Ark., in another RX-8 by 0.568-second. Falkville, Ala. native, and local favorite, Michael Cavanaugh took the third trophy in a 2007 Nissan 350Z, 0.947-second behind Wunderl.

On Saturday the Pace Hot Pursuit Award for the most consistant run times of the day went to Scott Bourne, of Georgetown, Ky., in H Stock. Darrin DiSimo, of Coral Springs, Fla., in STS2 was the Sunday recipient. Both Bourne and DiSimo are now entered to win a Pace Hot Pursuit® trailer.

The next stop on the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour is Moore Airfield in Massachutes for the Devens National Tour, June 9-10.

For full results from The Huntsville National Tour visit www.scca.com

-credit: scca