SOLO: National Tour Vail Valley summary

SCCA Solo Takes Advantage of Once in a Lifetime Opportunity for Vail Valley Tour

VAIL VALLEY, Colo. (Aug. 6, 2009) -- Soloists were treated to what was likely the smoothest concrete of their careers, as the Edwards Regional Airport hosted the Tire Rack Vail Valley SCCA Solo National Tour, Aug. 1 -- 2, also serving as the Western States Championship.

With the main runway undergoing re-paving and the airport closed to commercial traffic, the Solo community was presented with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hold an event on perfect concrete, the kind that, as one veteran put is "autocrossers lust after while looking out the window of a commercial jet pulling away from the gate." The rare opportunity came about, thanks to the work of the Colorado and Continental Divide Regions who had already held Tire Rack Street Survival programs at the airport in conjunction with the local sheriff's department and rotary club. A temporary runway was still up and running for private jet traffic, which created some stellar snapshots for those who brought a camera.

Adding to the uniqueness of the event was the fact that it had been declared the Western States Championship event, one part of the new Solo Triad Award. To win the Solo Triad Award, a Solo driver must win: the Western or Eastern States Championship event, a Divisional Solo Championship and a Solo National Championship all in the same class. The added incentive made for some fierce competition in Vail Valley.

In C Street Prepared, Tom Kubo, of Folsom, Calif., appeared to have a strong lead after day one behind the wheel of his Outlaw Graphics/Sias Tuning Mazda Miata, but day two was a completely different story. Kubo started the day with a coned run, followed by a DNF, leaving everything on the line for his final run. Bill Schenker, of Corona del Mar, Calif., capitalized in his MiataRoadster/OSGiken/ChaseCam Mazda Miata, entering a time more than half a second faster than the rest of the field on day two and taking the win by 0.071-second over Kubo.

Mark Mauro, of Denver, Colo., tried to pull a similar feat in X Prepared. After entering only one run on Saturday in a Cleanchoice/DetailsPlus Mazda RX-7, Mauro was third, but he came back strong on Sunday, turning in the only 48-second time in class. It wasn't enough to catch Christopher Dorsey, of Littleton, Colo., in his 034 EFI/Toyota/Hoosier Tires Toyota Corolla GTS, however, even though Dorsey coned away his second run of the day. Mauro fell just 0.021-second short of the XP win.

In a stunning turn of events in E Stock, Paul Brown, of Los Alamos, N.M., dropped from a strong first to third on day two of competition in his Isotope Racing Wheels/MidAtlantic Toyota MR2. Instead, it was his co-driver, Brian Haynes, of Los Alamos, N.M., who came away with the win by a scant 0.024-second over Barry Ott of Elizabeth, Colo., and his Mazda Miata R.

In the largest class of the weekend, Street Touring Ultra, Clint Child, of Glendale, Ariz., held the slimmest of leads after day one in his Dos Betos Racing Mitsubishi EVO. That lead was lost on day two as Child coned away on his first run and then became a little too cautious on his second. His final run of the day wasn't enough to stop Brian Meyer, of Wichita, Kan., and his Cobb Tuning/Racecomp Engineer Subaru WRX from overtaking him for the STU win by 0.277-second.

The competition was just as close in Street Touring Ultra Ladies. Amy Fair, of Fairview, Texas, looked like she'd be tough to catch in her Vorshlag/AST-USA/Yokohama Mitsubishi EVO, but Angie Hellstern, of Salt Lake City, Utah, tried her best in a Cobb Tuning.com Subaru STi. Hellstern pushed the Subaru to the limit on day two, coning away her first run, but setting fast time on her last. In the end, it wasn't enough, and Fair took the win by 0.662-second.

Doug Rowse, of Phoenix, Ariz., is still wondering what might have been in Vail Valley. Chasing Mark Smith of Denver, Colo., in his SCR/Ska Brewing/Bildon/KW/SPE Volkswagen for the D Street Prepared win, Rowse coned away two of his three runs on day two, with his one clean run only a hair slower than Smith. The final tally showed Rowse and his Ted Lewis Enterprises BMW 330i just 0.240-second shy of Smith.

The Street Modified classes produced extreme opposite outcomes. Tyler Faucett, of Fort Collins, Colo., in a BMW 328i took the SM win by more than three seconds, as did Michael Feldpusch, of Broomfield, Colo., in Super Street Modified, driving a DRE/SCR/Generic-Racing Chevrolet Corvette. In Street Modified FWD, however, it was Dylan Smith, of Littleton, Colo., in a TMSS Inc. Honda Civic DX narrowly edging Nicholas Caruso, of Denver, Colo, in a SCR Performance/Corbeau Volkswagen Jetta by 0.092-second, with third-place finisher Mark Foust, of Bailey, Colo., only another 0.080-second behind in his Apex Racing Group Honda Civic.

All the Tire Rack Vail Valley National Tour winners have completed one part of the Solo Triad Award. Full results are available at www.scca.com/solo. The event concludes the regular season for the Tire Rack Solo National Tour, as drivers must now wait it out until the Tire Rack Solo National Championships, Sept. 8 -- 11, in Lincoln, Neb., at the Lincoln Airpark.

-credit: scca