Tire Rack SCCA Solo Tour Reaches San Diego

SAN DIEGO, April 7, 2011: The Tire Rack� SCCA Solo National Tour spent last weekend in the sun of San Diego, and while Qualcomm Stadium isn’t directly on the beach, the paved parking lots were once again a popular destination for Soloists.

Hosted by the San Diego Region SCCA, the Qualcomm Stadium site is a favorite among National Tour competitors. The site, known for its elevation change, was utilized by course designers Jon Lugod and Jeff Kiesel to develop on and off-camber elements for all 260 drivers.

It turned out to be a perfect weekend for the Kiesel family, from Poway, Calif. While Jeff won the E Modified class in his 2010 Goodyear Tire/Racing Beat KFR Turbo Sprite, wife Shawn using the same car to take the win in E Modified Ladies. Not content with Mom and Dad taking all of the accolades, the brother and sister combination of Zak and Kaila Kiesel swept the top-two positions in the Formula Junior B class, sharing a 2010 seventh-gear.com Nelson Special.

The weekend wasn’t all about the Kiesel family, however.

Gary Thomason, of Oceanside, Calif., shod his 2004 Goodyear Porsche GT3 with a new R-compound set of tires and took a Super Stock class win. Thomason was in a hot battle with Matthew Braun, of Northville, Mich., who made a hard charge on the second day of runs in a 2005 PowerPlug Lotus Elise. Braun didn’t make a clean run on the first day, and ended up 0.718-second short of Thomason’s combined time.

The Street Touring and Street Touring R classes shared the honors this weekend, with 22 competitors each – making the dominance of each of the class winners even more impressive. Jonathan Lugod, of Oceanside, Calif., ran away with the ST win in his 1991 C2 Motorsports/RPMuffler Honda Civic Si by 2.058 seconds over Sebastian Rios in a 1989 ProParts USA/Blind Squirrel Racing Honda Civic Si. In STR, San Diego’s Michael Heinitz took a hometown win in a 1995 Mazda Miata by 2.653 seconds over Glen Hernandez, of Marysville, Wash., in a 1995 Fat Cat Motorsports/PDM Racing Mazda Miata.

The A Street Prepared class showed what the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour is all about, when a 1965 Lotus Elan in the hands of Ted Lewis, from New River, Ariz., topped a collection of late-model sports cars including Porsche 911, Lotus Elise and Exiges, and Dodge Vipers. Lewis held on to a 0.074-second win over Brian Peters, driving a 2010 Hoosier/Evolution/BWP Performance Porsche 911.

The boys in the H Stock class learned a lesson in San Diego when Barbara LeRoy-Boehme drove her 2010 MiniUSA.com Mini Cooper to a 1.118-second win in class.

The Tire Rack Solo National Tour moves back across the country for its next event, the Atlanta National Tour, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, May 7-8.

For full results from the San Diego National Tour and more information on all upcoming Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour events, visit www.scca.com/solo.

A direct link to results for the Houston National Tour is available at http://www.scca.com/eventresults.aspx?event=17113&hub=3.