SCCA Solo Heads North for Finger Lakes National Tour

ROMULUS, June 17, 2009: With temperatures rising across the land, the time has come for the Tire Rack® SCCA Solo National Tour to head north, for milder summer climates. On June 13 – 14, the Tour made its way to the Seneca Army Depot, in Romulus, N.Y., for the Finger Lakes National Tour.

An afternoon rain shower on Saturday during heats three and four didn’t dampen the competition, particularly in Street Touring® where Adam Koback, of Barnesville, Pa., and Eric Chiang, of Burlington, Mass., seemingly traded spots with each run. Though Chiang and his FunHondas Racing Honda Civic were able to edge Koback on Saturday, a perfect final run gave Koback the ST win in his Honda Civic Si by 0.660-second.

The ST Ladies class was closer still, as Kristell Janusz, of Hunlock Creek, Pa., piloted a RedShift Motorsports Honda Civic to a 0.038-second win over Kathleen Barnes, of Tolland, Conn., who was co-driving Chiang’s FunHondas Racing Honda Civic.

In a super-sized A Stock class (18 cars), Dave Heinig, of Wilmington, Del., had nearly fallen out of trophy position after day one, but came back in a big way behind the wheel of his Pontaic Solstice GXP. As the only AS driver to hit the sub 54-second mark on Sunday, Heinig beat out the Optimal Office Technology Honda S2000 of Randy Petschauer, from Bellmore, N.Y., by 0.294-second. Ron Bistrais, of West Winsdsor, N.J., who had been the day one leader, fell to third in his Chevrolet Corvette.

The E Stock field was nearly as large as AS, with 17 drivers entered. Try as Toyota MR2 pilots James Feinberg, of Cary, N.C., and Jeff Anderson, of Arlington, Mass., might, they fell just short of catching Chris Kirkham, of Aliquippa, Pa., for the win in his Kirkham Bros. Racing Mazda Miata R.

Speaking of un-catchable, how did Sam Strano, of Knoxdale, Pa., take the F Stock win by more than five seconds in his Stranoparts.com/Captial Quest Mortage Ford Shelby Mustang? By entering a Sunday run nearly three seconds faster than anyone else, that’s how.

The competition was quite a bit closer in E Street Prepared, where Jimmie Perrin, of Kenmore, N.Y., showed what all-wheel drive could do in the face of American muscle. Driving the TeamHazardRally.com Subaru WRX, Perrin out-gunned the Stranoparts.com Chevrolet Camaro Z28 of Jonathan Wolff, from Wheatfield, N.Y., by a slim 0.227-second.

Longtime B Modified competitor Brad Fish, of Hilton, N.Y., had no trouble taking home the BM win in a 1981 Ralt RT-5. Fish had the competition covered all weekend, winning by 3.221 seconds over Bill Gendron, of Monson, Mass., in a Dragon Sr2.

The closest contest out of the winged creature classes came in F Modified, where day one leader Salvatore DiPompo, of Berlin, N.J., driving a Raptor F500 was nudged out of the top spot on day two by the Sharlay Machine and Fabrication Red Devil F440 of Brain Ciarlei, from Manlius, N.Y. Ciarlei took the win by only 0.128-second.