Seelig Takes First Hawk Super Challenge Win at ProSolo Finale

TOPEKA, Kan. (Sept. 23, 2006) - The winds were blustery and the weather unseasonable cold in the heartland, but none of the nearly 300 soloists who arrived for the SCCA Tire Rack (r) ProSolo Finale were going to let that get in the way of attacking one million square feet of freshly laid asphalt and hundreds of terrified cones at Heartland Park Topeka.

Making the most of the first ProSolo Finale to be held on asphalt since SCCA took over the sport, Robert Seelig, of Edmund, Okla., capped off his ProSolo season with a bang, winning his first ever Hawk Super Challenge behind the wheel of his Kumho/Carbotech/Prothane Honda Civic CRX Si.

Seelig bested C Street Prepared winner Eric Clements, of Alta Loma, Calif., in a lubedealer.com Mazda Miata, to take the final Hawk Super Challenge win of the season. Seelig qualified for the Challenge after finishing runner-up to Andy Hollis in the Street Touring(r) S2 class. Hollis, of Austin, Texas, finished third in the Challenge with his trusty Soulspeed/ART/GRM Mazda Miata, which was more than enough to make him the 2006 Hawk Super Challenge season points champion in addition to his STS2 title.

Beth McClure-Strelnieks, of Austin, Texas, experienced some sweet revenge in the Ladies Challenge. After finishing third in the Ladies 1 class to Meredith Brown, of Los Alamos, N.M., and Sierra Pedroza, of Round Rock, Texas, McClure-Strelnieks was able to knockoff both women in the Ladies Challenge. Driving the same Jungle Cat Racing/MiniUSA.com Mini Cooper of Pedroza, McClure-Strelnieks bested her teammate in the first round, and the Isotope Wheels/Automotive Pros Toyota MR2 of Brown in round two. The win gave McClure-Strelnieks the 2006 Ladies Challenge crown, while Brown's L1 victory gave her the class championship.

In Bonus Challenge action, it was Kevin Dietz, of Federal Way, Wash., coming out on top driving the JimsDetailShops/Evolution Schools C Stock Pontiac Solstice. Despite an early exit from the Bonus Challenge, B Street Prepared winner Harold Olsen, of Folsom, Calif., accumulated the most Bonus Challenge points in 2006 in his Les Schwab Tire Chevrolet Corvette GS.

The stunner of the day was Jonathan Roberts, of Richmond Hill, Ga., who started the weekend in a three-way tie for the A Stock points lead, but went on to dominate the AS class, putting together a 2.244 second margin of victory in his Barnes, Inc. Subaru STi, and earning himself class honors in 2006.

Entering the ProSolo Finale, GH Sharp of Kernersville, N.C., was tied for sixth in the G-Stock point standings, but a super-tight 0.060-second victory in his MINI of Charleston/MiniUSA.com MINI Cooper S catapulted him to a class title by a single point.

A similar tale played out in the C Stock class, where Joe Tharpe, of Marshalltown, Iowa, who had been absent from ProSolo competition since the Peru round in June, went from tied for fourth in class points to class champion by a mere two points, thanks to a 0.074-second win in his TireRack Pontiac Solstice. Tharpe's close victory came over his own teammate, Chris Harvey of Osceola, Ind.

To see results for all classes from the 2006 Tire Rack(r) SCCA ProSolo Finale, visit www.scca.com <http://www.scca.com/>