Clements Becomes Youngest Super Challenge Winner in ProSolo History

PACKWOOD, Aug. 3, 2010: The penultimate round of the Tire Rack® SCCA ProSolo® National Series became a historic occasion when 16-year-old Jonathan Clements, of Alta Loma, Calif., became the youngest Gumout Super Challenge winner in ProSolo history at the Packwood (Wash.) ProSolo, July 31 – Aug. 1.

Clements has only recently graduated from the Formula Junior program to his 2001 CRG Road Rebel Formula 125 machine, but it seemed that success in ProSolo was in the cards for the young driver. Clements was raised in a Solo family, with parents Mari and Eric and older brother Matthew participating in the program through the years.

The road to the championship was certainly not an easy one for the young driver, who earned the trip into the elimination round by topping his father by 0.146-second in the Formula 125 class.

Once into the elimination round, Clements knocked off the third place qualifier in the Bump Class Two, Geoff Clark’s 2003 Taco Time/CiroDesign Mitsubishi Evolution. In the rounds of 16 and eight, Clements made work of a pair of Super Stock competitors, dispatching third-place Stephen Hui (2006 Lotus Elise) and class-winner James Paulson (2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06) to advance to the semi-finals.

To advance to the finals, Clements had to face the previous event’s Gumout Super Challenge champ, Andy Hollis, of Austin, Texas. Hollis took the Street Touring class in his 1989 Soulspeed/GRM/PowerCurve/FTW Honda Civic Si by 0.556-second over his wife, Ann, who appears to be fully recovered from early-season shoulder surgery.

Clements advanced to the finals to face B Stock class winner Scott McHugh, of Santa Clarita, Calif, in a 1989 Kumho Tire Activon Chevrolet Corvette. McHugh’s semi-final battle came in a B Stock rematch against third-place in class Adam Ruff, of Oregon City, Ore. McHugh again topped Ruff’s 2007 Pontiac Solstice GXP to move into the Championship battle.

Hollis topped Ruff in the consolation runoff for third place.

For the second-consecutive ProSolo event, Hollis won the Honda Tuner Challenge by being the highest finishing driver in the Gumout Super Challenge. He also earned the right to square off against the second-highest Honda driver for the Honda Showdown and a shot at an extra prize.

That driver? His teammate, at home and at the track – Ann. Since the two share a car, Ann expected to run alone and settle the Showdown by comparing times. Andy, however, had a different idea and surprised her by staging seconds later in a 1989 Honda Civic Si that he borrowed from Jake Nygaard.

Despite the gamesmanship, Andy only disrupted Ann into laughing down the front straight as she pulled away for the win while Andy attempted to learn a new car in just a couple of runs.

For the second-consecutive year, Laura Molleker, from nearby Granite Falls, Wash., won the Ladies Challenge in a 2010 Air Testing & Design Ford Mustang GT500.

In addition to the elimination rounds, competition was fierce among the 135 competitors in the shadow of Mount Ranier. In addition to their strong showing in the elimination round, the Super Stock and B Stock classes were tight early in the weekend. Paulson topped teammate Ryan Otis, of Scappoose, Ore., in Super Stock, where they shared the car, by just 0.053-second. In B Stock, McHugh nipped the 2007 Pontiac Solstice GXP of Alan Dahl, from Federal Way, Wash., by just 0.095-second.

Tom Kotzian, of Gladstone, Ore., piloted a 2006 MINI Cooper S to the Street Modified FWD class victory over Sead Causevic, of Burnaby, B.C., driving a 1980 Shift Autosport Volkswagen Scirocco by 0.108-second.

In Super Street Modified, San Diego’s Randy Chase squeezed out a 0.181-second win driving his 1991 CaseCam/The Adrenaline Gallery Toyota MR2 against Duke Langley, of Umatilla, Ore. Langley drove a 1990 Dukes Auto Chevrolet Corvette.