Uyeda Wheels and Deals to Win at The Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo in Wendover
WENDOVER, Utah (May 23, 2005) - Last year, The Tire Rack(r) SCCA ProSolo National Series competitor Jason Uyeda made nearly $6000 at the blackjack tables in West Wendover. The tables weren't nearly as kind this time around, but the weekend was still profitable for the driver from West Hills, Calif., as he turned up the wick enough in his Neversoft Entertainment 2003 Porsche Boxter S to win the Hawk Performance Super Challenge at Wendover Airport. In all, it was truly a "double-down" weekend for Uyeda as he also claimed his first A Stock win of the season, surpassing the two AS runner-ups he had posted thus far in '05. Uyeda got some help from Street Touring X winner Josh Sorter, of Glendale, Ariz., in the Super Challenge Final. Sorter held an early advantage off the start, but watched Uyeda's Boxter take the lead at the midway point. After switching sides, a late bobble on the second pass by Sorter in his Progressauto.com/Yokohama 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX sealed the victory for Uyeda. Street Touring S frontrunner Ken Motonishi, of Orange, Calif., took third place in the Kumho/www.redshiftmotorsports.com 1989 Honda Civic Si. Mary Medicus, of Lafayette, Colo., won her first-ever Ladies Challenge after qualifying second in the Advanced Spine/Built-By-Bones 2005 Mini Cooper S, taking out multi-time Solo National Champion Patty Tunnell, of Superior, Colo., in the semifinal round and then Teresa Neidel-McKee in the Final. The Ladies Challenge title looked to be Neidel-McKee's to win as the showdown pitted her A.R.E./Sias Tuning/7 Parts 1993 Mazda RX7 against the Medicus Mini. True to form, the RX7 bolted to the early lead. In the return slaloms, however, it appeared that Neidel-McKee became slightly tentative, possibly because she had encountered cone trouble there earlier in the weekend. The short slowdown allowed Medicus to bolt past and earn the victory. Tunnell, in her Bimmerhaus/Hoosier/H&R Springs 2005 Mini Cooper S, took third. With three class wins apiece in just four events, D Stock driver Kevin Youngers, of Greeley, Colo., and B Stock competitor Ron Bauer, of Renton, Wash., are setting up to wage quite the battle for most wins by year's end. Youngers rebounded from a second-place finish in Atwater to earn the top spot in D Stock at Wendover, but barely. It took a scoring audit, but Youngers' fastest time of 38.204 proved to be a clean run whereas a cone had been called earlier. The scoring adjustment squeaked Youngers' 2002 BMW 330Ci past the Evolution Driving Schools/Fordahl Motorsports 2003 BMW 330Ci driven by Glen Hernandez, of Marysville, Wash., by a mere 0.044-sec. Karen Kraus, of Brownsville, Md., made the long trek west for the weekend, cut 1.5 seconds from her time and came out of the Beehive state with a bronze trophy - 0.716-sec. behind Hernandez while co-driving for Youngers. Bauer, in the Kumho/Bauerspeed Racing 1995 Porsche 968, fought his way to the top of the event's largest class (courtesy of both C Stock and F Stock entries being bumped into the BS field), winning by 0.362-sec. over Randall Noll, of Carlsbad, Calif., after he melted 1.2 seconds from his Saturday times. After Bauer's impressive driving resigned Noll's 2004 Mazda RX8 to second, they watched as Joe Goeke, of Kirkland, Wash., put his just days-old Team Butt Heat! 2005 RX8 (complete with temporary tags) to the test and came away happy with a third-place finish. Alan Dahl, of Federal Way, Wash., has won all three ProSolo events he has entered in 2005 (he skipped Atlanta) after running away with the top spot in H Stock. Dahl's 1995 Audi 90 Quattro was hardly tested this weekend as it topped the field by 1.6 seconds. Jeff Jacobs, of Philadelphia, Pa., was second in the Mini of Charleston/MINIUSA.com 2003 Mini Cooper, followed by Keith Brown, of Des Moines, Iowa, in the Team RH/Jim's Detail/MiniUSA 2002 Mini Cooper. Competition was heated in Street Touring S all weekend long, but Motonishi was as cool as the other side of the pillow, earning his third class victory of the year in as many events as he calmly extended his Saturday lead of 0.007-sec. over Kevin McCormick, of Lincoln, Calif., to a final advantage of 0.143-sec. McCormick, like Motonishi, drove a 1989 Honda Civic Si, and finished 0.106-sec. ahead of a third Civic Si driven by Jesse Caudill, of Littleton, Colo. After two The Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo National Series events in the past three weeks, action is now on hold until June 25-26 at the Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport in Oscoda, Mich., the fifth round of seven. The next The Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour event is slated for June 11-12 in Toledo, Ohio, at the Toledo Express Airport.