Strelnieks Breaks Super Challenge Streak At The Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo in Oscoda
For Immediate Release Strelnieks Breaks Super Challenge Streak At The Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo in Oscoda OSCODA, Mich. (June 29, 2005) - Going into The Tire Rack(r) SCCA ProSolo National Series event last weekend at Oscoda-Wurtsmith airport, the Hawk Performance Super Challenge had not seen a repeat winner in 14 consecutive events. Erik Strelnieks, of Austin, Texas, simply made sure that 15 wasn't going to happen, handily winning the Super Stock class and earning the fourth seed in the 32-person Challenge before completing the weekend sweep in his Lonestarcraft.com/Jungle Cat Racing 2004 Chevrolet Z06. G Stock competitor Brian Garfield, of Mount Airy, Md., finished runner-up to Strelnieks in the Challenge in the Mini of Towson 2005 Mini Cooper S, while Brian Johns, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., rebounded to earn third place in his Remax/ABC Plumbing 1995 Mazda Miata after losing out to Johns in the semifinal round. It was an all-around perfect weekend to be a Strelnieks, as Erik's wife, Beth McClure-Strelnieks, won the Ladies Challenge in the Mini of Towson/www.lonestaqrcraft.com 2005 Mini Cooper S over Danielle Engstrom, of Frankfort, Ill., who piloted the McGeorge Toyota 2004 Toyota MR2 Spyder. Another Austin, Texas competitor, Kyung Wootton, had spent some time this season notching impressive class victories in the Open classes, but came back to Ladies action for Oscoda and defeated Patty Tunnell, of Superior, Colo., to take home Ladies Challenge third place honors in her 1999 Mazda Miata. It's official - Kevin Youngers is back. After a hectic schedule left ProSolo results below his standard in 2004, Youngers has dominated D Stock in 2005 with Oscoda's class win by 0.225-sec. in his BimmerHaus/CR Racing 2002 BMW 330Ci his fourth in five events (his only "hiccup" a second-place finish at Atwater). Matthew Grainger, of Hopkinsville, Ky., wound up second in DS after a red-light on his final attempt Sunday in his ACURA 1997 Acura Integra, while Mark Smith, of Denver, Colo., in his SCR Performance 2004 Volkswagen Golf, finished third. Jeff Jacobs, of Philadelphia, Pa., missed last round after thunderstorms forced flight delays to Toledo, but he made up for that lost time in Oscoda last weekend with a solid 0.314-sec. G Stock win in his Mini of Charleston/Miniusa.com/Helix 2005 Mini Cooper S. Behind Brian Garfield's second-place class finish, Mike Eckert, of Powell, Ohio wound up third in his Kumho/TRD/Koni 2001 Toyota Celica. Oscoda provided a second Street Touring S win of the year for Corey Ridgick, of Allentown, Pa., who overcame two red-light runs in his Phoenix Performance 2000 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS that finished his class weekend. Even with the trouble, Ridgick beat out Andy Hollis, of Austin, Texas, who came in just 0.191-sec. behind Ridgick in his Soulspeed 1989 Honda Civic Si. Mike King, of Jacksonville, Fla., won the Honda Street Challenge for being the top Street class finisher in the Super Challenge, but came in second in Street Touring X thanks to Courtney Cormier, of Richmond, Va., who took the top spot by 0.106-sec. in his 2003 Mini Cooper S. King's www.mapcomaps.com <http://www.mapcomaps.com/> 2003 Subaru WRX was more than a half-second better than third-place finisher Andy Basham, of New Albany, Ohio, in his understeer.com 2003 BMW 330i. The sixth round of the 2005 The Tire Rack(r) SCCA ProSolo National Series is set for Aug. 6-7 at the Toledo Express Airport in Toledo, Ohio. For more information, including full results from the Oscoda event and scheduling for upcoming SCCA Solo events, visit www.scca.com <http://www.scca.com/> . -30- Photo Credit: Andrea Stewart (c) 2005 Photo Caption: Erik Strelnieks (shown here at El Paso, Texas) ended the Hawk Super Challenge streak of different winners at 14 this past weekend at Oscoda. Curt K. _______________ Curtis Kitchen Public Relations Manager Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Inc. ckitchen@scca.com 800-770-2055