First Winners of 2006 Tire Rack SCCA National Tour Crowned at Ft. Myers

For Immediate Release

 

First Winners of 2006 Tire Rack SCCA National Tour 

Crowned at Ft. Myers

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (Feb. 24, 2006) - More than 200 drivers took to the
Buckingham Airfield course in Ft. Myers, Fla. this past weekend,
signaling the official start of the 2006 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National
Tour season.

 

And those who flocked to the Sunshine State for good weather in addition
to great competition, got exactly what they wanted as temperatures
climbed into the lower 80s with no precipitation.

 

The good conditions, along with the already high level of excitement
coming with the season opener, led to several tight battles.

 

All four B Stock drivers who received a trophy definitely earned it last
weekend as Aaron Buckley, of Charlotte, N.C., came out of the pile with
a win in the Timeless Machines 2004 Mazda RX-8 by 0.065-sec. over Dr.
Bryan Hertweck, of Greensboro, N.C., who co-drove with Buckley.  Richard
Beecher, of Davie, Fla., was third in another 2004 RX-8, just 0.093-sec.
behind Hertweck, while Dennis Sparks, of Madison, Ala., was fourth in
yet another RX-8, this one the www.teamTAC.org <http://www.teamtac.org/>
entry.  He finished 0.174-sec. off of Beecher's pace.

 

B Street Prepared was nearly as tight as local competitor James Ink, of
Fort Myers, Fla., squeezed ahead of Michael King, of Jacksonville, Fla.
Ink, driving his 1991 Corvette ZR-1, overcame a couple of cone-filled
runs to take the victory by a mere 0.050-sec. over King, who drove the 
www.miamimapstore.com <http://www.miamimapstore.com/>  2005 Subaru
Impreza WRX STi.  Bruce Wentzel, of Milford, Mich., was well back in
third in a 1989 Chevrolet Corvette, 3.556 seconds off of King's pace.   

 

In D Stock, Sam Krauss, of Stratford, Conn., picked up the class' first
National Tour win of the season, taking the victory by 0.810-sec. in his
ileagle racing/tintedtails.com 1998 Eagle Talon.  Carl Wener, of
Montreal, Quebec (Canada), made his long trip south worth it by
finishing second in the TRAC Racing/Motol/Gransport 1997 Acura Integra
Type R.  Jeff Robinson, of Hilliard, Ohio, was third, coming in 1.492
seconds behind Wener in his Hilliard Kumon Center 1997 Acura Type R.  

 

Turning in six runs over two days without hitting a single cone,
four-time Solo National Champion and reigning G Stock champion Mark
Chiles, of Mount Joy, Pa., took top honors in G Stock, driving the Mini
of Charleston/MiniUSA.com/Sirius Satellite Radio 2005 Mini Cooper S to a
convincing win by 1.181 seconds.  Matthew Jensen, of Terre Haute, Ind.,
finished as runner-up in the Way Motor Works 2005 Mini Cooper S, and
Thomas Austin, of Tallahassee, Fla., was third, 1.543 seconds behind
Jensen in the miniusa.com 2005 Mini Cooper S.  Overall, Mini Coopers
took the top eight positions out of 12 entries.  

 

It was a Mini that took the top spot in G Stock Ladies as well, as Jodi
Bradley, of Atlanta, Ga., drove her 2006 model to the win by 3.013
seconds over Diane Wood-Austin, of Tallahassee, Fla., who competed in
another Mini.  Nikki Lindell, of Altamonte Springs, Fla., was third in
her 2000 Toyota Celica GT.  

 

Steven Rankins, of Huntersville, N.C., unleashed his boxer4racing.com
2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STi and won Street Touring Ultra, beating out
the P+L Motorsports/Washburn Academy 2004 Subaru WRX STi driven by Dale
Bahr, of West Salem, Wis., by 0.596-sec. David Bruener, of Port Edwards,
Wis., made it a class sweep of the top three spots for Subaru, finishing
just 0.041-sec. behind Bahr in another 2004 STi.  

 

*NOTE: A protest was filed upon completion of Sunday's first heat
concerning the course layout.  The protest was upheld, which led to an
annulment of all Sunday times.  As of this release date, an appeal of
that decision has been filed and the Solo Events Board (SEB) will
consider the appeal as quickly as possible in order to issue a final
ruling.  

 

-30-

 

Photo Credit: Digital Race Photography (c) 2005

Photo Caption: Michael King (shown here at the 2005 Tire Rack SCCA Solo
National Championships in Topeka, Kan.) just missed out on the BSP win
at Ft. Myers last weekend, finishing 0.050-sec. behind the class'
winner, James Ink.

 

Curt K.
_______________
Curtis Kitchen
Public Relations Manager
Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Inc.
ckitchen@scca.com  
800-770-2055