Veteran Soloists Excel at Tire Rack SCCA San Diego National Tour

For Immediate Release

 

Veteran Soloists Excel at Tire Rack(r) SCCA San Diego National Tour

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (March 6, 2006) - Though San Diego was the first Tire
Rack(r) SCCA Solo National Tour event west of the Mississippi River of
2006, and second overall, more than a couple veteran competitors
appeared to be in midseason form this weekend, taking their respective
classes by considerable margins at Qualcomm Stadium.

 

After finishing runner-up at the 2005 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National
Championships, Scott McHugh, of Santa Clarita, Calif., went into the San
Diego National Tour as one of the favorites in A Stock.  Though he
battled pylon problems (only posting two clean runs in six attempts), he
backed up those claims, winning by 0.870-sec. in his Kumho/MC Racing
1989 Chevrolet Corvette over David Brengle, of San Diego, Calif.  Bob
Dees, of San Diego, Calif., was third behind Brengle's 2002 BMW M3,
driving the Goodguys Rod and Custom 1989 Corvette.

 

Joe Goeke, of Kirkland, Wash., grabbed the early B Stock lead in the
Team Butt Heat! 2005 Mazda RX-8 and then held on late as Jason Isley, of
Ladera Ranch, Calif., mounted a charge but came up 0.077-sec. short in
his MazdaSpeed/Kumho/sccaforums.com 2005 RX-8.  G.H. Sharp, of
Kernersville, N.C., co-driving with Goeke, finished 1.643 seconds behind
Isley.

 

Three different models made up the E Stock podium, led by the 1994 Mazda
Miata driven by Mike Lillejord, of Redmond, Wash.  Lillejord hit a pair
of cones on his first and last runs of the weekend, but he stayed out of
enough trouble to take the win by 0.301-sec. over Kevin Dietz, of
Federal Way, Wash., who finished second in his Jim's Detail/Evolution
1993 Toyota MR2.  Greg Fordahl gave the "Evergreen State" a podium sweep
as the Bremerton, Wash.-driver piloted his Fordahl Motorsports 1984
Porsche 944 to a bronze finish.

 

In F Stock, Kevin Youngers, of Greeley, Colo., could only manage one
clean run Sunday in his Sensible Automotive/BimmerHaus BMW, but it was
enough to secure a comfortable win over Daniel Maloney, of Scottsdale,
Ariz., who finished 2.306 seconds off Youngers' pace in the Arizona
Motorsports Park 2005 Cadillac CTS-V.  John Vitamvas, of Columbia, Md.,
made the extremely long cross-country haul to finish third, 0.151-sec.
behind Maloney, in the TeamWTF.org 2004 CTS-V.

 

Also making the long trek west, Keith Casey, of Somerset, Mass., made it
worth the drive as he claimed the top spot in Street Touring S.  Casey,
in a 1989 Mazda RX-7, finished 0.144-sec. ahead of Andy Hollis, of
Austin, Texas.  Hollis, teaming up with wife Ann in their
Soulspeed/ART/GRM 1992 Mazda Miata, took second ahead of Steve Coe, of
Lemon Grove, Calif., who wound up 2.865 seconds behind Hollis in his C2
Motorsports LLC 1990 Miata.

 

Street Touring Ultra belonged to Steve O'Blenes, of Garden Grove,
Calif., but barely.  Hitting pylons on his first and third Sunday runs
in his 1997 BMW M3, O'Blenes managed to get away clean on his second
attempt and turn in the class' lone time under 46 seconds, which turned
out to be enough.  Mike Simanyi, of Santa Ana, Calif., had the
second-best time in STU with a 46.095 in a 1995 M3, which earned him a
silver finish, 0.183-sec. behind O'Blenes.  James Gunn-Wilkinson, of La
Jolla, Calif., was third, 0.311-sec. behind Simanyi.

 

Gary Thomason, of Oceanside, Calif., made a last-day comeback to take
Street Modified 2, overtaking LJ Moffet in his Tri Point/Bogart 2002
Corvette by 0.199-sec.  Moffet, in the Kumho/Team Naykid 2001 Chevrolet
Corvette Z06, led after the first day, but came in second after Thomason
ripped off a class-best 45.016 on his final run.  Michael Feldpusch, of
Broomfield, Colo., encountered some adversity on Sunday as well,
recording a DNF on each of his first two runs.  A clean third run in the
Lefthand Racing/Apex Hyperformance 1997 Corvette, however, was enough to
seal third place.  

 

After stopping on both coasts to open the year, the Tire Rack SCCA Solo
National Tour will next set up shop in the middle part of the country,
competing at the Walnut Ridge Airport in Walnut Ridge, Ark., April 1-2.


 

The Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo National Series begins its 2006 season this
weekend at California Motor Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

 

For a complete listing of winners from the San Diego National Tour, more
information on upcoming events, or information on any of SCCA's
competition programs, visit www.scca.com <http://www.scca.com/> .

 

-30-

Photo Credit: Rob Gustafson (c) 2006
Photo Caption: John Vitamvas, of Columbia, Md., sets up his CTS-V for a
curve during one of his runs in San Diego, where he finished third in F
Stock.

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