New Places, New Faces - Hollis' Streak Ends As SCCA Solo National Tour Makes First Milwaukee Stop
Text contributed by Sam Karp New Places, New Faces Hollis' STS2 Streak Ends As National Tour Makes First Milwaukee Stop MILWAUKEE, Wis. (July 5, 2006) - More than 250 soloists congregated in Milwaukee, Wis. for the first time to compete in Round Eight of the Tire Rack(r) SCCA Solo National Tour. The windy weather on Saturday made the upper-80 degree temperatures much more tolerable for two days of hot competition at the asphalt Miller Park parking lots. C Stock not only proved to be the largest class of the weekend (with 17 entrants), but also the most competitive. After Saturday's competition, six drivers were within three tenths of third place. Dan Stone, driving the ST1 Racing 2006 Pontiac Solstice, was simply untouchable though, posting a combined time 1.234 seconds faster than second place finisher Joe Tharpe, piloting his Tire Rack 1999 Mazda Miata. Jeremy Loveday, of Shelby Township, Mich., made the biggest comeback of the class. He was seventh after Saturday competition, but posted the second fastest time on Sunday to slip into third overall for the class in his GM Performance Division 2006 Pontiac Solstice. Like its Stock counterpart, C Modified also proved to have some competition. Don Elzinga, of Waterford, Mich., barely held onto a 0.329-second lead after Saturday's competition in his 1984 Reynard F1600. John Engstrom made it close, finishing only 0.044-seond behind Elzinga at the close of competition on Sunday driving his Pace American Trailers 1986 Swift. Engstrom's co-driver, Peter Calhoun took third, expanding his advantage that was only 0.001-second over Ray Thomas after Saturday's runs. There was only one entrant in F Stock that was not driving a Chevrolet Camaro. However, it was Noel Mattson's Keystone Ford Racing Team 2005 Ford Mustang that took the victory, traveling down from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mattson extended a 1.138-second lead after Saturday to take the overall win by nearly two seconds over local driver James Crawford, driving a 1994 Camaro. Although a Canadian driver won the class, one can't help but feel patriotic while watching Detroit's finest navigate the courses on Independence Day weekend. H Stock was a class that everyone was watching during competition. Five drivers were within four-tenths of a second of the leader after Saturday's three runs. Per Schroeder, driving his Grassroots Motorsports 2005 MINI Cooper, ended up on top of the heap after it was all said and done on Sunday afternoon. He won the class by a scant 0.016-second over fellow MINI driver, Stephen Kettlestings. Kettlestrings was co-driving with car owner Jim Harn, who finished in the third, and final, trophy spot. When viewing the entry list for Street Touring Sport 2, one would think Andy Hollis would have had an easy event. One of the sport's most talented and knowledgeable drivers had placed first or second at every Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour event he has attended this season in his Soulspeed/ART/Grassroots Motorsports 1992 Mazda Miata. That streak came to an end at Miller Park. Hollis was only two-tenths out of second spot after the first day of competition, trailing young talents Andy Canak, of Waterford, Wis., and Milwaukee's Roy Dietsch. Hollis was determined after Saturday to catch up, but Canak's third run in his 1991 Miata of 59.382 proved to be too strong. Hollis finished third, 0.548-second behind second place finisher Dietsch's Beatracinf.com/B6Racing.com Miata. There are only two events left on the 2006 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour schedule. The next stop on the Tour is July 15-16 on the smooth concrete of Denver International Airport in Denver, Colo. For complete event results, please visit http://www.scca.com/Event/Event.asp?Ref=2724. -30- Attached: Image of Dan Stone in his CS winning Pontiac. Craig Wilcox image. _______________________ Eric Prill Director of Marketing Communications Sports Car Club of America SCCA Pro Racing/SPEED World Challenge 785-357-7222, 785-232-7228 fax 800-770-2055 toll free 785-250-7920 mobile eprill@scca.com www.scca.com <http://www.scca.com> , www.world-challenge.com <http://www.world-challenge.com/>