Nearly 1200 Drivers Fighting For Championships at Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nationals

For Immediate Release

 

Nearly 1200 Drivers Fighting For Championships at Tire Rack SCCA Solo
Nationals

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (Sept. 26, 2006) - All eyes of the grassroots motorsports
world are on Topeka this week as the 2006 installment of The Tire
Rack(r) SCCA Solo National Championships begins today and runs through
Friday at Heartland Park Topeka, with nearly 1,200 drivers fighting for
National Championships in 72 different classes.

 

For the first time in the event's 34-year history, Soloists from 47
states and three Canadian provinces head to the asphalt of Heartland
Park Topeka, creating a new challenge for the competitors accustomed to
running on the historic concrete at the previous, Forbes Field site.
Many believe that the change in pavement will reward drivers who have
run asphalt courses this season and participated on the HPT Solo Pad in
an event this year, including last weekend's Tire Rack ProSolo Finale.

 

Of the 66 Champions crowned in 2005 (six classes are new), 35 are back
to defend those titles, and a host of other 2005 winners have moved to
new classes for 2006.

 

Kyung Wootton, of Austin, Texas, goes for her fifth-straight title in C
Stock Ladies, and switches from her traditional Mazda Miata to a new
Pontiac Solstice.

 

The Super Stock class has the largest entry of the week (55 cars), and
will run last on Thursday and Friday. Former National Champions
including Patrick Salerno, Tom Kotzian, Matthew Braun and Rita Wilsey
hope to add more hardware to their mantles, but will battle a host of
drivers looking for their first wins. Wilsey, who, in 2005, became just
the second woman to win an "open" class (B Street Prepared), looks to
become the first woman to win twice.

 

The 72 classes are split up into Tuesday-Wednesday run groups and
Thursday-Friday run groups. Weather looks good throughout the week, with
a slight chance of showers on Wednesday. Temperatures will be in the
upper 70s for the first groups, with Thursday-Friday classes running in
temperatures in the 60s.

 

The Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships began in 1973 to crown
North America's best autocross drivers. Solo, SCCA's version of
autocross, is a competition of drivers against the clock on a course
laid out with pylons. There are two courses, and a driver's best
aggregate time from both courses determines the winner. Drivers who move
or knock over a pylon receive a two second penalty to their time for
that run.

 

For all the event information, please visit www.scca.com
<http://www.scca.com/> .

 

-30-

 

Attached: Image of Marshall Cone preparing to start his H Stock Mini in
this past weekend's Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Finale at Heartland Park
Topeka. Cone won his class and will also compete this week for the
National Championship. (John Steflik 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/>