Hollis Takes Finale ProSolo Super Challenge Win, Season Honors
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After a full day of heavy rain on Friday, Saturday was a vast improvement, with only occasional sprinkles on a mostly dry, but cloudy day. Due to weather-induced timing issues, Friday's traditional two rounds were shortened to one, meaning the class competition would come down to four runs on each course instead of the traditional six. Despite the improved weather, the track surface was still wet for Saturday morning's final runs of the season.
Hollis started Saturday in a two-second hole behind the Kumho/Americas Tire/Bilstein/HAP Honda Civic Si of Lincoln, California's Kevin McCormick in Street Touring(r) S competition, but made up the deficit to take the class by 0.221-second. It was Hollis' seventh class win in nine 2008 events and gave him the season title in STS.
Hollis' effort placed him 11th in the final Hawk Super Challenge bracket of the year. Unlike most of the competition, which saw breakouts by as much as six seconds, his Soulspeed/ART/GRM/PowerCurveDyno Honda Civic Si stood on its 34.840-second dial-in through the rounds and into the finale, giving him a head start in Rounds Two through Four and the Final. Only in the final, against 24th qualifier Jason Burns, of Red Lion, Pa., in his F Stock Strano Performance Ford Shelby Mustang, did Hollis break out from his dial-in time.
It was Hollis' second Hawk Super Challenge season title in the last three years.
Jonathan Roberts, of Richmond Hill, Ga., crushed the A Stock competition by 2.136 seconds in his Subaru STi to earn the top qualifying spot in the Hawk Super Challenge. Roberts' run to glory ended there though, as 32nd, and final qualifier Tom Kubo knocked him out in the first round. Roberts did receive some consolation, winning the ChaseCam Bonus Challenge, which included all drivers knocked out of the first round of the Hawk Super Challenge.
Matthew Braun, of Northville, Mich., came from behind to win Super Stock in his PowerPlug Lotus Elise by 0.454-second over co-driver Gary Thomason, of Oceanside, Calif. Braun's win propelled him to the season Super Stock Championship over Thomason.
Alex Schipkov, of Albany, N.Y., had the narrowest victory of the event, taking D Street Prepared in his venerable SoloRacer.com/BMW2002.com/TCKline BMW 325i by just 0.097-second over Nathan Whipple's FunHondas/Rallydecals Acura Integra R. Schipkov also took the season DSP Championship.
Ladies competition saw a major shakeup to the season standings, with Carrie Snyder, of Elizabethtown, Pa., taking the Topeka win and vaulting from fifth place entering the event to take the season Championship in her SSC Tint/stranoparts/Thanks Jerry! Toyota MR2. Snyder finished just seventh in the Ladies 1 class competition and was the final qualifier into the challenge, but advanced through to knock off Karen Kraus' L1 class-winning IAG Performance/Koni Subaru Impreza WRX in the finale. Kraus, who was tied with Snyder for fifth entering the finale, jumped to second in the final Ladies Challenge Championship standings.
Hollis wasn't done with the STS class and Hawk Super Challenge Championships, as his Challenge win gave him enough points to clinch the season-long Honda Tuner Challenge. It wasn't a perfect weekend, though, for Hollis, as Christopher Travis, of Carmel, N.Y., beat Hollis head-to-head for the Honda Hot Shoe Award in his Redshift/Hondadata/ASR/OmniPower Honda Civic. Travis also took Street Modified class honors and the season-long ProSolo Championship for the SM class.