WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 22, 2010) – A hearty crop of 238 Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo® competitors descended on the Nation’s capital for the 2010 Washington, D.C. ProSolo, June 18 – 20 in the parking lot of FedEx Field. When the competition concluded, Corey Ridgick, of Allentown, Pa., stood atop all competitors, winning the Gumout Super Challenge over WDCR member Brian Karwan, who was the top qualifier.

In the Ladies Challenge, Carrie Snyder took the win in her (not Ian’s) 1988 Honda CRX Si.  Carrie pulled through after finishing second in Ladies 1 behind WDCR’s Learic Cramer in her 2009 Nissan 370Z.

The D.C .ProSolo began with questions on how much grip the newly-sealed asphalt at the home of the NFL’s Washington Redskins would offer under the scorching sun. In reality, there was plenty of grip to be had, but the alternating surfaces challenged drivers to find the mix and added to the course’s difficulties.

To further complicate matters, the ProSolo layout led competitors onto the sealed right side, but the older pavement on the mirrored circuit left drivers battling throughout the competition.

As typical of any difficult conditions, driver skill clearly shone through, and there was no shortage of talent this weekend on the east coast.

For the eventual winner Corey and his 2006 MODERacing Mitsubishi Evo, the initial competition came from Cy Lee, of Glenmoore, Pa., his teammate in the B Street Prepared class. Corey topped the class by 0.707-second, and won his first three rounds of the Gumout Super Challenge to advance to the semifinals.

Michael Johnson’s path to the penultimate round of the Super Challenge took him through the Bump Class in his 2002 EvoSchool.com/OS Giken Chevrolet Corvette Z06. The Glen Allen, Va. racer topped teammate and WDCR member Courtney Cormier and scooted past the early rounds to set-up the Corvette versus Evo battle for a shot at the finals.

Jinx Jordan, of Terrell, N. C., scooted away from the F Street Prepared field by 1.464-seconds in his 1993 Hoosier/SoloPro Driving School to advance to the Super Challenge, also advancing into the semifinals.

It was in that semifinal match-up that he would meet Street Modified FWD class champion Brian Karwan. In addition to a trip to the finals, the Honda Super Challenge title was also on the line with Brian behind the wheel of his 1994 Karcepts.com Honda Civic.

Brian grabbed both the Honda Challenge victory and the trip to the Super Challenge finals, where Corey would earn his victory.

Just to advance to the Gumout Super Challenge was an honor, though, as class competition was fierce all weekend long. Two classes were decided by less than a tenth of a second, with 0.126-second separating the winner from the runner-up in a third class.

The 19-car B Stock field hosted the closest competition of the weekend. WDCR member Pat Griffith laid down some times early in the weekend in Eric Kriemelmeyer’s 2008 Studio 553 Pontiac Solstice GXP to set the bar in B Stock. Two by two, the field tried to chase down Pat’s runs. When the dust settled, Paul Kozlak came the closest in his 2007 Red Haus Racing Pontiac Solstice GXP, but fell just 0.026-second short.  Eric finished third while WDCR member Brendan Bengermino took the sixth and final trophy spot in his 1989 Chevrolet Corvette.

While Eric didn’t win, he was the only person with two class-winning cars.  In addition to the Solstice in B Stock, Kenny Sorensen took the victory in G Stock in Eric’s familiar 2003 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V.  Kenny won by 0.239 seconds and also advanced to the second round of the Gumout Super Challenge.

In F Stock, it was like a normal WDCR or Autocrossers, Inc., event with Sam Strano and Jason Burns trading punches for the top spot. Sam, driving a 2007 Strano Performance Parts Ford Shelby Mustang, scored his best runs on two of his final four circuits of the weekend.  Jason, in a 2007 Strano Performance Ford Shelby Mustang (his is white), one-upped that drama with keepers on his final two trips around the layout. In the end, however, it was Sam with the class win by 0.093-second over Jason.

In Street Touring Sport, WDCR members swept all three trophy spots.  Ian Baker took the win in a 1988 Honda CRX Si and Greg Olsen and John Vitamvas finished second and third, respectively, in John’s 1990 Mazda RX-7 GTUs.

In Street Touring Xtreme, WDCR’s John Willemin cruised to a 1.4-second win in his 2003 Subaru Impreza WRX.

The Garfield clan swept the three karting classes.  Brian won Formula 125 in his 2000 CTS Honda shifter kart, Julian won Formula Junior A in a 2006 Arrow AX-9 4S, and Carson took the win in Formula Junior B in a 2007 CRG Cadet.

Other WDCR members finishing in trophy positions included:

Marshall Cone, 2nd place, H Stock
Jason Becker, 3rd place, Bump 2 Index Class
Mike Snyder, 4th place, F Stock
Mike Kline, 5th place, Formula 125

See full results.

While on the way to the Washington D.C. area for National Pro Solo action next weekend the Solo National tow vehicle for the Pace American timing trailer was stolen. Thieves also broke into the trailer and stole laptop computers. Below is a description of the vehicle, please be on the look out. If you see it, call the police first, then call Howard Duncan at the SCCA National Office 1-800-770-2055.

White Ford F-350 Dually Truck with SCCA Sticker and out of state (Kansas) plates.

This letter came from SCCA National today:
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Solo Community,

I had announced in an earlier email that the first issue of SoloMatters would be out on the second Wednesday of June and then every second Wednesday after that.

While editor Heyward Wagner got all the editorial content ready to go last night, we have had some problems this morning with our service provider getting all the details finalized for distribution, so the first issue has been delayed until early next week. We apologize for this delay and we hope this is the last obstacle to getting Solo information flowing to you on a regular basis.

As a side note, this has not been the best day for news for us. Not only did we find out this morning about the delay in the e-newsletter, but we also got word that the truck that tows the Tire Rack SCCA timing and scoring Pace American trailer was stolen last night in Virginia. The thieves also broke into the trailer and stole all of our laptop computers, but they left everything else untouched. Luckily this was an off weekend and no one was injured. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those that quickly offered help so that we can go forward with plans for next weekend’s Tire Rack ProSolo in Washington DC. A special thanks goes to Ian Baker who is towing the trailer from western VA to the DC area as I write this. Once again proof that the term “Solo Community” is not just a slogan.

See you at the starting line,

H.

Howard Duncan, SCCA VP, Rally/Solo

Autocrossing events for the WDCR as well as Autocrossers, Inc., will be back on the usual E/F lots for the remainder of the season’s dates at FedEx Field. This includes Sunday’s Autocrossers, Inc., event as well as the SCCA Pro Solo the following weekend.

Today the Indy Racing League and Baltimore Racing Development announced the arrival of the Baltimore Grand Prix to the Inner Harbor in August 2011. A deal has been struck to hold a 3 day “Festival of Speed” in downtown Baltimore Maryland, racing on a temporary street circuit.

The 5 year deal will bring considerable economic impact to Baltimore, similar to the Preakness Stakes. The expected 100,000 or more specators over the three day event could have an impact of 10 million or more for the city.

Joining the group of officials from the IRL, Baltimore and the State of Maryland were drivers Al Unser, Jr. and Graham Rahal in discussing what its like to race on a street circuit. Having won Long Beach 6 times, Al Unser, Jr. knows what it takes to win on a street circuit and is a consultant to Baltimore Racing Development.

In describing the circuit, designer Martyn Thake mentioned speeds in excess of 180 mph and tight turns, clever spectating areas with large viewing screens to allow viewing of the entire circuit. Using Baltimore and the Inner Harbor will provide a beautiful and perfect backdrop to the track on television, and in person. The Baltimore circuit will be one of the best street circuits in the world.

The promoter of the race, Chuck Kosich talked about the events for the weekend. An expected 6 racing series will compete over the weekend, there will be festival style entertainment areas and a Friday night concert. Racing action will be the feature IRL race on Sunday, with support races and a second major racing series will hold a twilight evening race on Saturday. Additional details about support races will be announced later. Kosich also pointed out four objectives; to showcase the city, reward true racing fans, make it affordable and to deliver equity for sponsors.

Scheduled for August 5-7, 2011, the Baltimore Grand Prix will be an opportunity for WDCR members to get involved as racing fans or supporters of the event through volunteering. More information about how our members can get involved will be available as details are resolved by the organizers.

Visit the event web site at baltimoregrandprix.com

WDCR Region Executive Evanthe Salisbury has posted a blog entry about the experience at www.wdcr-scca.org

The Course Map:

The Baltimore Grand Prix logo on an IRL display car

The Dream Team

Graham Rahal and Al Unser, Jr.

By Gayle Lorenz.

Alan Fiala has been a member of the Region since 1973 and served as Chief of Tech as well as NA (National Administrator for Scrutineers) for many years. Alan left for awhile (but always maintained his membership) to pursue other interests one of which was as a beekeeper and when he returned to the CR events he brought along his honey. When he was no longer able to work Tech he volunteered in T&S. When Bill Scott passed away I was in touch w/ Alan and learned that he and Bill both had received their PhD’s from Yale. While not confirmed I believe he died of complications from post polio syndrome.

A memorial service is being held on Tuesday (7/1/2010) at the Murphy Falls Church Funeral Home, 1102 West Broad Street, Falls Church, VA at 10:00 a.m.