LINCOLN, Neb. (September 5, 2014) – While still cold on Friday afternoon, the East Course’s fourth heat of the final day at the Tire Rack Solo National Championship missed the rain that had fallen earlier during the day.
Brian Coulson, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, came from second in the A Street R class to take his first National Championship, posting the best time of the day in the No. 148 Hoosier/StranoParts.com Chevrolet Corvette and then watching Paul Kozlak, Jeff Jacobs and Tony Savini try to top him on their final runs. Kozlak, the Thursday leader, came the closest, but fell just 0.164-second short and an emotional Coulson took the top prize.
“I don’t know how to feel,” Coulson said. “Last year I was kind of in the mix, but I fell behind the second day. After first runs, that’s what was happening today. I managed to tune it out and focus on the execution and that second run was just magic. It was enough to hold up. I can’t believe it. I never thought I’d be here.”
Anne Robinson, of Highland, Indiana, used her first day lead in D Prepared Ladies to carry through the final day to her fourth National Championship and second in a row. Robinson’s No. 84 Indiana Plastic Surgery Toyota MR2 Spyder wasn’t the quickest on Friday, as that honor went to runner-up Tami Daniels, but Robinson held on by 0.426-second.
“It’s been a rough couple of days,” Robinson said. “I really get very stressed about these. It’s fun, but it’s also very hard and I don’t sleep much so it’s nice to have it done and with a good result. I feel good about that. Tami Daniels and I have traded over the years, and knowing there’s only three people in class you win or you don’t get a trophy. I wanted to test myself. It was a little unfortunate for her that her car broke, she didn’t get to drive her own car. I don’t know that I did the best I could do, but I did enough to get out alive.”
Ron Williams, of Topeka, took the Street Touring Compact crown in the No. 98 Toyo Tires/Southwest Auto Service Honda Civic for his fourth career National Championship. Williams was just barely the quickest on both days, but his combined total was 0.362-second ahead at the finish.
“To come out here with this group of guys that are this good and this serious and all the cars are fairly spec, I feel great,” Williams said. “I was cursing the weather after the first runs. I ran a safety run and thought maybe it’s going to down pour, and then I knew it was going to stop raining and I had to lay them down. That’s what I did, I just went out and drove her hard on the second one, and that was good enough.”
Fred Zust, of Tempe, Arizona, took his sixth X Prepared title in seven years behind the wheel of the No. 196 Blackwatch Racing Lotus Elise. A coned run on Zachary Sober’s final pass made the 1.047-second margin of victory look wider than it really was, as Sober would have been in the hunt based on raw time. As it was, Zust snuck through the cold tires on his early runs and laid down his best on the last one to take the title.
“The first runs were garbage,” Zust said. “Thankfully the rain held off. These cars aren’t built for the rain, and they’re no fun in the rain. Everybody was glad to run in the dry, so that was awesome.”
More information on the Tire Rack Solo National Championships can be found at SCCA.com/SoloNationals.
2014 Solo National Championship
