LINCOLN, Neb. (September 5, 2014) – Rain tried to play havoc with the Heat 3 drivers on the East Course at the Tire Rack Solo National Championships on Friday, and the short shower followed by drying conditions made sure that each driver got at least one run to let it all hang out, even if the others were more difficult.
No one felt the nerves of that more than Mark Daddio, of Beacon Falls, Connecticut, who had to battle more than the changing conditions in his brand-new No. 27 Chevrolet Corvette. Daddio, now an eleven time National Champion after this A Street win, held off the charge of Ryan Otis and Glenn Hernandez to win by 0.309 and 0.481-second, respectively.
“I’m relieved,” Daddio said. “It was kind of a nail biter there. Ryan and I’s third runs got rained on, and we were way off the pace. So it came down to our second runs, and my second run and Ryan’s second run were both close. Glenn ’s third run, it dried out again. He got me today, but I had him yesterday.
“It was more nail biting for me because I’d never driven this car in the rain, because I just got the car, and I’d never driven these tires in the rain, so I had no clue what was going to happen. My fellow competitors were nice enough to tell me air pressures and what to expect, so I’m getting acclimated quick.”
Chris Dorsey, of Littleton, Colo., had enough of an advantage on the opening day to hold on to a 1.644 second win in E Prepared in the No. 82 034 EFI/3Rauto.com/Cobalt Friction/Apiko Toyota Corolla GTS.
“It feels great,” Dorsey said. “This is four in a row in this car, and five overall, all in EP. I love E Prepared. I’ve been in the class for 15 years now, and it’s the class I want to be in. It’s so awesome to see all the diversity. There’s so much diversity in this class. Being able to best these guys this week, it’s unbelievable. It’s a bit of an ego boost for my driving and my car building skills, and it was a lot of fun.”
Billy Davis, of New Haven, Conn., improved his C Street Prepared class leading time on the final run on Thursday to stretch his lead going into the final day, and then held serve on Friday in the No. 196 MiataRoadster.com/EvoSchool.com Mazda Miata to take his first career National Championship.
“I feel pretty good,” Davis said. “I’m really happy that I added the extra four tenths lead yesterday, because with the changing conditions today, we had no idea. We really thought it was going to get to full wets, and I’m really glad we were able to stay on drys. I’ve never run wets on this car. I’m just glad I was able to run on the dry, and that it was the same for everyone.”
Christine Grice, of Redondo Beach, California, held the opening day lead by 1.8 seconds in A Street Prepared Ladies behind the wheel of the No. 172 Berry Family Racing/ChaseCam Mitsubishi Evo, then held on in the rain to take her seventh career championship, and third in a row in ASPL.
“They got the drier conditions on the first two runs, and I got the wetter one, and then it swapped on the last run,” Grice said of her competition. “By the time I took the last run, the lead I had on the other side had held, so I was able to go out on a bonsai run, and use the dry conditions as well. So that was fun.”
More information on the Tire Rack Solo National Championships can be found at SCCA.com/SoloNationals.
2014 Solo National Championship
