FOUNTAIN, Colo. (June 24, 2014) – Kevin Youngers, of Greeley, Colorado, proved to be the king of the mountain by winning the Super Shootout at The Tire Rack SCCA Solo Rocky Mountain Match Tour held at Pikes Peak International Raceway. The Ladies Challenge winner was Maegan Contrera, of Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Great views and wonderful weather conditions were a treat for the 151 entrants. With the impressive Pikes Peak as a backdrop, racers experienced temperatures in the upper 80s with mostly clear skies. The rain that threatened the Club Shootout held off until the end of competition, starting just five minutes after the final cars had completed their runs.
The course, designed by SCCA Hall of Famer Karen Babb, had something for everyone. The flowing course promoted a lot of choice when it came to the diving line. Drivers had to be careful to look down course, while keeping focused on what the car was currently doing. The course was so well received that the local Continental Divide Region marked it for future use.
On Saturday, the traditional class competition wrapped up early. That allowed two hours for fun runs. Competitors were given the opportunity to run the course backwards, following some minor changes, for an hour. Then, they would work the course while the other group of racers ran their hour-long allotment.
Youngers (F Street R, Youngers Insights Ford Mustang GT) began his run as one of the top eight drivers from Saturday’s Group Two. As the result of the customary random draw, Youngers was matched up against Mark Baer (Street Modified, SCR Performance/StopTech Brakes BMW M3) in the opening round of the head-to-head bracket. He took the victory and moved onto the next round.
Youngers next head-to-head win came against William Hill (Street Touring Xtreme, Scion FRS). That moved him to the Heat Two bracket final against Saturday class-winner Eric Hyman (Street Modified, Cobb Surgeline/GT-RR Nissan GT-R). He came out the other side as the winner, earning him a spot in the three-way Super Shootout final.
Also earning positions in the Super Shootout final were Paul Brown (C Street, Nissan 370 Z), from Heat One, and Ryan Neff (E Street Prepared, Zebulon MSC), from Heat Three. For Brown, it was an uneventful progression to the final bracket. However, the same was not true for Neff. In the Heat Three final Neff and his co-driver, Drew Little, were pitted against each other. Since both drivers were using the same vehicle, ice was being thrown on the intercooler of the machine as water was being used to cool the tires in order to keep the car running in top form.
The overall winner of the Super Shootout was decided following a final timed run from each driver. Youngers took the win after setting a time closest to that of his dial-in.
In the Ladies Shootout, Contrera (Street Touring Compact Ladies, RiptideHosting.com/RPD Hosting Honda Civic Si) won an opening-round battle against Breanna Campbell (G Street Ladies, Ford Focus ST). In the final Contrera got it done against Jamie Yost (Street Touring Compact Ladies RiptideHosting.com/RPD Hosting Honda Civic Si), and took home the win.
Bryce Kliewer, of Denver, Colorado, made it a Colorado sweep by winning the Club Shootout. He was able to beat multi-time National Champion Meredith Brown (C Street Ladies, Nissan 370Z) by a scant 0.044-second margin.
The next meet for The Tire Rack SCCA Solo Match Tour is scheduled to take place at the Grissom Aeroplex, in Peru, Indiana, July 5-6.
Additional information, including full results, for The Tire Rack SCCA Rocky Mountain Solo Match Tour can be found here. More on the entire Tire Rack SCCA Solo program is available at www.scca.com/solo.
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2014 Rocky Mountain Match Tour
