TOPEKA, Kan. (Sept. 16, 2008) The 2008 Tire Rack® SCCA Solo National Championships are officially underway at Heartland Park Topeka, as 38 classes made their first runs under sunny skies. Several drivers are halfway to their very first Solo National Championship, including Colin Fiedler, of Pewaukee, Wis., who leads the 37-car strong Street Touring® Ultra field by 0.043-second in a Bridgestone Subaru WRX STi. Christopher Raglin, of Findlay, Ohio, could also be en route to his first Championship. Driving a Cooper/Avon Tires Honda Civic in E Prepared, Raglin will have to be perfect to hold off two-time F Street Prepared Champion Allen Kugler, of Springtown, Pa., who trails by only 0.056-second in the DART/Redshift Motorsports Honda Fester.Canadians Patrick Smith and JT Letkeman are battling for their first Solo National titles in D Stock. Smiths Acura Integra currently leads Letkemans Pevac America Audi TT Quattro by 0.143-second, but either could easily be leapfrogged on Wednesday by Chang Ho Kim, of Maynard, Mass., in the FunHondas Racing Acura Integra Type R who is a mere 0.001-second behind Letkeman.Jason Isely, of Ladera Ranch, Calif., is looking for his fourth-consecutive B Stock National Championship, but currently trails Carter Thompson of Murfreesboro, Tenn. Isley will need to make up 0.206-second in his Kumho/SportsCar/Mazdaspeed Mazda RX-8 to catch Thompsons Vettesport/Koni Mazda RX-8.In F Stock, 2006 Class Champion Jason Burns, of Red Lion, Pa., and 2007 Class Champion Sam Strano, of Knoxdale, Pa., sandwich Kent Kroll, of Odessa, Texas, with just 0.137-second separating their trio of Ford Mustangs. Currently leading D Modified, Jeff Cashmore, of New Berlin, Wis., could be on the verge of his fifth Solo National Championship. Cashmore and his Sprinto TC-3 lead the Lotus Elan of defending class Champion Mark Huffman, from Litchfield Park, Ariz., by 0.566-second.Kansans are dominating G Prepared, with the top six drivers in the class representing the home state. Wichitas Bo Rader could claim his third-consecutive GP title, ending Saturdays competition with a 0.238-second lead in his Austin Healey Sprite over Topekas Randy Herrick in a USDiscontDrugCard.com Fiat X1/9Wednesdays action gets underway at 8 a.m. (CDT) as the classes switch courses from West to East and East to West. Todays best times, along with Wednesdays, will be added together to determine the class Champion. Full results and more information are available on the Tire Rack Solo National Championships event page.
