SAN DIEGO, Calif. (March 24, 2015) – The SCCA Tire Rack Championship Tour event, from San Diego, wrapped up following two days of competition, March 21-22. The event was held in the parking lots surrounding Qualcomm Stadium, the home the National Football League’s San Diego Chargers.
The San Diego Region SCCA played the role of host for the event as region member Peter Bollenbecker was the course designer for both days of competition. Festivities were started off with a welcome party hosted by the region, on Friday night, open to workers and competitors.
The on-course action featured several close races toward the top of the standings in several classes. The closest of these finishes occurred in Street Touring Sport. Matt Ales (Thanks Pete! Mazda Miata), of Redondo Beach, California, was the winner by 0.064-second, but the intriguing story in this class was that of second-place finisher, Stephen Yeoh.
The car of Yeoh, considered a contender for the class win early on, suffered some major mechanical damage requiring an engine change after completing only one run during Saturday’s competition. By Sunday morning, Yeoh had a new engine in his Honda Civic thanks to the help of fellow competitors. Yeoh logged the quickest time of Sunday’s runs, but it proved just shy of the time needed to unseat Ales for the class win.
In Formula Junior A, Kevin Jung (Ciro Racing/7th Gear Tony Kart), of Laguna Niguel, California, scored a class win by another exceedingly narrow margin. The gap back to second-place driver Zak Kiesel was only 0.098-second. On Saturday, Jung owned the top time in the class. However, Kiesel made Jung work for the win on Sunday by setting the quickest time on his last run. The lap logged by Kiesel on Sunday was quicker than that of Jung, but Jung had built enough of a margin after Saturday’s runs to allow him to take the win.
Street Touring R also managed to produce some fireworks as Sebastian Rios (ProParts USA/Gearheads Garage Mazda MX-5) took the victory over Nick Bjoin by 0.104-second. After the opening day of competition, Rios held the class lead. He then was able to hold the lead utilizing his cushion from Saturday, as Bjoin was the owner of Sunday’s fast time in class.
Ricardo Quinonez (C Street, Scion FRS), of Fresno, California, was the top driver in class. Finishing second after Saturday’s competition, Quinonez set the quickest time on Sunday allowing him to vault ahead of Adrian Cardenas.
Jayson Woodruff (D Street, JayCorn Services Subaru Impreza WRX), of Huntington Beach, California, was the day-one leader, in class. On Sunday, he was unable to set the quickest lap on Sunday, but had built enough of a gap over the rest of the field to retain the winning position by 0.271-second.
Jeff Stuart (Berry Family Racing Nissan 350Z), of Santa Barbara, California, got the winning nod in Street Touring Ultra, just 0.352-second over Jonathan Lugod. Heading into Sunday’s competition, Lugod held the top spot. However, Stuart came roaring back by capturing the fast time on Sunday’s course that allowed him to seal the win.
Further information on the San Diego Championship Tour, including full results, can be found at http://www.scca.com/events/index.cfm?eid=8371.
The next stop for the SCCA Tire Rack Championship Tour will be April 11-12, at the Texas A&M University Annex in College Station, Texas.
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2015 Tire Rack San Diego Champ Tour
