It's time for Choose the Champions, Part 2 - Street Touring. Today, we get the insight of Otto Cross, a German racer from the forests of Bavaria. Otto has a penchant for all things Street Tired and has done some precise German calculations to come up with the winners of the 2014 SCCA Solo Nationals.

• STC - With so many big names coming through STC, it's tough to make a call and the only thing that makes it easier is that so many of those big names have moved on to dominate other classes. We look back at last year's strong finish by Kinch Reindl and it's tough not to make him our #1 pick. We would love to give an honorable mention to Jeff Wong and David Whitner, though. No matter who wins, it'll be a big fight to get it done. As for STCL, the pick has to go to Kim Whitener. From the beginning of the season, Kim has taken win after win and there's no slowing her down now.
• STF - As an East Coaster, two names come to mind, but only one of them really stands out over the course of the entire year. As strong as Lee Chhit has been in the Mini Cooper, an unexpected chassis has emerged as a dominant force in STF, Preston Jordan in his 2004 Ford Focus. Preston has won in Lincoln at the Lincoln Championship Tour and again at the grippy concrete of Wilmington, OH. In STFL, we have to pick Michelle Miller, a strong driver out of the Pacific Northwest who should be able to get it done in one of the two Mini Coopers in class.
• STS - STS is another class like STC that has had a large number of big names in it who have long fought for the Championship... names like DiSimo, Baker, Canak, Coughlin and Brown (a few of which have taken an overall win in the past few years). However, we have to make our pick for last year's STC Champion, Jason Frank. Jason has shown he knows how to get the late 90s Civic chassis to work and his performance this year is a reflection. We're going to give our STSL nod to Jason's better half, Hilary Anderson. With coaching help from Jason, Hilary might just have what it takes to put the CRX on top this year.
• STX - With over 65 drivers, Street Touring eXtreme is poised to be one of the largest classes in the history of SCCA Solo Nationals. It's also one of the most diverse classes, with cars ranging from E36 BMWs, a 1-series, the Subary / Scion "twins", the RX-8, a few Subaru WRXes, a Nissan 300ZX and a couple of Integra Type-Rs (just to name a few of the chassis running this years Nationals). It's one of the most exciting classes if for no other reason than it's usually anyone's game with the top 10-20 cars being seperated by only a second or two. Despite a late season change from SSR to STX, we think that Andrew Pallotta can get it done this year. Andrew is going to have to fight off guys like Craig Wilcox and Max Hayter who have been killing STX all year with incredible drives. If Andrew wins, it will not have been a walk in the park and it will be close after the dust settles. In STXL, we're going give our nod to Annie Gill. Annie has had a great year in STX where she has often battled in the open classes to great results. Annie would be a tough competitor in Open or Ladies STX.
• STR - Probably one of the toughest classes to choose a winner in, STR is a as good as it gets in big names and quick cars. Desipte a solid year from many drivers like Jonathan Lugod and Matthew Braun, we're picking Nick Barbato to win. Nick is always a strong driver and is no stranger to winning in S2000s. For STRL, we're picking Laura Campbell who has had her strongest year yet. We think with all the great drives she's had this year, she's poised to take home the top spot in STRL.
• STU - Though it used to be a Spec "Boost Buggy" class, recent reorganization by the SEB has put some fast cars like the 350Z and the non-Z05 C5 Corvette in this class. Whereas it was easy to know at least what chassis would win in previous years, this year, we think the mix-up is going to make the class a much more interesting one to watch. Despite the fact that there are no Corvettes or Mustangs entered, we're still going to give the nod to a rear wheel drive chassis, the 350Z of Brian Peters for the win. He proved how fast the car was last year in STR and with wider wheels and more tire, the car's only getting faster. In STUL, we're going to Mina Ingraham, a regular in STU with a wicked fast WRX STi.