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Day one is in the books, and we are half way complete with the 2015 Texas Championship Solo Tour event from College Station, Texas. Everything has held true to form this week and been “bigger in Texas”. Big courses, Big plates of BBQ, and Big threats of weather from Mother Nature. Luckily for all the drivers, the weather has been nothing more than a threat thus far, and both Friday and Saturday have been dry for all on course activities. We will see if we can continue that trend tomorrow, as we head into the final day of competition, and some Big Texas sized Battles for many classes.
Let’s check in on a few of the key races we previewed in our Tune-In article.
Starting with the street classes, we see Vivek Goel in first place holding on to a very narrow lead, in a very fast class over Daniel McCelvey and Brian Matteucci. It’s an all Corvette show up top with a group of Honda S2000’s trying to stay in the picture moving into day two.
The race in C-Street is another one we’ve been closely following with Dave Obburn III up front with a smoking fast 70.384 run on the books. It will be interesting to see if Dave can widen his lead moving into day two or if the rest of the pack will narrow the gap.
In the Battle of the Turbo’s in D-Street Dennis Sparks and Jordan Towns are out front as this really fast duo is doing great in their new Subaru 2015 WRX, and we’d say they are adjusting to the new car quickly and have hit on the right tire combination for the College Station Surface. They are being chased by a couple of Texas locals, Kevin Coyne in his Subaru 2015 WRX, and David Anderson in the lone Mini Cooper S entry in the field. This is a tight battle that will be fun to watch.
The whole class from D-Street poses for a pic after the heat. Lots of smiles in this close race!
In STF Class, it’s a familiar picture as David and Kim Whitener are out front in their 2002 Honda Civic, and looking very sporty. Both halves of this Autocross couple look like they are in early season form to make a serious run for adding National Championship trophies to their mantle. David also holds honors for fastest overall PAX time of the day across all classes and entries.
Speaking of the Whiteners, they definitely know how to prepare cars and groom others. As we look at the competitive STS class we find the co-driving combo of Blanton Payne and Grant Watkins leading the way in a formerly owned Whitener car (1988 Honda CRX). Blanton and Grant are local drivers from Texas, competing regularly in Texas Region events.
A very happy Blanton Payne (pictured above), currently leads STS, and finds himself on top of a National Championship Tour event results sheet for this first time in his career.
The biggest field of the event belongs to STR, and there are a large number of Honda S2000’s battling for positions throughout this very competitive field. Ricky Crow owns top honors through day one, with a powerful 69.284 time. John Hale is right behind him, less than a tenth of a second out of the top spot, with Eric Davis rounding out the podium through the first round of competition. This class will pay trophies 7 deep, so look for some great racing to continue into day two.
A really fast set of cars and drivers are racing for top honors in C Prepared (CP). Local Region host sponsor Todd Farris is out front in this group with an amazing 66.078 time on the board. Robert Lewis, Chris Cargill, and Jeff Stroh all hold trophy spots and are within striking distance.
There are many other close battles to follow, and we will be back after the event with a complete wrap up. We don’t know what tomorrow holds yet on the key battles, the weather, and many other things, but we do know there will be lot of great driving, fun times, and Big smiles down here in Texas!
