For many in the morning groups, the SCCA Crows Landing Pro will be a "One Dayer" as a cold and slightly damp Saturday rendered morning runs practice runs. Afternoon competition had a bit warmer temps but brought some serious wind. Drizzle and winds aside, there were tons of plusses as Ben Martinez laid out two fast and flowing courses that appeared to be mirror-image and were extremely easy to read; the general consensus was that they were a 10!! Friday’s Test ’n Tune course and ProSolo Practice Starts gave everyone that wanted it plenty of practice. And I saw a few go pretty low on the 60’ times and especially close (think “pink light” here) flirting with that magic .500 time. All good practice for fun to come!
Almost two hundred competitors took to the tarmac trying to see who’s got the "Biggest Bag o' Onions" and yes, I know we're not talking root-based vegetables here but man, those courses took huevos grande to get ‘round pretty fast. Full of slaloms and off-sets, there was plenty of opportunity for a “chicken brake” here or there but to stay fast, pucker power was a must and if you lifted, you lost! Several of my interviewees commented they’d never seen such fast Solo courses and many discovered that yes, Virginia, there was a third gear in that shift pattern. And once you got there, you stayed there for quite a while...
Of those notable non-lifters, many will be sleeping pretty tonight with good cushions over their next-closest competition. That said, quite a few of those that are sitting in the catbird seats coned away fast times and if they clean up their acts tomorrow, it can be a whole new horse race.
In SSM, David DeRegt brought out one of the most well-prepared Lotus I’ve seen and laid waste to the remainder of this fast class. When asked about the courses, he replied, "The courses were fun and fast; I’ve never had to slalom and drive offsets so fast as today." He wasn’t resting on his laurels just yet though as tomorrows another day and there are some great drivers that can put one together. He'll sleep well tonight with a 2.4 second lead.
R2 had the speedy McKee's showing their respective heels to the rest of the field behind the wheel of the blue Mazda. Andy McKee also will sleep soundly going into Sunday with a 2.5 second lead over his wife, Teresa. I asked Teresa what she liked about the course and how her car felt and she replied "I tried to stay in it and TRUST the car." Very close in third is Ron Bauer who, unfortunately, had only one clean run per side for today. Sunday is "Moving Day" and I predict some shuffling of placings if Bauer stays cone-free.
Bump 4 (SSR, CSP, ASP, DSP, SMF) was a hodgepodge of class groupings and especially so for the cars involved. How about prepped BMW’s and Mitsubishi’s competing against Tony Karts? Coming out on top was Tom Berry in one of those Mitsu's and he told me he wasn’t too sure about the courses when he walked them but once driven, what a blast!!! He was quite pleased with his efforts today but the margin isn’t “sleep well worthy” as Paul Russell piloting one of those Tony Karts is a mere .172 behind.
In FSP, Justin Tang stopped the clocks with a killer last run and is enjoying a nice .9 lead over fellow Toyota Corolla driver, Eric Williams. Tang is very new to the sport of Pro Solo and this is his first event. Pretty safe to say he’ll be a return customer.
In STU, it was Nissan vs. Chevrolet as Jonathan Lugod had things well in hand but for several cones on fast timed runs. Tomorrow is another day and if he cleans house, he will press the current class leader, Jeff Stuart, for that top spot. Tonight, Stuart and the 350Z spend Saturday with a .504 lead. Clean runs for Corvette driver Lugod may change things and he’s planning on just that.
The top three in STR are mere tenths apart with Nick Bjoin leading the way in his Honda S2000. Sandwiched between Bjoin and third place S2000 driver, Praniel Prasad, is the Mazda MX5 capably driven by fast Sebastian Rios. Slightly more than .3 separate these three and it’s anyone’s game tomorrow. Clean runs are a must. Fast ones, too.
FS is also one that is close, very close. Sean O’Boyle took the top spot in this same class down at the El Toro Pro but today, Chris Cox finally got it done taking down the BMW M3 with the Mustang. The margin of win tonight isn’t much, however, and O'Boyle knows he's got room to improve as a mere .088 separate these two. I asked O'Boyle about his runs and he told me he spun which is quite uncharacteristic as he’s one of the smoothest, cleanest solo drivers out there. Cox improved with each run and said this class is the "Battle of the Launches."
In BS, the same Corvette C5 FRC is sitting in first and third with Brian Coulson enjoying a .554 lead over Alex Muresan. Muresan, driving a Honda S2000, provided the sandwich meat for the Corvette. Sitting in third is Cal Craner in that same Corvette. What was cool was Craner offered course advice to fellow driver Coulson which definitely helped. Craner also added, "These are the most fun autocross courses I've run in 45 years of Pro Solo."
AS has Glen Hernandez looking in the room only .262 out. Sitting pretty in that same room is Ryan Otis who told me "I'm running out of gear..." He'll look at data tonight and strategize deciding whether or not to go up to third. Both are in Corvettes.
HS provided very close competition with a mere .060 separating the FiST’s of Navid Kahangi and Chris Kannan. Both very capable drivers, both felt they had left time on the table and needed to stay clean to win. It’s anyone’s game here and also looking in are Josh Salvage and Des Toups, both also in the popular and competitive Fiesta ST. Third gear was a must but brought with it some "float" making turn-in precise and spot on. Anything late and you were done.
Bump 2 (DS, ES, GS) was all Mark Scroggs vs Max Hayter, FoST vs WRX, simple traction control vs launch control and when I asked Scroggs about todays festivities, he said “We line up together, stage, tree comes down, and HE’S GONE!! Our 60' times are .4 apart … glad there’s an index factor involved." Several of those behind Scroggs and Hayter were dirty today and with clean runs tomorrow, they’ll be in the hunt.
In BSP, Miata driver, Steve O’Blenes continued his dominance showed from last weekend’s Tour putting a 3.1 second smackdown on the class. With clean runs, however, Tony Rivera can make things interesting in the 350Z, and possibly stressful, for the quick O'Blenes as all runs today were coned away. Both drivers loved the courses and know that clean runs tomorrow will make or break results.
Michael Heinitz has one goal: to be fast and hopefully win. He says "I've got no "sand plans" as it's not how I play this game. I never have done this and always try my best." Heinitz, in the Acura, has plenty of opportunity to do just that as he’s comfortably leading the field by 3.1 seconds in STF over Joe Austin, MINI.
Another "too close to call" class is STX as Karl Coleman leads Charley Spyksma, both in Subaru WRX’s, by .154. In addition, others are also close as less than .2 separates second through fourth in this hotly contested class.
STS is another class that may likely be decided tomorrow with Steven Yeoh leading Steve Ekstrand, both in Honda Civics, by about .7 tenths. Yeoh didn't even feel comfortable with that (huge) margin saying "It's not even SAFE to sleep well." He also said he was thinking of trying third gear and will study data, then decide. It's all about keeping ahead of the course elements and you can’t look far enough ahead on these courses.
R1 was another class where cones made the difference today. Jeff Kiesel in the mighty Sprite made some changes to the car during lunch. He said "The car worked pretty good this afternoon but this morning, it was horrid." And, like so many others, he's thinking about third gear for tomorrow's runs. Coning several of the fastest runs put Kiesel 1.2 behind KJ Christopher in the winged A Mod ACME Special. Christopher set fast times before shredding a drive belt on his last run.
In the five-car all Ford Mustang ESP class, a mere .127 separate the top two competitors as Tim Bergstrom leads John Hogan after today’s runs. Cones mattered for both drivers and tomorrow will seal the deal for one of them. Which one? No predictions here as it’s too close to call from behind a keyboard.
L3 had Michelle Miller, MINI, leading the 11-car class by .442 over Tasha Mikko in her Mitsubishi Evo. Shauna Rios had to stay on her first right side run and didn’t improve in the afternoon which puts here in third, a mere .011 behind Mikko. Like ESP, this one’s way too close to call.
In L1, it’s all Christine Grice and she's sleeping good tonight with that 3.5 second advantage over Laurie Hyman. Hyman had serious cone-afflicted runs today but knows what she needs to do to get close again tomorrow. Both in some fast machinery, highly-prepped Mitsubishi Evo vs "Godzilla," the Nissan GT-R on steroids, these two are another three-plus seconds ahead of Jessica Cauthier. Unless Hyman can keep away from the cones, it will remain "All Grice" for this class.
Jocelyn Huong is showing a clean set of heels to the rest of L2 and making it look easy. Keeping her honest is Jami Olerich (first time Pro driver). I asked Corvette driver, Olerich, what she needed to do for Sunday and she replied "I need a good left side. The car's working really well and I keep pinching myself on how good these Bridgestone tires work!!" Huong, driving a beautiful white Porsche GT3, is heading into tomorrow's competition with a .455 lead.
And while we're on the subject of tires, I have found my new "crack" and it is a Ford Fiesta ST shod with amazing Bridgestone rubber. In fact, almost 80% (yes, eighty percent) of the street-tired class leaders were on these magical tires and comments ranged from "...sticks like glue" to "they're half-way between a Hoosier and any other good street tire out there." Yes folks, the consensus is they’re THAT GOOD.
