Photo Credit: Michael Kuhn Mike Kuhn Racing

First things first... Did you know that the Wilmington site requires a fence around the entire area on the pad? It does. And getting that fence installed and removed for events is a rough job. There's a fund to help with that though! Please consider donating. Send Paypal to marka@maracing.com with "Wilmington Fence Fund" in the comments. Thanks to the generosity of Solo Performance Specialties (http://www.soloperformance.com/), you'll also get a gift certificate worth $0.25 for every dollar you donate. Consider helping out!

So... It's come down to it. The Wilmington Summer ProSolo is the last Pro of the year before we all head to the big show in Lincoln. In addition to being the best format for autocross, ProSolo is a points series, and it's "put up or shut up" time for a lot of folks. The short version is that if you have either two wins or a win and 2nd place, if you win the Pro Finale in Lincoln, you win the championship for the year. They only count the best two events of your first four however!

Let's start things off with Ladies. In L1, Shelly Monfort will be looking to block. She's already got four events in the books and will carry 40 points into the Finale. Not far behind is Rachel Baker in the Panda. Who can they block? Stephanie Reeve is an obvious candidate. Reeve had a win at New Jersey, but hasn't had that level of success since. She'll be looking to put her SSR ride into at least the 2nd spot to have the best shot at an overall win for the year. Learic Cramer also ran L1 in Toledo and took 2nd place. She's currently registered for SSR, but will she jump ship looking for the points she'd need for an L1 title?

L2 has Chris Peterson looking to backup her Blytheville win to stay in the hunt for the overall championship. She'll have to get past 14 other ladies to do it though. And there are some interesting names not shown on the L2 entry list for our last event as well... Shelly Monfort and Tamra Hunt both have strong finishes in L2 and are entered for Wilmington in other classes... Will either of them chase L2 points if they can find a ride? Of course, Kandy Johnson and Jocelin Huang, who each already have enough points to take the championship if they win the Finale, will be trying to deny. And what about Laura Campbell? Will she actually run L3 where she's entered? She's been in L2 lately and also has enough points for the Finale.

Holly Schwedler is someone to watch in L3. She needs a win to go with her pair of 2nd place finishes at Wilmington and Toledo. Heidi Ellison and Tamra Hunt are in the same boat. The big question is if Laura Campbell will run L3 and try to spoil their party.

In Super Street, Brian Conners and Charles Kim already have 40 points in the bag, but Brian's codriver Pat Salerno is sitting on a win and a 3rd... Pat is going to be out to at least get a 2nd place, but Brian, Grady Wood, and Charles are going to be looking to block. Watch for plenty of 1.8 and 1.9 second 60' times (on street tires!) from the GT3's as they battle to see who's best.

A Street will see the Daddio and Johnson battle continue, but let's not count out Jed Peterson. Peterson has a 2nd place showing at Wilmington and, particularly with the right course, he's got a dark horse shot to take both the top step at Wilmington and to put himself into position to do the same thing at the Finale.

In B Street, Evan Schickel has been a force all year on the east coast, but he's not on the entry list. Paul Kozlak will be looking to take advantage to add a win to his 2nd place from the NJ Pro so that he can be master of his own destiny at the final. Who can ruin his party? None other than his wife Lynne Rothney-Kozlak who also has a 2nd place in the bank (Toledo) and needs a win!

In C Street, Rod McGeorge doesn't show up on the entry list, but that's because he's hiding in SSP, registered with a Scion FRS! Will he switch to CS and try to back up his popular win in New Jersey? Right now he's only got just that one event and he'll have to have a good 2nd one if he wants a shot at the big trophy at the Finale.

Speaking of one eventers that need another good result, everyone's friend Danny Kao is listed for D Street. He needs to take the win there to pair with his 2nd place finish at the Spring Wilmington Pro. But to do that he's going to have to beat out Jim Zeisler and Chris Morton. Morton already has a win and a 2nd (NJ and Toledo), but if he can keep Kao off the top step he'll be able to breath a little bit easier at the Finale.

The story in E Street is called "Andrew Pallotta". After fighting with a balky RX-8 for the first half of the year, he's thrown in the towel and found another ride. And what a ride! John Ryan, who's been doing rather well this year in his MR2 Spyder (sitting on two wins and a 2nd so far) offered up a codrive and Pallotta has been making the most of it. He overcame the conditions at Toledo to take the win, but he needs another 1st or 2nd in the car to be in position to take all the marbles. Eric Peterson can be the spoiler here though. He's been uncharacteristically forced to be satisfied with just second place points and lower this season and already has all his events in. Will he or John Ryan spit in Pallotta's Wheaties?

F Street has another guy looking to backup some first place points... John Laughlin was on top at Wilmington in the spring, but he needs another event. He's got Doug Willie chasing him though and Willie needs the points too. Who can play spoiler? How about Jadrice Toussaint? Adam George is also shown in FS, but will he actually compete there instead of R2 where he needs points? And let's not forget Dick Rasmussen... He's got a 2nd place finish at New Jersey and will be looking to add a win. He's been much more competitive this year after stepping up to a 2015 Mustang.

Dave O'Maley is someone to watch in G Street. He won earlier this year at Wilmington, but had to settle for 3rd in Toledo. He needs a first or a second but there are a host of drivers that need a win in the class as well. Ryan Leach, Joe Blaha, and David Spratte (O'Maley's car owner) all need a win to be in control of their own destiny at the Finale. Matt Jones meanwhile already has a couple wins but is looking to play blocker and send everyone home crying. Dark horse here is Danny Kao... He's currently registered in D Street, but he's got 2nd place points in G Street from Crows Landing and D Street doesn't currently have a class... Will Danny bum a ride to escape the dreaded bump class? All these guys are in Focus ST's and this one looks like its going to be a bloodbath.

In H Street Todd Freeman needs a win to go with his 2nd place from Toledo. But to get it he's going to have to beat Toledo winner Sam Karp. Will Karp be able to play blocker? Both guys are in Fiesta STs and H Street right now is sitting exactly at five folks on the entry list, just enough to escape the bump class.

Super Street R is next on the entry list and if it's an east coast event you know this will be one to watch. There are 21 folks on the sheet, tied with STS for the most entries, and this looks to be a preview for the coming Pro Finale in Lincoln. So far Strano and Luster are the only two with a 1st and at least a 2nd, so they'll be looking to block. Grant Reeve and Tony Savini each need a win to go with a 2nd place and Matthew Braun is also looking for a win to at least have a shot at the Finale, though he'd still need help.

In Street Touring action, Daniel Gross and Adam Deffenbaugh each need a win to go with a 2nd place in STF. Colin Kingsley and Joe Austin are looking to spoil their fun, but unless another entry shows up they'll be battling in a bump class.

Street Touring Sport has 21 entries, matching SSR. Watch for Greg Maloy in this one. He needs a win to go with his 2nd at Toledo but he'll have to beat Toledo winner Mark McKnight to get it. The Toledo margin was a paper thin 0.048 and Maloy will be looking for payback. Ben Wagstaff might have something to say about that however. His only result this year in STS is a win at New Jersey and he needs another good result to pair with that for the Finale. Of course, one of the other 18 drivers in the class might want to take the win as well...

STX 'only' has 15 folks this weekend, but David Marcus and Kyle Herbst don't care. Each is looking to backup a good performance earlier, with a 2nd for Marcus at New Jersey and Herbst winning at Wilmington earlier this year. Don Slevin is in position to block however.

STU only has three folks entered, but two of them are Martin Kris and David Wampler. So far this year Kriz has taken the top spot over his codriver and this is Wampler's last chance to turn that around and put himself in a position to be able to win the Finale. These two have been the class of the field in STU on the east coast with their insane 60' times, so make time to watch this car launch at least once, though you'll likely have to watch the bump class to see it.

Street Touring Roadster is up next, just one shy of SSR and STS at 20 entries on the sheet. Brian Karwan needs a win, as does Randy Petschauer. Alex Kang or Chris Lin can win the finale with either a first or a second, but if either takes the win, they'll block. So far nobody on the east coast has at least a win and a 2nd place, so if home coast honor is to be best defended at the finale against the west coast guys, someone is going to have to take charge.

Street Prepared is up next and Super Street Prepared is all about whether Rod McGeorge wants to run SSP at the Finale or CS. He's got a 2nd in SSP at Wilmington and needs a win if he wants a shot at the Championship but the other entrant is Eric Stemler who beat him at that event. Stemler already has the points he needs to carry into the Finale, but he can play blocker in this two person class where the big question is, "what's going to be in Rod's trailer?"

C Street Prepared is next class with a battle going on. Julian Garfield has been playing 2nd fiddle to Billy Davis this year and he needs to turn those tables around if he wants a shot at the championship. Meanwhile Neal Tovsen, Bob Davis, and Todd Cochran are all looking for another good result to go with strong showings earlier in the year to put themselves in the position to take the class overall. Brian Garfield is looking on from the rear seat in this stacked class, with two 3rd place finishes. He's got to go for the win and then hope he can do it again at the Finale plus get some help if he wants to stand on the top spot for the year after the dust settles.

In D Street Prepared this one is probably just for funzies. Vitamvas and Campbell already have the points they need with Eckert and Henry not having a coveted first or 2nd place finish. Eckert has a long shot chance, but he'll need to win the event and then get some help at the Finale. Unfortunately, with only four folks on the entry list unless there's some horsetrading going on it's all going to be happening in bump class as well so the index factor and course may dictate whether anyone has a good shot at the all important Hoosier contingency.

E Street Prepared is looking around at the rest of SP and wondering where everyone went. ESP is 15 strong and there are some folks to watch. Dave Heinrich took the top spot the last time we were in Wilmington, but his next best finish is a 3rd in Toledo. He needs to put in at least a 2nd place effort to give himself the best chance for overall glory at the Finale. Jeremiah McClintock is looking for his first win as well. He's new to the class as a graduate of F125 and he took 3rd at the Wilmington Spring event and then 2nd at Toledo. Can he take the next step and stand on the top of the box? He'll need to if he wants the best chance for the overall title. And let's not count out Mark Pilson or Ryan Finch! Each has a strong showing earlier this year and if they win at Wilmington, they put themselves in a winning position going to the Finale. Looking to play spoiler are a couple folks whose names you might recognize... Tom O'Gorman is on the entry list but we know that's not his car and there's no corresponding codriver... Is he just teasing us? Check out PJ Corrales as well. He thinks he might know a secret about ESP with his Infiniti, looking to squash some American Thunder with Sushi Power. Then you've got the Merideths, Bistrais, and Mike Lane in PJ's secret weapon. You're going to want to see this one!

F Street Prepared is a big question mark at the moment. Reports are that the Corolla of West and Myers ventilated the block at the Toledo Match tour. Additionally, the national points standings are a ghost town with nobody in the nation having two events outside of Van Townsend. Myers has a 2nd place finish at the Spring Wilmington event, so will he try and find an FSP ride? Or will West get the car back together? Even if they're both in the car, Renee Hines is currently entered in FSP and will be looking to make the boys cry if she sticks with FSP. And speaking of Renee, where's Scott Giles? He's working on chiefs for the event, but he's not on the entry lists anywhere. We aren't likely to know what's going on here until Saturday morning.

Street Modified rounds the corner and the biggest news is that there's a serious lack of Pandas on the entry sheet. Is PJ Corrales just pulling a fast one with his ESP entry? He's only got 2nd place finishes this year and has one more event he can count. He'd surely love to have a win. To do it, he'd need to beat Aaron Shoe though. Aaron needs a good finish to go with his win at the Spring Wilmington event. There are only five listed in the class right now and one of those is Tim White who's actually been running in SSM all year. That's a hard call for the other competitors... Do you hope PJ gets into the Panda chasing the win he needs so that you make five for contingency?

In Super Street Modified, Randall Wilcox has all the points he needs which is good, because this event won't count toward points for him. Latest report is that the Thompson RX-7 won't make the event, so that leaves Jonathan Leith and Mark Andy as the only two folks with 2nd place finishes hoping to put it on the top spot to take the points they need into the Finale. Leith is coming off a strong showing in Toledo and reports are that Martin Valent's MR2 that Andy drives might have finally exorcised its demons. Who can play spoiler? Wilcox will obviously be trying to block and so far this year the car he drives, Eric Anderson's Miata, has been the most reliable car in SSM. Regular Panda drivers David White and Todd Kean are also on the entry list and this year it hasn't been uncommon for SM to raw time SSM, so they've got to be considered a serious threat. Of course, we can't forget Martin Valent, he just beat Andy at the Toledo Pro. And what about Erik Strelnieks, he's entered in R2 with his Boxster, but might he load up his SSM car instead? It seems likely, as he doesn't have any Race 2 points for the year...

In Street Modified FWD, Jason Tipple's car finally hit the ground in Toledo, but the best he could muster was a 5th place finish. It seems likely that this was not his true pace however, as he only had one clean run the entire weekend. Brian Kuehl meanwhile comes into the event with a perfect 40 points. Don Kuehl could make a move if he makes it to the top step, but the most likely scenario is that Brian and Jason will be testing and tuning for Nationals in a little over a month.

Kart Modified is only showing three entrants and none of them have the points needed to challenge for the overall championship so this is mostly just going to be for fun. If Tim Routh can pull off the win he'll at least go into the Finale with a 1st and 3rd, which is enough to win as long as he gets some help. Scheidler and Hoover will be looking to deny him. And we can't forget about Carter Thompson... With his RX-7 not ready to go he was in a shifter kart for Toledo. Will he shift his entry over to KM this weekend as well? He's another driver with a 3rd place finish who can go into the Finale with a long shot for the overall title.

In Race 1, the question is if Brandon Lavender can beat Clemens Burger. If he can (and nobody else spoils his party), he'll enter the Finale with the 2nd and a 1st he'll want. He was roughly a second off at Toledo, but this is an indexed class and Burger is in a BM car to Lavender's CM, so course design matters.

Race 2 is a class where the points standing could change in a hurry. Chris Raglin has a win at Wilmington but could only muster a 9th at Toledo. He needs a result to keep his season alive. Put car owner Alex Jones in that same category. If he can win, he'll enter the Finale with a 1st and 2nd like he wants. They're not the only ones though. Darren DiSimo is in the same boat, along with Dave Montgomery. And what about Erik Strelnieks? If he does bring the Boxster like the entry sheet indicates, would anyone bet against him?

Let's not forget the kids. In JA, its simple math... Burke Everett has to beat Trey White to have a good shot at the championship. Everett was having kart trouble at Toledo. Will that be straightened away at Wilmington? Last report had his mom Heather chasing after mold problems.

In JB, the story is less dire... As long as nobody else enters the class, the worst Ben Weaver can finish is the 2nd place he needs to carry a first and second into the Finale. Of course, he would surely like to take the top spot, but he'll need to beat Kimsoo Gopnik to do it.

So there you go. That's what the points situation looks like for the Summer Wilmington Pro entrants. Make sure to tune into Solo Live (http://sololive.scca.com/) and uStream (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sololive) to follow the action!

And don't forget to donate to the Wilmington Fence Fund! Show the Cincinnati Region folks that you appreciate how much work they do to bring us these great events at Wilmington!