Final Results
The 2016 Packwood ProSolo wrapped up on Sunday. 138 competitors had the opportunity to try their hand at the Tim Weidemann designed courses. Beginning with the welcome party on Friday evening and continuing through both days of racing, much fun was had thanks to the friendly folks of the Northwest Region.
The weather report showed a chance of thunderstorms for Sunday, but when the event began Sunday morning, the asphalt was still dry. It remained that way until moments before the Ladies Challenge began, when one lone rain cloud planted itself over the site and let out just enough moisture to make spots on windshields.
Three junior karters in FJB kicked off Sunday's competition. Kash Langley of Umatilla, OR, sponsored by Duke's Auto/Langley Motorsports took the class win by over 2.2 seconds.
The next group to take to the course was the ladies of L2. After Saturday competition, Laura Molleker was leading the 7-driver class with Kristi Brown close behind in 2nd place. On Sunday morning Jessica Gauthier found time on the left side course and rocketed herself into 1st place in her 2016 Subaru WRX. Kristi Brown remained in 2nd, just 0.160 second behind Gauthier. Lacey Otis found time on the right side and edged out Molleker for the 3rd and final trophy position.
The ladies of L3 also ran during the first group. Both Annie Gill and Kate Fisher found time on both courses Sunday morning. Tasha Mikko found time on the right side course and was able to keep her lead over the class. Gill finished 2nd and Amy Coleman improved enough on the right side to move into the 3rd spot. Kate Fisher took the 4th and final trophy position.
Above: F-Street Class Picture
In B-Street Dan Bullis and Brian Coulson were just 0.033 seconds apart after Saturday’s competition. On Sunday morning Bullis made up time on both courses, while Coulson only found time on the left side. Bullis stretched out his lead to 0.563 second and took home the win in the Sins Performance Chevrolet Corvette.
The ladies of L1 took to the courses during group 2. Caitlin Snell drove the 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution of Geoff Clark Racing to a first place finish in the 9-driver class. Bonnie Mueller took second place, while co-driver and daughter-in-law Jennifer Mueller took third.
After Saturday's competition, Cam Withell held the 1st place position in A-Street with first time ProSoloer Rex Ayers in 2nd ahead of Glen Hernandez. On Sunday morning Hernandez was able to find almost a half-second on the right course to move himself into the top spot. Withell fell to 2nd, just 0.089 second behind Hernandez.
The 11-drivers of F-Street continued their battle on Sunday morning. Both James Paulson and Stacey Molleker improved their times. Paulson was able to move himself up to the 2nd position; pushing Molleker back to 3rd. Brian Meyer found enough time on the left course to move up into the 4th and final trophy position, edging out Matthew Ales by just 0.006 second. While Ryan Otis was not able to improve on Sunday in his 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS sponsored by Stranoparts.com, his times from Saturday were fast enough to keep him in 1st place. On a side-note, Sean O’Boyle has decided that Mustangs have more torque than he desires and you will find him back in the BMW M3 in the near future.
Above: B-Street Class Picture
At the end of competition on Saturday, Chris Thorpe was leading the way in the 14-driver class of STU. Sunday morning, Bryan Heitkotter was able to find just enough time on the right course to move himself ahead of Thorpe. Heitkotter took the win in the 1994 BMW 325is sponsored by Milts Service Garage, beating out Thorpe by just 0.072 second. Thorpe took 2nd with Jonathan Lugod in 3rd, Mack Tsang in 4th, and Steve O’Blenes in the 5th and final trophy position.
In STR, Kevin Dietz was able to find time on both courses Sunday morning. Unfortunately for Dietz it wasn’t enough to get ahead of Ron Bauer in his 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata sponsored by Mazda Motorsports/Bauerspeed Racing. Dietz finished 2nd in class, just 0.042 second behind Bauer. Charly Spyksma, Bauer's co-driver, took the 3rd and final trophy position in the class.
The hard luck award for the event should go to co-drivers Jason Merritt and Joey Sim. The 1989 Nissan 240SX they were driving in SM broke the rear diff while Jody Fordahl was driving the car in L1 on Saturday afternoon. Merritt and Sim rushed to get parts and had the car fixed by 7:30 Saturday night.
During Sunday morning competition the car broke again while Fordahl was competing. This time an axle gave out. Merritt and Sim were able to get the car repaired in time for their final runs in SM.
Above: Sunday Afternoon Thunderstorm Developing...
Sim's name was drawn for the Bonus Challenge, but everyone wondered if the car would make it. In his first round Sim knocked out Carson Orud. Sim then drove against Richard Willy and won. In the final round Sim beat Brian Crow to take the Bonus Challenge Win.
Tasha Mikko, the winner of L3, went on to get her first ever Ladies Challenge win. In her initial round, Mikko was paired up with Annie Gill. Unfortunately for Gill, she got a red light. Next Mikko went up against Laura Molleker and Molleker also got a red light. In the final round of the Ladies Challenge Mikko beat out Lacey Otis, leaving Otis in 2nd place. Caitlin Snell took 3rd place in the Ladies Challenge.
In the Round of Four of the Super Challenge, SS winner Monty Pack was paired up against AS winner Glen Hernandez. Kevin Dietz (2nd place, STR) was paired up against FS winner Ryan Otis. Hernandez took the win over Pack and Otis took the win over Dietz.
Above: Jim Daniels vs. Chad Langley
After the round, when Dietz drove back toward the grid to shake hands with Otis, Dietz exclaimed, "My clutch just blew up! I gotta push it. It won't move!"
Dietz was to go up against Monty Pack for the 3rd place runoff, but without a working car, Dietz would have to forfeit. Upon hearing this, Dietz’s class competitor and good friend, Ron Bauer, sprinted across the site to retrieve his own car and offered it up to Dietz. Dietz took his final run in Bauer's car and though his times were fast, they weren’t quite enough and Monty Pack took 3rd in the Super Challenge.
In the final round of the Super Challenge Ryan Otis and Glen Hernandez lined up with Hernandez on the left and Otis on the right. Though he was back quicker, Hernandez hit a cone on his run, giving Otis an advantage. When they lined up again, Hernandez red lit, giving Otis his first ever Super Challenge win.
It was a great weekend of racing amongst the tree-covered mountains of the Pacific Northwest. The Northwest Region did a fantastic job of hosting the event just like they always do. Here’s to hoping we get to return to Packwood next year.
