It's time for one last visit to Wilmington for the year, and the penultimate ProSolo event to gather points for the Finale. Quite a few competitors will be returning from last weekend's National Tour event, which was a scorcher for both the weather and the competition. With 277 registered competitors, we're sure to see even more great racing, but hopefully some calmer weather this time around.
As always, it's ladies first in Wilmington, with 27 ladies spread across the 3 classes. In L1 we have two of the top points holders with Shelly Monfort and Tamra Hunt. Both drivers are in Street Prepared category cars, with Shelly in a D Street Prepared BMW and Tamra in a C Street Prepared Miata. They've gone against each other twice before this season, splitting wins with a 1 apiece. The tie breaker will be purely for pride and prize money, however, as both already have the maximum points haul heading into the Finale come September. Down in L3, Laura Campbell sits with 36 points, just 4 shy of the potential maximum, with number of other ladies will be battling her to try to get their points for a Tier-1 entry (that requires at least 33 points). Michelle Knoll, Sara Odioso, and Heather Everett all have a second place finish from earlier this season, and a win here would bring them up into Tier-1.
Given the chance, I'm always going to mention Super Street R, and with good reason: there's always a titanic battle for the top spot. Such might not have been the case last weekend at the Tour, but it took a top index drive from Grant Reeve to do it. However, the momentum isn’t exactly swung his way, as Josh Luster seemed to have figured something out to take the top time on Sunday despite not quite having enough on Saturday. He'll have to keep that momentum going to finish ahead of Sam Strano, who’ll be vying for another 20 points and some payback on Reeve from the last race. Of course, that’s not to count out some other drivers who have all shown potential to take the win. It almost seems like the only person missing is the Sportscar pick for Nationals.
A Street has the biggest Street category class this weekend, with Mark Daddio attempting to go 3-for-3 in class wins for the year. He's the only person with a full 40 points in the class, with Jeff Cashmore just 4-points behind him. Laurence Casey is sitting with 32 points, and needs a class win to move up to the coveted early registration group for the Finale.
Street Touring R has 23 cars, with Brian Karwan as the top dog so far. He’s one of two competitors with a full score going into the Finale, and will be looking to take another win for good measure. Last weekend’s Tour shows that competition is closer than Karwan's ProSolo record would let on, with Tim Viars coming in just over a tenth shy of the win. One also can't count out Will Koscielny, who's sitting on a pair of 3rd place finishes, and needs a win for a Tier-1 entry.
C Street Prepared this year has been dominated by Billy Davis, but a number of other cars are being developed and showing speed. They'll also be fighting for the possibility of getting into the early registration group, a right that so far of the 7 contestants this weekend only Davis and Neal Tovsen have earned. Mike Kline, Danny Kao, and Bob Davis all have enough points that a win would guarantee them a Finale entry, but they’re all pulling an uphill battle in a Miata to beat Billy.
These are just a few of the storylines coming up this weekend, as competitors are running out of time to qualify for the Pro Finale in September. With the Tour having just been run, there’s little time for some competitors to make repairs and rest up before they have to run again. One such case is that of Dan Stainback, who’s SM Subaru suffered an engine failure at the Tour. However, it seems a cracked cylinder won’t stop him from trying to make it to compete in the Pro, as rumor is he’s building up a new block to get it running again. Having only run 1 event, he’ll have to make it back to Wilmington just to have a shot at the Finale at all. We'll see if he makes it, along with all the other competitors who survived this past weekend’s Tour event when Saturday brings the 2016 Wilmington Summer ProSolo!
