Definitely the best SCCA Solo Event of the weekend! ;-)
Perfect weather, good people, two McLarens, a few upsets, cheeseburgers the size of kart tires, some all-stars, underdog stories, come from behind wins, and two amazing sixty second courses on a fantastic site with Pikes Peak as the backdrop. If you skipped the 2016 Tire Rack Colorado Championship Tour, you missed one of SCCA's finest autocross events.
As expected, the Chris Mayfield designed courses were fast and technical, and rewarded those that managed the high speeds best. However, high average speed doesn't mean that the courses were short. Each course required about fifty-five to sixty seconds to complete, with Saturday's course being the longest of the pair. With many national events being limited to abbreviated courses, Colorado's courses were a welcome deviation for many national competitors.
One of the more exciting clashes of the weekend was found in C Street, where the top five positions were claimed by four different car models. Jeffery Bandes, in the ND MX-5 was able to stay ahead of hard chargers Jeff Hugo in the RX-8 and Ezra Kelderman in the E36 BMW M3, on both days to take the overall win."
E Street is typically packed with close battles, but the results have been a bit predictable lately. Well, not so in Colorado. As mentioned in the "Tune-in", the fast courses were Mazdaspeed Miata friendly and the duo of Jonathan Kuo and Brian Kelly soared to a quick one-two over multi-time national champion Paul Brown, in the Toyota Spyder, after day one. Moving to day two, Brown had his sights set decisively on the top spot and recorded a time on his first run that neither Kuo, nor Kelly would match all day, putting Brown in the lead. But wait, there's more. While all eyes were on Brown, Kuo and Kelly, Jim Garton in another Mazdaspeed Miata, was quietly shaving over two seconds off his first run time. When the dust finally settled, Garton scored a come from behind E Street victory to best Brown by just 0.02 seconds.
F Street had a bit of an altered appearance in Colorado. Sure there were a couple of Mustangs and Kevin Youngers, but the preeminent Mustang was a Boss 302 and Youngers was driving a BMW M3. Additionally, it was difficult to overlook the Japanese muscle of Jeff Morgan's Lexus IS-F. During day one competition, Youngers and Chris Kirkland, in the Boss 302, were tied to the thousandth of a second after their second runs. Kirkland was able to improve on his third run while Youngers coned away a slightly quicker time, giving Kirkland a 0.147 second lead. On day two, Kirkland set a time with his first run that nobody else in class would touch. Youngers did everything he could in the M3, but came up short, giving the win the Kirkland by 0.877 seconds.
There was no Van, no Kinch and no LaFonda in Street Touring S, which left the door wide open for somebody else in a Honda to take home the victory. But it didn’t really work out that way. Kirk Dunlap, Cassidy Coghlin and Jeff Tattershall all logged some respectable times in their Honda Civics, but Tom Johnston in his '91 Toyota MR-2, was simply untouchable all weekend. You can say that it must have been the larger displacement, or the MR layout of the MR2 that gave Johnston the advantage. However, his competitors will tell you that he just drove better and earned the victory. Don't expect this win to upset the STS apple cart but this day belonged to the Toyota and MR-2 stalwarts.
Colorado attracted a few Street Touring X national contenders, most notably Dave Santel in the FR-S. However, while most challengers were working on improving their times, Santel was simply trying to get a clean run. The raw times were there, but his third run came and went, and no clean runs were logged, putting Santel out of the running in a very competitive STX class. This cleared the way for Andrew McGibbon in a BR-Z, and Justin Metz and Greg Paine in the FR-S to battle for the top spot. McGibbon and Paine made the most of their runs, finding time on every run over both days, while Metz struggled to improve. When the final STX car crossed the lights on Sunday, McGibbon was the only driver with a cumulative time in the 111 seconds range, giving him the STX win.
With the fast courses in Colorado, the S2000 positively had the advantage in Street Touring R. However, Tom Reynolds was on a mission to cap off his productive season with a win in the new MX-5. After day one, Reynolds had a small lead over Jim Reyenga and Michael Carpenter in the Hondas, but all three were covered by just 0.4 seconds. During day two competition, Carpenter had the fastest time on his second run, which moved him into second place, but if wasn't enough to take the win from Reynolds. Reynolds' win gives him momentum and even greater confidence in his quest for a National Championship in September.
CAM-C was full of local talent and heavy metal. Mike Trenkle has dominated this class locally the previous two years. However, newcomer Roger Kroog, in the former ESP Camaro of James Darden, has been challenging Trenkle on a regular basis. This weekend it all came together for Kroog as he bested Trenkle both days for a 1.313 second victory. Kroog did make it difficult for himself in the wide Camaro by hammering cones on his first and second runs both days, but clean runs on his third is all that mattered.
The Tire Rack Colorado Championship Tour had so much to offer this year and the Rocky Mountain Solo community was welcoming and well organized. The location, people and competition are hard to beat. Put this event on your "Must Do" list for next year and be prepared to bring your best to a mile above sea level.
Next stop, Lincoln! See you all in September.
