TOPEKA, Kan. (August 2, 2017) – The sold out 2017 Toledo Championship Tour lived up to the billing as ideal weather conditions and a challenging technical course designed by Alex Jones was well praised by competitors in all types of cars. The concrete surface was ideal for those preparing for the Tire Rack Solo season finale at the 2017 Tire Rack Solo Nationals in Lincoln, Nebraska.
In F Street Prepared, the four-cylindered cars with big race tires battled for two trophy positions. After day one, Greg Anthony led the way in his Dodge Neon ACR, but he coned away his best run on day two, opening the door for Scott Giles to take the victory in his Honda CRX by 0.039 second.
The margin of victory in B Street was nearly as close as Tom DeYoung came back on day two to put his Chevrolet Corvette ahead of Paul Kolatorowicz’s Pontiac Solstice by just 0.053 second over two days of competition. Andrew Graul, Danny Kao and Alan Hamson rounded out of the remaining B Street trophies.
Despite those close battles, the margin of victory was smallest in X Prepared as the 10-car class saw Eric Stemler’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 take the win by just 0.026 second over Alek Tziortizis in another Z06. Steve Hoelscher and Timothy Maxey claimed the final trophy positions.
While many competitors entered day two of competition looking for just tenths or hundredths, some found themselves looking for seconds. Randall Wilcox put nearly a two-second gap on the Super Street Modified field in a Mazda Miata just during day one. He would hang on for the win and take the Top PAX honors for the third time at a Tire Rack Solo National Tour event this year. Nick Myers and Eric Anderson rounded out the trophies.
However, the most impressive drive of the weekend likely belongs to Tom O’Gorman who took the A Street win by over 3.5 seconds in a very competitive class that featured 23 drivers. Behind O’Gorman, the trophies were tight. Dan Simms took second with a 0.452-second advantage over David Entz. Just 0.489 second back was Laurence Casey. John Rodgers, Kristo Kukk and Mark Sarcevicz claimed the final trophies.
The General Motors team Camaros led the way in CAM Contemporary. Shawn Bailey led on day one, but Bill Wise took the lead on day two to claim victory by 0.385 second. GM teammates Paul Townsend and Van Blanco slotted into third and fourth.
Street Touring cars took well to the transition-heavy course as the C5 Corvettes led the charge in Street Tour Ultra, with Andrew Ramos taking the win over day one leader Ryan Finch by 0.141 second over two days of competition. Norman Rawls prevented Corvettes from a top-five trophy party with a third-place finish in his Nissan 350Z. Kenneth Tsang, Matt Colley and David Colletti took the final trophies home.
William Koscielny’s first run of day two would prove to be enough to stay ahead of second place Mark Dudek in Street Touring Roadster. Brian Karwan finished third while David Marcus would have to settle for fourth after a transmission failure on his final run. Jacob Ronal claimed the fifth and final trophy position, and ND Miatas took all five trophies.
Another mechanical failure was suspected in G Street when Neil Britton’s Ford Focus ST sputtered and nearly stalled on course, allowing Josh McDonough to take the win, also in a Focus ST. A fuel thirsty air conditioner in grid, leading to fuel starvation, was later deduced to be the issue. Britton would hang on to second with Jen Wong in third and Joe Blaha in fourth.
Words by: Sean Grogan
Photo by: Andrew Wong
