Still Spring - But the Heat Is On

Spring 2006, Event 3 of 4

By Jeremy Galo

Firebird International Raceway – April 29, 2006

Summer may not officially begin until June, but Arizona autocrossers would say otherwise, as the third event of the Spring Series is finally underway for the 2006 season. With only 139 competitors in this event, it allowed breathing room as opposed to the two previous very full events. Time only slots were filling during the afternoon, and surely the competitors welcomed the fourth run that we so rarely see in our region.

Upon leaving the starting line, the drivers (the fwd street tire shod ones anyway) were greeted with some initial wheel spin and a series of esses. Upon exiting, drivers encountered a right-hand sweeper which opened up to the controversial first set of slalom cones. Debates were left unsettled as individual drivers found their own way through. Another run through the initial transitions gave way to a mirror of the previous section. As the final slalom would indicate, course workers were required to be in perfect cardiovascular health (or at least ran a 5k or two) as slalom cones were frequently annihilated. While the choice of entry was more obvious, it seemed the final cones were having difficulty staying upright.

Kat Morrill

The temperature is definitely rising with the days of summer quickly approaching; but even the mighty sun cannot compare to the heated competition firing up in the Open classes for Solo. New camaraderie and competition begins in SS with Darrell Covert welcoming former STX superstar Kevin Cote. His rookie debut in the former Eymann Vette was successful as the “Wile E Cote” takes down the Realty Executive sponsored blue Z06. The battle of open-top roadsters ensued in the AS and CS classes. Jason Alger in his Boxster quickly edged out Mark Halliday in the Honda. But he will still have some work to do if Gene Sanders shows up for duty for the May event. Kevin Gleaton whipped Brad Owen as he takes his Miata to the finish line a half second sooner. DS Driver Doug Rowse delivers a dashing 977 pax in his 330i as he desperately lays the smack down to the closest rival in his class… nobody.

Close competition did not prove to be a stranger in the Street Prepared and Modified classes either. Another former street-tire competitor, Kris Castner in his DSP Impreza RS seemed to be enjoying the dark side as he tailed second place finisher Ben Clement. However, the added grip may have been too much as Brian Weikert experienced transmission problems later with the car.

Kat Morrill

Clint Child wasted no time making quick work of the course in his Kumho-shod Integra. Coming into his third run, the type R finally delivers a brutally fast 31.613 run; however, dreams of holding FTD were quickly shattered as Dave Lahey quickly took the title away. Sattler and Lahey were taking turns for faster times with the CSP class, but Dave finally tripped the lights less than 2 tenths faster. The competition literally boils down to the final event as Lahey’s win puts the two at an exact tie for the series. The SM class is always a crowd pleaser. Olin Tweed was looking good out there with a 31.842 on his second run. He was able to hold off Francis Miller in the EVO for a little while, until the Mitsubishi came in with a final run of 31.802. In this series, blinking can cost you everything.

Kat Morrill

With concentration on some of the seasoned classes and drivers, it is important to note that the novice and street tire categories provides the largest competition classes that Solo consistently brings. While a lot of spotlight is shed on the faster classes, keep in mind that the Novices need love too. Well, NV1 driver Mike Witkopf did not seem to agree as he punishes the rest of the novice field. While driving the Pontiac Firebird of Larry Petrucci, Mike was the only novice in this event to break the 900 PAX barrier with a healthy 931. He was able to hold off the pesky all wheel drive Evo and STI of Michael Richardson and Matthew Murray. The top spots in NV2 were held by imports with Manfred Reysser being top dog. George Skliarevskiy’s Mazda was able to wrestle the second place spot away from the WRX wagon of Rasmus Hansen. William Gates, with all his billions, could not buy a spot on the podium as he places behind Hansen. Acura comes out ahead as the street tire posse of NV3 drivers bow down to Malory Dcosta.

“Run what you brung” is the motto of the Street Tire category drivers. The 900+ paxes by Shawn Laverty and Wil Evans in ST1 show that you don’t need race rubber to be fast. Scott Meyers and George Capito prove the same in ST2. With a 37.953 run, Kat Morrill was able to make a repeat of the last event, beating out Glenda Meyers in Street Tire Ladies.

The specialty categories for the seasoned drivers always provide a solid display of friendly and fast competition. Diane Deanovic’s 32.312 in her M3 was respectable indeed for PAXL, but Mindi Cross shows no love as she displaces Diane from the top spot by just a shade under three hundredths of a second and only 1 PAX point away. The PRO drivers put on their usual blistering display of fast times as the McCombs S2000 wins out over Steve Ryan’s Vette by a mere 0.060 seconds. While it’s been proven that you can win a race by tenths and hundredths, Sportsman celebrity Brian Peters shows you can win by thousands. No, that is not a typo; Pylon-plagued Peters wins with a pair of 1000s as he earns the coveted honor of having both FTD and top PAX with his impressive 30.643 run.

Kat Morrill

There is only one thing more heartwarming than the friendly competition that Autocross brings and that is trash talking rivalry found in the Street Touring classes. STS competition is traditionally heated. Jeff Williams’s Civic Si takes the second spot away from forum frequenter and VW fanatic Mark Shaw with a 35.703 run; but this was not good enough, as first place finisher Britt Dollmeyer takes the win with his older generation Civic Si. STX competition remains true to form as the top four drivers stay within a half second of each other. Rob Huber’s RS edges out the Jeremy Galo Prelude by less than a tenth while Team Percent Racing member Dan Martin is able to beat out honorary Canadian Chad Mizner’s G35 sedan with a 34.568. Dan Martin is currently leading the series by 13 points in the overall. Full results for all classes can be seen here.

With the penultimate event in the series is in the books, the real story now lies with the coming May event. The final event of the series is fast approaching on the horizon and the drivers must put their game faces (and their good tires) on. Even though summer is not quite here, the competitive heat is on. Only time will tell what the outcome will be for Spring 2006.