SOLO: First champions named at Solo II Nationals

TOPEKA, Kan. (Sept. 10, 2003) -- Coffee drinkers everywhere have known for years that given time, the cream they poured into a hot cup of coffee would eventually find its way to the top.

Much the same, as the late August sunshine warmed Forbes Field into the upper 80s Wednesday afternoon, the cream of The Tire Rack® SCCA Solo II National Championships rose to top of their classes and captured the first of many top awards to be handed out this week.

Steve Telehowski, of Novi, Mich., held the C Stock lead after day one and left no doubt on day two as he posted the top time (57.332) on the more technical north course Wednesday in his 1999 Mazda Miata. His combined time was 107.798, 1.643 seconds ahead of silver trophy winner Joe Tharpe, of Marshalltown, Iowa. Darrin Disimo, of Coral Springs, Fla., finished third.

Jeff Cashmore, of New Berlin, Wis., took care of business during the second day and drove his E Stock Inacom Information Systems Toyota MR2 to the ES Championship. Ryan Buetzer, of Seneca, Kan., who started the day in fifth, made a valiant effort to move up the field Wednesday in his Buetzer Family Racing Toyota MR2, but fell just short of Cashmore, 1.080 seconds behind. Paul Brown, of Los Alamos, N.M. finished third.

A couple of northeastern competitors, Mike Johnson, of Rutherford, N.J., and Paul Kozlak, of Harleysville, Pa., battled throughout the first two days of the event, but in the end Johnson, in his Evolution Chevrolet Z-28, held off Kozlak's Red House Racing Chevrolet 350 IROC-Z. Johnson held the lead over Kozlak after day one and extended his championship-winning lead to 0.366-second.

Sam Strano, of Brookville, Pa., snuck into third with a solid effort on Wednesday.

In H Stock, Mark Chiles, of Rocky Mount, N.C., led a parade of Mini Coopers to the top of the class, his Mini of Charleston Mini Cooper speeding to the top prize by 0.336-second. He beat out Karter Bollmann, of Texas City, Texas, who captured silver in his own Mini. In his Jim's Detail Shop/MINIUSA.com Mini Cooper, Keith Brown, of Des Moines, Iowa, grabbed the bronze.

Tom Ellam, of Livermore, Calif., jumped out early and grabbed the lead in C Street Prepared and never gave it up on his way to a championship. In his Altamont Technical Sales Mazda RX-3, Ellam had the best time on Tuesday and then held off Tim Aro, of Richmond, Va., who ran the fastest time on Wednesday in his McGeorgeToyota.com/TRD/Pro Toyota MR2 Spyder. After the totals were added, Ellam came out just 0.196-second ahead.

The past 10 days were extremely kind to Mark Daddio, of Beacon Falls, Conn., who won a brand new Mazda6 sport sedan in the Mazda Rev It Up® competition in California, Aug. 31, and then capped off his run by capturing the C Modified class championship by an impressive 0.725-second. Competitive peers shook their heads in unbelief as Daddio drove his Small Fortune Racing Reynard FF 1600 to the win in his first CM National Championship appearance. Gary Godula, of Farmington Hills, Mich., took home the silver trophy and Peter Calhoun, of Westmont, Ill., finished third.

The closest championship final so far this year came today in A Modified, where George Bowland, of Tyron, N.C., squeezed out the win by a minute 0.032-second over Scott Nardin of Grandville, Michigan. After Bowland opened up a 0.129-second lead after day one, Nardin came storming back on Wednesday, but fell an eyelash short of the victory.

In Street Touring, east and west collided as Kenichi Motonishi, of Orange, Calif., bested Chris Shenefield, of Kingston, Pa., by a scant 0.067-second. Motonishi's HART/Kumho/Jro/GT Honda Civic Si got off to a rough start with a first round DNF on the first run, but rebounded with a day-one best time. Shenefield's RedShift Motorsports Honda Civic hung in there, but ultimately came up a bit short, giving Shenefield the silver trophy. Kevin McCormick, of Lincoln, Calif., finished third.

The second tier of The Tire Rack® SCCA Solo II National Championships competitors will begin competition after walkthroughs are completed Thursday morning with the event coming to a close Friday afternoon. For complete results, including all women's finals and all other classes, and schedule information, visit the website at www.scca.com.

<pre> KANSAS TOP 10 FINISHERS: Name Hometown Class Car Finish David Green Wichita C Stock 1999 Mazda Miata 5. Ann Commerford Salina C Stock Ladies 2003 Toyota MR2 Spyder 8. Teresa Pistora Salina C Stock Ladies 1994 Mazda Miata 9. Ryan Buetzer Seneca E Stock 1991 Toyota MR2 2. Kiersten Scharnber Stilwell B Modified Ladies 1982 Ralt RT-5 1. Janet Schmidt Overland Park F Prepared Ladies 1985 Mazda RX-7 5. James Harrison Wichita B Street Prepared 1972 Chevrolet Corvette 10. Scott Schmidt Lawrence Formula SAE 2003 Kansas University Formula 10. Linda Gill Topeka Street Touring Ladies 1987 Honda Civic Si 8.

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