SCCA
SOLO: National Tour Houston summary
Houston Heats Up the Solo National Tour HOUSTON, Texas (April 8, 2009) -- The third stop on the 2009 Tire Rack Solo National Tour set up shop in Houston, Texas, April 4 -- 5, on the asphalt of Gulf Greyhound Park. The event was blessed with ...
Edited: Dec 21, 2009, 5:32 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Houston Heats Up the Solo National Tour
HOUSTON, Texas (April 8, 2009) -- The third stop on the 2009 Tire Rack Solo National Tour set up shop in Houston, Texas, April 4 -- 5, on the asphalt of Gulf Greyhound Park.
The event was blessed with beautiful weather and two challenging courses designed by Roger Johnson. Drivers finished each run knowing there was room for improvement after tackling the thread-the-needle sections with irregular rhythms created by Johnson, which were connected by tricky turns disguised with extraneous cones.
Super Street Modified defending National Champion Erik Strelnieks, of Cedar Park, Texas, was seemingly unphased by the challenges, posting an SSM win in his Jungle Cat Racing/Hoosier/7parts Mazda 3-Rotor RX7 by more than five seconds. Wife, co-driver and defending D Stock Ladies National Champion Beth McClure Strelnieks finished third in SSM, just a tick off second-place Standford Curry, of Austin, Texas, in a JL Automotive Specialist Honda 2002.
Another driver to make quick work of the devious courses was David Smart, from Plano Texas. Smart had struggled to get his Blackwatch Racing Lotus Exige ready in time for the event, but despite the last-minute rush, Smart stayed true to his surname and collected the A Street Prepared win by more than six seconds over his co-driver, Greg Stirneman, of Jacksonville, Texas.
Sierra Pedroza, of Round Rock, Texas, had close C Stock Ladies battle on her hands with Briget Sawatsky, of Winnipeg, Mannitoba after day one. Day two clearly belonged to Pedroza and her FTW Racing/JCAuto Mazda MX-5 however, beating out Sawatsky's www.speedworld.ca Mazda MX-5 by more than four seconds total.
Some impressive times were turned in B Modified, where Christopher Moulckers, of Cypress, Texas, managed to knock off defending BM National Champion Tommy Saunders, of Southlake, Texas, and co-driver Stuart Lumpkin, of McKinney, Texas, in their Hoosier/Janco Legrand Dragon. Driving a Legrand DSR, Moulckers took the win by 0.949-second over Lumpkin. B Modified Ladies defending National Champ Brianne Corn drove the Saunders/Lumpkin car to the A Modified win.
The drive to Houston from Regina, N.M., was well worth it for Wiggy Greacen, who took his first-ever Tour win after two decades in the sport. Despite his vast experience, Greacen recently went back to school to freshen up his driving skills and the results speak for themselves. Driving a Firestone Complete Auto Care Mitsubishi Evo, Greacen won Street Touring Ultra by 1.662 seconds over Houston's Steve Pounds in a BMW M3. The only BMW in class, Pounds took advantage of STU's new tire rules allowing 285s, to put the car in the trophies.
Speaking of tires, it was revenge time for Bridgestone in Street Touring a class that had been dominated by Toyo thus far this season. Cars shod with Bridgestone tires swept the top three, with Chris Cargill, of Friendswood, Texas, taking the win in an Atkins Design Group, Inc. Honda Civic Si over Jesse Caudill, of Littleton, Colo., in a Bridgestone Honda Civic Si. Andy Hollis, of Austin, Texas, finished third in his Soulspeed/GRM/ PowerCurveDyno Honda Civic Si.
Driving Hollis' ST car, John Hale, of Austin, Texas, put in a commanding performance in Street Touring Xtreme, winning by 1.991 seconds over Matt Lucas, of Roanoke, Texas, driving The Auto Channel BMW 328i. Hale's times would have given him the ST win by more than half a second.
The ultra-competitive Super Stock category came down to home turf advantage, as Houston's Michal Homes used his familiarity of the tricky Gulf Greyhound asphalt to take the win in his final run. Driving a Big Top Racing/Apex Vinyl Lotus Elise, Homes edged out the Chevrolet Corvette of Lance Adams, from Austin, Texas, by a slim 0.014-second -- the closest finish of the event.
The SCCA Tire Rack Solo National Tour next moves on to Farmington, N.M, where McGee Park will play host May 16 -- 17. Full results from Houston and more information on the Farmington, N.M. National Tour are available at www.scca.com/solo.
-credit: scca
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article SCC: Daytona: Bill Fenton Motorsports race notes
Next article RACE: New class F1000 news 2009-02-13
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
John Hale
Torrence, Capps, Line and Krawiec earn No. 1 qualifying positions at Summernationals
NHRA
NHRA
Englishtown
Torrence, Capps, Line and Krawiec earn No. 1 qualifying positions at Summernationals
Worsham, Connolly, Skillman and Savoie earn No. 1 starts for Sunday at FallNationals
NHRA
NHRA
Worsham, Connolly, Skillman and Savoie earn No. 1 starts for Sunday at FallNationals
B. Force, Hight, Skillman and Krawiec claim No. 1 qualifiers at Keystone Nationals
NHRA
NHRA
Reading
B. Force, Hight, Skillman and Krawiec claim No. 1 qualifiers at Keystone Nationals
Latest news
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 1 h
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
3 h
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 3 h
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
3 h
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe