SOLO: Round five Petersburg, Virginia summary

Brian Garfield takes top honors in Round 5 of the Tire Rack SCCA Pro Solo Series.

PETERSBURG, Va Moments after offering a photo opportunity of himself with the winning Mini, Mark Chiles handed fellow Cooper driver Brian Garfield his first Peavey Super Challenge win with a red light start in the top eliminator round in Petersburg Virginia. Garfield and Chiles moved past the Subaru WRX team of Shawn Whipple and Tom Hoppe in the semi-final round to meet for the final. Whipple and Hoppe faced each other in a one-car runoff round. After Hoppe coned Whipple took the third spot.

Garfield well eclipsed his previous best finish, a sixth in the last years Peru National Tour. While he was advanced three times by opponent's red lights, Garfield relied on clean runs, not coning or red lighting at any point of the weekend on his way to the win. The win gives Garfield 30 Peavey Championship points in his first attempt. A second win in the final round in Peru Indiana would give Garfield a 6 point edge over leader Eric Strelnieks.

Donna Frank takes top spot in Ladies Challenge
Donna Frank, the eighth and final qualifier for the ladies challenge went all the way to the finals where she defeated Beth McClure. McClure, currently the Ladies Challenge points leader left the line 11 thousandth early to give Frank her first ever Pro Solo Challenge win. Karen Rafferty and Michelle Seelig faced off in the runoff round with Seelig taking the third spot after Rafferty coned.

Frank thanked husband Charles and co-driver for the weekend Brian Priebe getting her to the win. Priebe who instructed Donna at an Evolution Driving School credited her success to her ability to control her aggression.

McClure continues to lead the points for the Ladies Challenge with a ten-point lead over Katie Elder. Despite Kim Fine's early exit from the ladies challenge in her WRX, she did manage to collect enough points to move into the third spot over all. Frank's win moves her to the eighth spot with one more event to score points in before the finale in Topeka.

Richard West wins Honda Street Challenge Shoot-out
In the Honda Street Challenge Shoot-out Richard West from Street Touring S face off against Fedja Jeleskovic, the winner of Street Modified. West took the win and $250 from Honda in his Subaru Impreza. Qualifying for the shoot-out moved West into second place in Honda Street Challenge points, 9 points behind Dennis Grant.

Carpenter and Strano claim Class wins
Robert Carpenter returned to form after struggling in the first round of the ProSolo series. Carpenter moved from the fourth spot to take the win in G-Stock on the strenth of his Sunday morning runs. The win move Carpenter into the second spot in G-Stock class points behind Subaru driver Chris Hartman. After his winning run Carpenter emerged from the car with a grin and announced, "I'm back." Sam Strano also marked a return to form in Petersburg with a win in F-Stock. After enjoying success in E-Street Prepared, Strano move back to F-Stock in his 2001 Camaro. With the win Strano is half way to the total of points leader Dave Schotz.

E-Stock is shaping up to be the closest of the ProSolo Points races.
With a win in Petersburg, Jonathan Roberts now sits behind a three-driver tie for first. Doug Newhard's second place finish pulls him even with leaders Paul Brown and Randy Noll. As it stands right now, any of the three can claim the year-end championship with a win in Kansas.

The Subaru WRX enjoyed a sweep in D-Stock with Shawn Whipple, Larry Fine and Tom Hoppe taking the top spots. The second place finish moves Fine into a tie with Kevin McCormick for the D-Stock lead with 36 points. In H-Stock the Mini Cooper dominated the largest field the class has seen all season. Brian Garfield, co-drivers Jeff Jacobs and Mark Chiles and Brad Lockhart took the top four spots in Coopers.

Rene Cardenas and Mark Sipe waged a war in A-Street Prepared both on course and in the "red zone" designated burn out area. Cardenas got the best of Sipe in both arenas with a class win and burnouts that would have made John Force proud. The second place finish for Sipe moves him into the points lead seven points ahead of fellow Corvette driver Scottie White.

Jesse Naughton jumped into James Sheridan's D-Street Prepared BMW 323is to complete the class and won it in the process. Mike Neary finished second to bring his points total to 36, four points behind leader David Fauth. Naughton will have to wait and see if he is offered another rides in the class, currently he is third in points. Eric Kriemelmyer and Eric Carman lost use of second gear in their Street

Touring S Subaru Impreza on Saturday morning. Both were able to find rides to complete the weekend though neither could match the times set by class winner Richard West. The win for West put him in a three-way tie with Kriemelmyer and Will Kalman. In Street Touring X Kiko Seibt took his second win of the season in a Subaru WRX giving him an 11-point lead over second place finisher Jean Kinser Dana.

Subaru and Team Underdog provide evening entertainment
As title sponsor for the weekend Subaru hosted a Friday night welcome party complete with beverages and Memphis style barbecue. On Saturday night Team Underdog threw their traditional Petersburg ProSolo Cook-out. The Underdog party featured Beer and Brats and included prizes for best Hawaiian Shirt, best joke and best Mike "Junior" Johnson impression. ProSolo rookie AJ Neely was presented a tropical fish toilet seat cover as the "Underdog Spirit Award." Neely opted to attend the Petersburg event rather than his Senior Prom.

ProSolo combines a drag racing start with traditional curvy Solo 2 maneuvers on side-by-side, mirror-image autocross courses. Lining up at the familiar "Christmas tree" start, drivers compete heads-up in various classes by combining their fastest times from each course. After class competition is completed, all ProSolo events feature the top drivers from each class competing head-to-head in a variety of single-elimination handicapped Challenges culminating with the Peavey Super Challenge. The ProSolo National Series provides national-level competition in a series structure using all regular National Solo 2 classes.

The Sports Car Club of America Inc. is a 64,000-member motorsports organization, which incorporates all facets of autocross, rally, and both club and professional motorsports events. It annually sanctions nearly 2,000 events through its 109 regions and professional subsidiary. Landmark events for the Club include the Club Racing Valvoline Runoffs National Championship races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the Tire Rack Solo Nationals and Tire Rack ProSolo National Series at Topeka, the ProRally Championship and the United States Road Rally Championship, in St Louis, Mo.

For additional information about SCCA Solo competition:
SCCA Solo 2: www.scca.org/amateur/solo2
SCCA ProSolo: www.scca.org/amateur/solo2/prosoloThe Tire Rack SCCA
National Solo Program: www.scca.org/amateur/solo2/nationalsolo.html

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