SCCA: Walnut Ridge Nat. Tour/ Pro Solo report
04-30-2007, 08:58 AM
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SCCA: Walnut Ridge Nat. Tour/ Pro Solo report
My wife Tara and I went to a 2 day National event in Arkansas this past weekend. The first day was a National Tour and the second was a Pro Solo.
It was an exciting and action packed weekend cramming 2 events into 2 days. I started out very poorly by going into my last morning run of the tour without a clean run and knowing I needed a clean run to jump to second. I did just that by making a nice conservative run that put me catching multi time National Champion Robert Carpenter out of reach unless he did something stupid for the afternoon. At this point, Tara, who was running in the men's class for this event, was in 4th behind a Porsche 944 but only about .4 back. I all but matched times with Robert in the afternoon and felt much better about my driving and locked in second, but Tara was on fire and blew past the Porsche for the 3rd and final trophy spot in ES open!
For the Pro, it was basically the same course except it had an almost 300' straight at the start. They normally have a Christmas tree start but had hardware issues and the Christmas tree was not used, so it was really like a fast paced National Tour. ES got bumped into an indexed class since we only had 4 cars and I again hung with Robert getting beat by less than .1 and we took 1-2 in the indexed class. Tara obliterated the ladies class even though she was not driving nearly as well as she had the previous day.
On to the Challenges! I got beat by the eventual winner, Ron Williams, in the second round, but was actually lucky to get that far. In the first round, I nearly spun in one turn and caught a cone with the rear bumper, but I didn't give up. As I got to the finish, Tara told me the other car hit a cone too. I beat him on time and moved on only to get beat next round.
Tara was #1 qualifier and easily marched through the rounds to beat Jodi Bradley in Ron Williams' (the Super Challenge winner) Mini in the final. She had such a large win in class that she was .6 up on everyone by index and was able to drive fairly conservative to take the win.
Now for the good stuff. For the tour, I won $300 in contingencies and Tara won $150. For Tara's efforts in the Pro Solo, she won $1800 for the Pro Solo and Ladies Challenge wins and gets a really cool trophy/alarm clock that looks like a Christmas tree and makes dragster noises when it goes off. I again won a what now appears measly $300 and a $20 cash door prize. So, our total winnings for the weekend were $2570!!! Did I mention Tara rocked!!!
It was an exciting and action packed weekend cramming 2 events into 2 days. I started out very poorly by going into my last morning run of the tour without a clean run and knowing I needed a clean run to jump to second. I did just that by making a nice conservative run that put me catching multi time National Champion Robert Carpenter out of reach unless he did something stupid for the afternoon. At this point, Tara, who was running in the men's class for this event, was in 4th behind a Porsche 944 but only about .4 back. I all but matched times with Robert in the afternoon and felt much better about my driving and locked in second, but Tara was on fire and blew past the Porsche for the 3rd and final trophy spot in ES open!
For the Pro, it was basically the same course except it had an almost 300' straight at the start. They normally have a Christmas tree start but had hardware issues and the Christmas tree was not used, so it was really like a fast paced National Tour. ES got bumped into an indexed class since we only had 4 cars and I again hung with Robert getting beat by less than .1 and we took 1-2 in the indexed class. Tara obliterated the ladies class even though she was not driving nearly as well as she had the previous day.
On to the Challenges! I got beat by the eventual winner, Ron Williams, in the second round, but was actually lucky to get that far. In the first round, I nearly spun in one turn and caught a cone with the rear bumper, but I didn't give up. As I got to the finish, Tara told me the other car hit a cone too. I beat him on time and moved on only to get beat next round.
Tara was #1 qualifier and easily marched through the rounds to beat Jodi Bradley in Ron Williams' (the Super Challenge winner) Mini in the final. She had such a large win in class that she was .6 up on everyone by index and was able to drive fairly conservative to take the win.
Now for the good stuff. For the tour, I won $300 in contingencies and Tara won $150. For Tara's efforts in the Pro Solo, she won $1800 for the Pro Solo and Ladies Challenge wins and gets a really cool trophy/alarm clock that looks like a Christmas tree and makes dragster noises when it goes off. I again won a what now appears measly $300 and a $20 cash door prize. So, our total winnings for the weekend were $2570!!! Did I mention Tara rocked!!!
Last edited by sbrian2; 04-30-2007 at 09:30 AM.
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04-30-2007, 11:36 AM
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Man, my girlfriend doesn't even like to drive stick and yells at me for going fast when we go for rides in the miata. I think we need a little reform here so I can get support like that when racing.
Congratulations to you and Tara.
Sorry I didn't make it to the last autocross in nashville. The car wasn't running that great and the weather here was crap. Didn't help that I had a huge exam the next day. I made a decision and passed the class instead of racing. Hope to be able to come out in the fall though when i get back from AK.
Congratulations to you and Tara.
Sorry I didn't make it to the last autocross in nashville. The car wasn't running that great and the weather here was crap. Didn't help that I had a huge exam the next day. I made a decision and passed the class instead of racing. Hope to be able to come out in the fall though when i get back from AK.
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04-30-2007, 11:42 AM
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Man, my girlfriend doesn't even like to drive stick and yells at me for going fast when we go for rides in the miata. I think we need a little reform here so I can get support like that when racing.
Congratulations to you and Tara.
Sorry I didn't make it to the last autocross in nashville. The car wasn't running that great and the weather here was crap. Didn't help that I had a huge exam the next day. I made a decision and passed the class instead of racing. Hope to be able to come out in the fall though when i get back from AK.
Congratulations to you and Tara.
Sorry I didn't make it to the last autocross in nashville. The car wasn't running that great and the weather here was crap. Didn't help that I had a huge exam the next day. I made a decision and passed the class instead of racing. Hope to be able to come out in the fall though when i get back from AK.
Yeah, it is great when you wife comes up to you and says, "these race tires are dead, why don't you order some new ones." I may possibly have the perfect wife.
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