LINCOLN, Neb. (September 5, 2014) - Friday morning on the Lincoln Airpark鈥檚 East Course at the Tire Rack Solo National Championship saw the crowning of six Champions, opening the final day of competition.
Bill Rogerson, of Seelys Bay, Ontario, captured his first SCCA National Championship in the No. 90 Subaru STI in A Street Prepared after setting his best time of day in his third run and then hanging on as Aaron Miller fell 0.236-second short in his final attempt.
鈥淢y co-driver that owns the car, Eric Janveaux, we鈥檝e been working on this for three years,鈥� Rogerson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a class winning car, it鈥檚 an underdog. We knew that going in. This year, we changed the suspension and put on 315 Hoosiers for the first time and the car was transformed. Because we live in Canada, our amount of seat time is limited, so we made a concerted effort this year to make more events. We were in Wilmington in April when we were digging the trailer out of seven feet of snow, and just did as many big events as we could make to get the seat time, and I think that changed everything.鈥�
Doug Rowse, of Phoenix, Ariz., needed every bit of the time he posted on the final run to win D Street Prepared, taking his third National Championship by just 0.017-second in the No. 92 Hoosier/Evolution/Cortez BMW 330.
鈥淚t was just the last run,鈥� Rowse said. 鈥淓veryone is so evenly matched in this class. We were sitting there basically all stacked together, the top four of us were all within two-tenths of each other yesterday. Today, it basically just came down to one run and being really aggressive, really early on the throttle, and being on time for the transition stuff.
鈥淚t means a lot. Especially with the group of guys we have here, it鈥檚 been fantastic. John has been developing this car for quite a while, and now he鈥檚 really coming up to speed. Between he and Julian , they鈥檙e lightning fast, and it means a lot to be able to beat somebody that鈥檚 at that kind of level.鈥�
Bartek Borowski, of Elmwood Park, Ill., send the E Street R class out with his fifth consecutive National Championship in the class before the full conversion to street tires for next year.
鈥淚t was good to close off a very successful year in the R Compound world, where this car has been a blast on the Hoosiers,鈥� Borowski said. 鈥淭he nicest feeling about it is being able to do it once more on the sticky tires.鈥�
Gretchen Austin, of Minnapolis, Minn., came from behind in C Street Prepared Ladies to take her second National Championship, and first since 2008, in the No. 198 Apruve/Vision Speedworks/Mazdaspeed/Hoosier Mazda Miata. Austin swapped positions with Katie Lacey on the final day.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very stiff competition,鈥� Austin said. 鈥淲e had a lot of National Champions in the class. They鈥檝e been working really hard on this car, and it鈥檚 been a pleasure to drive it all year. Unfortunately, we had a diff break in practice runs, so we did a little scramble.
鈥淲e kind of threw some settings at it and hoped it would work since we were running first heat, but it worked great and I鈥檓 just excited.鈥�
Nicole Wong, of Moorpark, California, sent her No. 46 Toyo Tires/Pro Parts USA Honda Civic Si off the car she shares with her husband, Jeff (a three time National Champion in the car) in style.
鈥淭he motor had problems last week, so we got it back together and got here,鈥� Wong said. 鈥淲e felt unprepared set up wise, but we鈥檝e been working on the test and tune course and got it working in time.
鈥淭his might be the last year in the car, so I wanted to do it again. This is number four [for the car], but I wanted to get close to the open class [times].鈥�
Greg Reno, of Lawrence, Kan., took his third consecutive National Championship in E Street on Friday after leading both days in the No.36 MiniUSA/Baron Mini BMW/Kumho Tires Mini Cooper.
鈥淚 was hoping for dry runs, and we got that, just barely,鈥� Reno said. 鈥淚 just went in trying to do my best every time, and I think I did that.
鈥淚t means a lot, especially because it seemed H Street was on the verge of dying earlier in the year. I think the class brought it back, and I鈥檓 glad to be a part of it.鈥�
More information on the Tire Rack Solo National Championships can be found at SCCA.com/SoloNationals. 聽
