C-Modified driver Blake Wilson of British Columbia collects a time slip from Pat Kelly

ATWATER, Calif. - The fourth stop of the Tire Rack SCCA National Tour brought 278 drivers to Atwater California. Drivers came from as far as British Columbia and Pennsylvania for two days of competition and camaraderie at Castle Airport. Course designer Chris Cox created a pair of classic solo 2 speed maintenance courses. With minor modifications, the Sunday course was the Saturday course backwards. Jesus Villarreal, member of the host San Francisco region, provided an authentic Mexican cookout on Saturday night with door prizes from Grassroots Motorsports, Ankeny Racing Enterprises, Hoosier, Kumho, NASA and the American Autocross series. All this and near perfect California weather combined to create the largest National Tour ever held in the San Francisco area.

B-Stock and G-Stock were the largest of the Stock Category classes. B-Stock saw Joe Goeke post the fastest time on Saturday with event co-chair Andy McKee returning the favor on Sunday. However, neither could produce a pair of times to match that of class winner Mitch Fagundes. Teresa Neidel put her Porsche Boxster in the fourth spot to breakup the Honda S2000 sweep. The highly diverse G-Stock saw Neons up front for the first time this year. Jerold Lowe sat on the strength of his first runs each day to edge out fellow Neon driver Mark Darby by 25 thousandths.

Street Modified was the largest class with 18 drivers. German cars dominated the class taking four of the five trophies and eight of the top ten spots. BMW M3 drivers swept the top three spots. Vic Sias took time off from his role as event co-chair to lead Ralph Schubert and Navid Kahangi atop the standings.

Prepared Classes were under subscribed in Atwater though not for a lack of eligible cars. Gary and Brad McClure took their FP Porsche 911 to Street Modified 2 and finished first and second in the six car class. Steve 'Blenes (Mazda RX-7 Turbo) and Chris Cox (BMW M3) took their A-Prepared toys and boosted E-Modified to an eight car class. 'Blenes showed why he was a defending National Champion, taking a slim .142 win over the V-8 powered Austin Healey 100-8 driven by Bob Weisickle. B-Street Prepared Vintage was among the classes run at the Atwater Tour. The local class consists of 1960's corvettes restricted to 15-inch wheels and two sets of M&H tires per season. Rory Marin won the open class while Jan Knudson took the ladies side by 6 thousandths. The friends and family attitude of the class exemplified what the National Tour is all about.

The Road to Topeka has Kalman and Berry in the fast lane

Will Kalman drove his Street Touring S Escort GT to another impressive win

With over half the National Tour events complete several drivers have emerged as contenders for a National Champion's Jacket at the Solo 2 National Championships in Topeka Kansas. Perhaps the strongest bid belongs to Street Touring S driver Will Kalman. Kalman coupled his 2.4 second win at the San Diego Tour with a 1.5 second win in Atwater. E-Street Prepared driver Tom Berry also swept the California National Tours in grand fashion. Berry boasted a combined time in Atwater quicker than A and B-Street Prepared.

Three Ladies Class drivers posted a pair of Tour wins in California. B-Stock Ladies driver Erin "Boyle drove an S2000 to the win in both events while Barbara LeRoy-Boehm collected wins in C-Stock Ladies. Katie Elder's D-Stock wins show that she is ready to defend her National Championship in an Acura Integra Type R.

The view from inside the timing room as Sam Marano takes the course in his Subaru WRX

Other drivers completing the California sweep include Corvette drivers Scott McHugh (A-Stock), Gary Thomason (A-Street Prepared), and Bill Buetow (B-Street Prepared). Ben Martinez took both events in D-Street Prepared driving a 74 Capri.

The Tire Rack SCCA National Tour will now return to the East Coast for events in Rome New York and Peru Indiana. The final stop of the Tour will be in Seattle Washington and then on to Topeka for the National Championships.

The Tire Rack SCCA Solo 2 National Tour takes National Solo on the road to various locations around the country. These events average over 250 drivers from a wide geographical area though most of the competitors come from nearby states. The drivers come together to get a taste of the "Nationals" experience of competition and camaraderie found at the Championships. Each event is presented in a format similar to that found in Topeka during The Tire Rack Solo 2 National Championships.

For More Information Contact:
Heyward K. Wagner, SCCA National Solo Communications Director
Direct: 336-287-1124
E-mail: HeywardSCCA@aol.com

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