LINCOLN, Neb.(September 7, 2012) –The 40th running of the Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® National Championships concludedFriday at the Lincoln (Neb.) Airpark with the crowning of an additional 35National Champions and eight more winners in Supplemental Classes. The four-daycompetition hosted 1,135 drivers at the largest motorsports competition in the world.

The temperatures onFriday were considerably cooler than at any point during the week, and rainthreatened during the midday groups. The collective hopes of those competingseemed to drive the storms just north of the site, and while the cloudy skiesstayed, it remained dry.

The B Stock class hadplenty of drama. Overnight leader Jeff Janzen saw Jadrice Toussiant, ofCharlotte, N.C., jump to the top of the class in his Crown Honda Charlotte/TeamCMM Honda S2000 CR. As the final runs came in, Janzen’s co-driver Ricky Crowmoved into second and then James Yom, who started the day in second place, laiddown a time that would have moved him from fifth to first, but a late cone callsolidified the second-consecutive B Stock title for Toussaint by 0.310-secondover Crow.

Like the open class,the B Stock Ladies went down to the wire. After leading by 0.104-secondfollowing Thursday’s runs, Roberta Wetzel found herself out of the trophies asshe began her third, and final, run on the east course. That third run vaultedher Honda S2000 into the lead by nearly three tenths over Emily Bashford, whohad yet to complete her third run. The Canadian took to the course for thefinal run of the heat in her Styckyd.com - The Marketplace for Gearheads HondaS2000 CR and ripped off the fastest time of the day by nearly two tenths,giving her a 0.031-second win for her first Championship. It is Wetzel’sthird-straight runner-up finish.

The third heat on thewest course saw a pair of come-from-behind National Champions. D Prepareddefending National Champion Drew VanderPloeg, of Pflugerville, Texas, was0.385-second behind Ron Bauer, of Issaqua, Wash., and Bauer’s BauerspeedRacing/Tight and Tidy Mazda MX-5. VanderPloeg showed why he’s the NationalChampion by turning the fastest time of the day in class on Friday in his JCAutomotive Specialist Mazda Miata to win by 0.612 second. Bauer finished secondfor the runner-up trophy.

Henry Bjoin’s comebackin F Prepared, run during the same heat as D Prepared, was even more dramatic.Starting the day in fourth-place in the OS Giken/bjoinfilms.com/ARE BMW 328is,Bjoin capitalized by ripping the fastest time on his first run of the day,jumping to the head of the field and then watching as no other driver couldmatch his pace. Not only is the win the first for the Burbank, Calif. resident,but bests his previous top finish by a full seven positions.

Andrew McKee, of SanJose, Calif., won the Super Street Modified title a year ago and moved hisMazda RX-7 to the X Prepared class to take on Fred Zust’s four consecutiveclass National Championships. McKee held the overnight lead and ripped off afast time on the opening run on Friday, only to find a broken oil fitting afterthe opener. Needing a car to finish the day, McKee and his co-driver, wifeTeresa Neidel-McKee, put in a frantic call to first time Super Street ModifiedNational Champion Carter Thompson to borrow his High Pressure Performance MazdaRX-7. Thompson pulled the car back out of the trailer while the McKee’sfrantically worked on it to hold Andy’s lead. Zust’s Blackwatch Racing LotusElise fell just short of McKee’s time in the opening round, leaving McKee thetitle. Teresa used Thompson’s car to finish third.

The 40th Tire RackSCCA Solo National Championships were the Nationals debut of the Road TireCategory. New at the National Level for 2012, the Road Tire classes get thefull treatment as every class, but serve as a Supplemental class in theirinfancy. Mark Allen (Road Tire FWD), Lance Keeley (Road Tire RWD), AndySmedegard (Road Tire AWD), Liz Foreman (Road Tire FWD Ladies) and BrookeBierman (Road Tire RWD Ladies) all enter the record books as inaugural winnersin the category.

Friday afternoon sawthe second of two Gumout Use Your Motorhead All-Star Challenges of the week.Top PAX Index drivers from each heat from the final two days of competitionwent head-to-head in the Gumout/Black Magic/BFGoodrich Tires/Hawk VolkswagenGolf. G.J. Dixon, the Super Stock National Champion, posted the fastest timeand claimed the $500 grand prize. Alex Shchipkov (D Street Prepared) andMichael Maier (C Prepared) joined Dixon in the top three.

Three driverscompleted the prestigious Solo Triad Award, the top honor that any Soloist canearn. To earn the award, a driver must win a Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tourevent, a States Championship, and a National Championship in the same class.Andy Hollis, a four-time Champion from Austin, Texas, snagged the award in theStreet Touring FWD GRM/AST/PowerCurveDyno/FTW MAZDA2, Joe Tharpe, of StateCenter, Iowa, did the same in the Super Street Prepared R and S Racing/LoctiteChevrolet Corvette, while Thompson’s Super Street Modified High Pressure Performance/LudwigMazda RX-7 gave the award to the Murfreesboro, Tenn. driver.

The attendees at the40th Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships was the fifth-largestparticipation total in the history of the event, just 22 shy of the record1,157 competitors at Heartland Park Topeka in 2007.

More information onthe Tire Rack SCCA National Championship, including results from all four daysof competition, is available at http://www.scca.com/events/index.cfm?eid=3611.

Follow SCCA on Twitter@SCCAOfficial.

LINCOLN, Neb. – TheNational Champion in each of the 35 classes (plus eight supplemental classes)competing Thursday and Friday in the 40th Tire Rack® SCCA Solo NationalChampionships at Lincoln Airpark with class, leading driver, hometown, car, andtotal number of National Championships. Bold and *asterisk denotes change inlead from Thursday.

B Stock*: JadriceToussaint, Charlotte, N.C., second consecutive BS Championship, second overall.

B Stock Ladies*: EmilyBashford, Winnipeg, MB, first National Championship.

E Stock*: BartekBorowski, Elmwood Park, Ill., third consecutive ES Championship, fifth overall.

F Stock: Brian Peters,Litchfield Park, Ariz., third National Championship.

F Stock Ladies: MaryLou Holmes, Los Alamos, N.M., rookie National Champion.

H Stock: Greg Reno,Lawrence, Kan., first National Championship.

H Stock Ladies: GwenBaake, Bahama, N.C., first National Championship.

Super Stock: G.J.Dixon, Scarsdale, N.Y., first SS Championship, second overall.

Super Stock Ladies*:Shelley Monfort, Saratoga, Calif., fourth consecutive SSL Championship, fourthoverall.

C Prepared: MichaelMaier, Livermore, Calif., fifth National Championship.

C Prepared Ladies:Donna Bartling, Katy, Texas, second consecutive CPL Championship, secondoverall.

D Prepared*: DrewVanderPloeg, Pflugerville, Texas, second consecutive DP Championship, secondoverall.

D Prepared Ladies:Tami Daniels, Gladstone, Ore., second National Championship.

F Prepared*: HenryBjoin, Burbank, Calif., first National Championship.

F Prepared Ladies:Christy Carlson, Papillion, Neb., second National Championship.

X Prepared: AndrewMcKee, San Jose, Calif., sixth National Championship.

A Street Prepared:Aaron Miller, Auburn Hills, Mich., first Championship.

A Street PreparedLadies: Christine Grice, Los Angeles, Calif., fifth National Championship.

B Street Prepared*:Jason Uyeda, Canoga Park, Calif., first National Championship.

C Street Prepared:Scott Fraser, San Jose, Calif., second National Championship.

C Street PreparedLadies*: Jodi Fordahl, Bremerton, Wash., 12th National Championship.

D Street Prepared*:Alex Shchipkov, Clifton Park, N.Y., first National Championship.

D Street PreparedLadies: Olga Bogdanova, Clifton Park, N.Y., second consecutive DSPLChampionship, second overall.

Super Street Prepared:Joe Tharpe, State Center, Iowa, first National Championship.

A Modified: DanWasdahl, Massillon, Ohio, fourth National Championship.

F Modified: JeffColegrove, Rochester, N.Y., second consecutive FM Championship, second overall.

F Modified Ladies:Michelle Quinn, Dublin, Ohio, third consecutive FML Championship, thirdoverall.

Street TouringCompact*: Jeff Wong, Moorpark, Calif., third National Championship.

Street Touring CompactLadies: Nicole Nagler, Moorpark, Calif., second National Championship.

Street Touring F: AndyHollis, Austin, Texas, fourth National Championship.

Street Touring FLadies: Jan Rowe, Houston, Texas, first National Championship.

Street Modified: MikeSimanyi, Santa Ana, Calif., second National Championship.

Street ModifiedLadies: Lana Tsurikova, Farmingham, Mass., rookie National Champion.

Super Street Modified:Carter Thompson, Murfreesboro, Tenn., first National Championship.

Super Street ModifiedLadies: Tara Johns, Murfreesboro, Tenn., third National Championship.

Street Modified F*(Supplemental Class): Bryan Mancuso, Enfield, Conn., rookie National Champion.

Street Modified FLadies (Supplemental Class): Ginette Jordan, Terrell, N.C., supplemental class,10 previous Championships.

Road Tire AWD*(Supplemental): Andy Smedegard, Stevens Point, Wis., supplemental class, firstNationals appearance.

Road Tire FWD(Supplemental Class): Mark Allen, Petaluma, Calif., supplemental class, twoprevious National Championships.

Road Tire FWD Ladies(Supplemental Class): Liz Foreman, Lewis Center, Ohio, supplemental class,first Nationals win.

Road Tire RWD*(Supplemental Class): Lance Keeley, Brookfield, Wis., supplemental Class, firstNationals win.

Road Tire RWD Ladies(Supplemental Class): Brooke Bierman, Ankeny, Iowa, supplemental Class, rookieNational driver.

Formula SAE(Supplemental Class): Nick Roberts, Olathe, Kan., supplemental class, firstNationals win.

Image: JadriceToussaint came from behind to win B Stock.

Credit: RupertBerrington