It’s that time of year again, starting today is the 2006 Solo Nationals. See how your established benchmark drivers are doing. Half the classes run Tuesday/Wednesday, the other half run Thursday/Friday.
I’m sure Jon will be interested in seeing his arch rivals in the Eagle Talon in 2nd and 4th place in ESP, behind Sam Strano who is leading the class after the first day.
Street Mod guys will be interested to see Nelson Antunes and Chris Travis in 3rd and 4th position (driving a Civic) again behind Sias and Tunnel (both driving ~500HP BMW M3s) , but within a couple of tenths of 1st place.
What class is Daddio running that Evo RS in again? I thought it was SM, but I don’t see his name listed on either page. I wonder what people are saying about the new surface and facilities.
He’s not listed, cause he’s not there. He hasn’t been out all year nationaly, and I seem to remember hearing that he wasn’t going to be there.
Seeing where the Talon boys were doesn’t shock me, but the SM Civics did catch my attention. Geuss the lack of grip is acting as bit of an equalizer, so it really too bad that Daddio isn’t there to add the AWD element. But on that note, look at AS, looks like Cashmore got pissed at the Pro, but there is an intresting mix up at the top of that class.
I wish the best for Chris and Nelson. Grass roots boys making good. They really did well sorting out the car last year and I knew this year it would be a beast. 2 good guys. Had a lot of fun racing them at Devens and Toledo.
Now I feel good about staying .6 behind the talon at Devens (Sunday) and within a second (Sunday) at Divisionals… we’ll not talk about rainy saturdays .
But yeah, It does look like the surface is going to change the way a few cars are looked at out there.
Charles at Devens, at NEDIV I was .4 behind Fedja and .9 behind Charles. In the final results I was seconds off thanks to the rain on Saturday (both events) and my lack of experience in the wet. I was closer at Devens since we were all on slicks. The driest run was the 1st, and charles and I were too aggressive, his co driver Ben was smarter, and beat us both by 3 seconds, I beat charles by a hair in the wet (which was suprising), but he came back in the dry to beat me by enough to take second.
At NEDIV, Charles and Fedja didn’t f*ck around and were on hoosier wets on Saturday, so no contest (I don’t claim that I would have beaten them no matter what, but it sure would have been closer given matched tires). But thats they way it goes, gotta pay to play. Next year should be different
prelim results for the morning are up. Strano clobbered ESP, Fedja wound up 3rd, Moss fell way back… my guess is something broke on the talon after Fedja’s first run… go figure… DSM
Also looks like rumors of the ITR’s dethroning in DS have been greatly exaggerrated. Matt Murray only finished 10th, more than 2 seconds back, and he was one of the (self-proclaimed) favorites in his BMW.
Looks like Vic Sias coned himself out of contention in SM.
The lone Spec V in GS ended up in the trophies, 1 second back, and most of that due to day one.
Yeah, I had a gut fealing that the BMW’s wouldn’t really be the hot ticket at this place. Part of the reason why i’m getting the Type R :). (if I ever do fricking get it, looking like sometime next week. hell of a winter beater huh?)
And I heard the Spec V couldn’t shift to 3rd yesterday, causing a lot of glide time, and that can really hurt, as Jon has learned, just not being quick on the throttle can cost you a lot of time
Mazda 3 is in 2nd place in HS, less than .2 back from 1st.
Gary Godula is kicking ass again in CM, but Tyson Sawyer is in a very close race for 2nd. Only a couple of tenths separate 2nd from 5th in the class, but 1st is almost a full second ahead.
3 different cars in the top 5 in CS… 1st, 3rd and 4th are Solsti led by Kevin Dietz, 2nd is Darren Disimo in a '99 Sport Miata .6 seconds back, and 5th is last year’s ES champ Ryan Beutzer in a Toyota MR-S.
It looks like Kyung Wooton (many time champion in CS Ladies) has gotten herself a ride in a Solstice and is leading the ladies.
Still waiting anxiously for ES results, my winter plans are depending heavily upon what happens…
You should see me back out at a few WNY events next year.