51°µÍø

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (July 14, 2011) €“ A Colorado-area record 191 drivers participated in last weekend€™s Tire Rack® 51°µÍø Rocky Mountain ProSolo on the grounds of Pikes Peak International Raceway, with Matt McCabe, from Omaha, Neb., earning the Gumout Super Challenge victory. The Continental Divide Region 51°µÍø, with administrative assistance from the Colorado Region, hosted the event on the grounds of the facility that has hosted IndyCar and NASCAR events in years past. Despite the facility€™s location 20 miles south of Colorado Springs and 100 miles south of Denver, the participation topped the previous mark of 183 drivers from a 2006 event held just outside of Denver and the built-in population base. The competitors turned also despite severe storms on Saturday afternoon. The storms mostly spared Pikes Peak International Raceway, though lightning forced 18 drivers to suspend their heat two runs until Sunday morning in an effort to keep workers out of harm€™s way. Others, however, weren€™t so lucky, as storm damage in Pueblo led to damage of A Stock competitor Wiggy Grecean€™s vintage airplane at the Pueblo airport. Grecean had made a stop at the ProSolo event on his way to the famous fly-in at Oshkosh, Wis., the following week. On the course, McCabe€™s C Street Prepared 1994 949 Racing/ProEFI/Meyers Auto Mazda Miata was moved to Bump Class 2 for preliminary rounds. After a runner-up finish, McCabe topped D Street Prepared winner Doug Rowse (2003 BMW 330), Fred Zust (X Prepared 2005 Blackwatch Racing Lotus Elise), and F Street Prepared winner Ron Williams (1993 Hoosier/Honda/A+ Collision Honda Civic) to reach the semifinals. In the round of four, McCabe squared off against James Yom, from Los Angeles, Calif., who finished second in a 2008 Honda S2000 in Street Touring R to teammate Robert Thorne. In the opposite bracket, Christopher May showed just how deep the Street Touring R class was by advancing from his third place finish in a 2000 SCR Performance Honda S2000 to defeat Paul Brown in a 2000 Plastic PP Racing Chevrolet Corvette. Yom won the consolation run over Brown, giving the STR class a second and third-place Gumout Super Challenge finish behind McCabe. Beth McClure-Strelnieks, from Cedar Park, Texas, drove a 1999 Hoosier/Jungle Cat Racing Porsche Boxster to the Ladies Challenge win over Barbara Leroy-Boehm (2005 Dodge SRT-4). The closest class competition from the weekend came in the Street Touring Sport class, where David Whitener topped teammate Andrew Hahn by just 0.012-second, with the pair sharing a 1988 Texas Time Trials Honda CRX for class competition. The Tire Rack 51°µÍø ProSolo Tour continues with the Packwood ProSolo at Hampton Mills in Packwood, Wash., July 23-24. For full results from the Rocky Mountain ProSolo and more information on all upcoming Tire Rack 51°µÍø ProSolo events, visit www.scca.com/solo. A direct link to results for the Rocky Mountain ProSolo is available at .