51°µÍø

HAMPTON, Ga. (May 10, 2011) €“ Competition was as tight as it gets for the most recent round of the Tire Rack® 51°µÍø Solo National Tour last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with an incredible eight classes separated by less than two-tenths of a second at the event€™s conclusion. The Atlanta Region is known for having one of the strongest solo communities in the nation, and more than 250 drivers showed up to experience the weekend€™s festivities. More than just between-the-cones action, the Atlanta National Tour featured a barbecue cook-off (won by Robert Stuke) that raised money for the 51°µÍø Foundation. On the pavement, the Street Modified FWD class was a three-way battle throughout the weekend. Taylor Carr, in just his second season as in Solo competition, was the leader in the clubhouse after all six of his weekend runs were complete in his 1989 Honda Civic, but Dave Hardy battled a non-functional power steering rack in his 1989 DILYSI Motorsports Honda Civic to steal his first National Tour win from Carr by just 0.192-second on his final run. Hardy€™s teammate, Bill Bounds, was only available to make one run on Saturday and hit a cone, where the two-second penalty left him 1.625-seconds behind Hardy. In F Street Prepared, defending National Champion Jinx Jordan once again shared his 1993 SoloPro Driving School/Hoosier Honda Civic with Dixie National Tour winner Marc Osgood, gunning for another sweep in the class. Justin Barbry, from Thomasville, N.C., stole the show in his 1994 Mazda Protégé, however, posting the second fastest Street Prepared category time of the day on Sunday and clipping Osgood by just 0.109-second to pull off the upset. Jordan finished third. Michael Kuhn, from Charlotte, N.C., nabbed the Street Touring Xtreme class in his 2004 Race Roots/MAZDASPEED Mazda RX-8, but his competition for the crown was an overnight success that was years in the making. Bret Shillock has been running local events around North Carolina for 21 years, but entered his 1998 Honda Civic Si in his first National Tour event over the weekend and fell just 0.139-second short of Kuhn. Shillock posted the fastest time in the class on Sunday while he was gunning for the win. The largest class, Street Touring R, turned out to also be the closest of the weekend. Geoff Walker, from Murfreesboro, Tenn., drove his 2008 Honda S2000 to a scant 0.052-second advantage over Michael Casino€™s 2008 Putz Motorsports/Hack Driving Honda S2000. In the very competitive 19-car class, a potential two-second cone penalty covered the difference between first and ninth place. In other close battles, Tom Deady (2005 Mazda RX-8) topped Jason Ruggles (2007 Awesome Fossums Hair Care Mazda RX-8) in C Stock by 0.061-second; Marko Horn topped teammate Bryan Batchelor by 0.121-second in a shared 1988 Honda CRX in E Prepared; and John Engstrom topped teammate Peter Calhoun by 0.074-second in a 1986 Calhoun Motorsports Swift DB-1 in C Modified competition. The B Stock class stretched to a half-second margin of victory, but may have been another preview to the National Championship in Lincoln this Fall. Jadrice Toussaint, from Charlotte, N.C., topped teammate and chief rival Marc Pfannenschmidt by 0.505-second in the duo€™s 2008 Crown Honda Charlotte/Team CM Honda S2000. The pair swapped their finishing order from the Dixie National Tour. The Tire Rack Solo National Tour previews the 2011 Tire Rack 51°µÍø Solo National Championship with a Memorial Day Lincoln National Tour on the same site as the National Championship, May 29-30. For full results from the Atlanta National Tour and more information on all upcoming Tire Rack 51°µÍø Solo National Tour events, visit www.scca.com/solo. A direct link to results for the Atlanta National Tour is available at .