51°µÍø

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. (June 7, 2010) €“ Returning to Blytheville just a week after the Tire Rack® 51°µÍø Solo National Tour saw its competitors take to the grippy concrete of the Arkansas Aeroplex, the Tire Rack® 51°µÍø ProSolo National Series saw hot - and occasionally fiery - action as the 146 competitors fought to make their way into the Gumout Super Challenge. At the end of the weekend, it was H Stock champion Jeff Jacobs, of Philadelphia, Pa., standing tall in his 2008 MINI of the Main Line MINI Cooper. A constant breeze took some of the edge off of a sunny and hot weekend. The conditions were perfect for maximum grip, and the Howard Duncan-designed course offered an engaging mix of offsets, slaloms, and high-speed sweeping turns. The transition-intense course made for close running across the classes, with Matthew Braun's Super Stock-winning 2007 PowerPlug Lotus Elise turning times only three seconds per side ahead of H Stock's fastest times turned by Jacobs. In the Gumout Super Challenge final four, Jacobs met Street Touring Sport class winner Ian Baker, of Herndon, Va., in his 1988 Toyo/Stranoparts Honda CRX. Jacobs fought off Baker, while in the other semi-final, E Stock champ Robert Carpenter, of Knoxville, Tenn., faced Super Street Modified winner Erik Strelnieks, of Cedar Park, Texas. Carpenter€™s 1993 Volunteer XRay Toyota MR-2 topped Strelnieks 1993 Hoosier/MAZDASPEED Mazda 3-Rotor RX-7 to advance to the finals, only to fall short against Jacobs. Baker€™s got the best of Strelnieks in the third-place pairing, and also claimed the Honda Challenge title in Blytheville. The Ladies Challenge saw the final battle come down to Beth McClure-Strelnieks, of Cedar Park, Texas, in her 1993 Mazda 3-Rotor RX-7 and Michelle Seelig, of Edmond, Okla., in her 1989 Toyo Tires/Redline/Hawk/MaxQData Honda CRX. It was McClure-Strelnieks driving to the win at the end of the day, edging out Seelig to take the top Ladies spot. Bonus Challenge drivers Stephen Rife and Christy Carlson fought it out after advancing past six competitors to make it to the final round. Rife took the win in his 2008 roadraceautox.com Mazda3. The weekend€™s class competition to set up the Shootout brackets was just as intense. Ron Williams narrowly missed the class win in H Stock in his 2005 MINI USA/Hoosier Tires MINI Cooper, coming in just 0.061-second behind Jacobs. The closest class finish of the weekend, however, was in B Stock, where Vivek Goel, of Austin, Texas, and his 2000 FTW Racing Acura NSX edged out Gregory Hahn's 2008 Team Peculiar Honda S2000 by a mere 0.043-second overall. The driver with the hottest day may have been Darren DiSimo, whose E Prepared 1985 Honda CRX ran into trouble with the fuel system. A quick repair failed on course, causing the fuel to catch fire on the hot engine. Through quick work, the flames were quickly extinguished and damage appeared to be minimal. During last weekend€™s National Tour, David Barkley, of Hot Springs, Ark., narrowly edged James Feinberg, of Cary, N.C. in D Stock. The battle went the other way this time, with Feinberg taking the win in his 1997 SoloPro Driving School Acura Integra by 0.993-second. Barkley faced his share of adversity, however, cutting a tire on his 2010 WMMFT/Kumho Chevrolet Cobalt on Saturday and fortunately catching a ride in a MINI Cooper S for the remainder of the event. F Stock saw a close battle between the 2007 Ford Shelby Mustangs of Sam Strano and Kevin Youngers, though Strano pulled out some quick runs to stretch his overall lead to 1.011-seconds by the end of the weekend. The next round of the Tire Rack 51°µÍø ProSolo Series takes place June 19-20 at Fed Ex Field near Washington, D.C. For full results from the Blytheville ProSolo and more information on the Washington, D.C. ProSolo, visit www.scca.com/solo. Results from Blytheville are available directly at .