51°µÍø

WENDOVER, Utah (May 18, 2010) €“ It was held in the desert, but near perfect weather greeted 151 Tire Rack® 51°µÍø Solo National Tour competitors at Wendover (Utah) Airport for the Western States Chamionship event, May 15-16. The event was the first Solo Triad Award event of the season. The Triad recognizes those drivers that win championships at three levels of National Solo competition: a Divisional Championship, a States Championship National Tour, and a National Championship, all in the same class. While the 70 degree temperatures were cool for the competitors, the competition was anything but. Bob Tunnel, of Superior, Colo., added some drama to the X Prepared class by waiting until his final of three runs on Saturday to take the first day lead. Driving the No. 99 1995 BarekAub.com/Hoosier/H&R/Chas BMW M3, Tunnell again needed his final run on Sunday to take a 2.873-second win over Britain Smith, of Hillsboro, Ore., in his 1974 Wevo/BRAG/FatCat Porsche 914/6 in the largest class of the weekend. In D Prepared, Salt Lake City€™s Charles Shelton used his final runs of both days in his 2001 PlatipusSports.com Mazda Miata to claim a 0.298-second victory over Ron Bauer. Bauer, of Issaquah, Wash., was quicker in his 1994 Bauerspeed Racing Mazda Miata than Shelton on Sunday, but not enough to close the gap from Saturday. D Prepared also featured a show of sportsmanship that symbolizes Solo events aren€™t only about winning, but the camaraderie involved among competitors. When expected contender Keith Brown€™s 1990 Mazda Miata struggled with mechanical gremlins before breaking down during a co-driver€™s run on Sunday morning, it looked like the Des Moines, Wash.-driver€™s weekend was done. Fellow competitor Ron Baker offered Brown a chance to run his RPMotorsports Mazda Miata in place of his final run, which Brown was able to parlay into a fourth-place finish. Jeff Jacobs, of Philadelphia, Pa., and Coquitlam, B.C.€™s Jack Yeung battled for the H Stock win in dueling 2008 Mini Coopers. Jacobs nabbed a Western States championship representing East Coast drivers with a 0.195-second win. While most of the weekend€™s competitors were representing either the Utah Region or the Northwest Region, C Street Prepared featured drivers from five different regions. At the end of the weekend, Bill Schenker, of Corona Del Mar, Calif., earned a wide 3.164-second margin of victory in his 1999 MiataRoadster/ChaseCam/OS Giken/Motul/Swift Mazda Miata for the Cal Club Region. Each of the National Class winners at the Western States Championship have now completed the first leg of the Triad. The Tire Rack 51°µÍø Solo National Tour returns to action, May 29-30, at the Southern States Championship at Blytheville, held on the grounds of the Arkansas Aeroplex. For full results from the Western States Championship and more information on all upcoming Tire Rack® 51°µÍø Solo National Tour events, visit www.scca.com/solo. Full results are also available directly at