51°µÍø

LINCOLN, Neb. (May 4, 2010) €“ The Tire Rack 51°µÍø ProSolo National Series resumed its season at Lincoln (Nebraska) Airfield, May 1 €“ 2, with 129 participants gunning for the weekend€™s top prize. At the end of the day, Pat Washburn, of Wausau, Wis., scored the Street Touring class win and stood atop the entire field, winning the Gumout Super Challenge. Weather was a factor in the weekend at Lincoln, beginning with setup on Thursday afternoon. Nebraska Region volunteers braved storms and the Lincoln-area severe weather alarms to set up over 3,000 feet of snow fencing that separated the event from the active airport. The sun came out for Friday€™s practice days, and remained a nearly perfect temperature with a high of 75 degrees and a slight wind that was barely noticeable following the storm clouds. The ProSolo-friendly weather continued for Friday night€™s Nebraska Region barbecue, through Saturday€™s runs and into the class wins on Sunday. Four classes, all in the Street Touring® category, had a final margin of victory of less than 0.2-second. The closest result was in Street Touring Sport, where Marc Osgood, of Simpsonville, S.C., drove his 1988 TDC/Moton/SPS Honda CRX Si to a 0.004-second win over David Whitener, of Fort Worth, Texas. Whitener, driving his 1990 Texas Time Trials Honda CRX, was only 0.474-second ahead of Jonathan Simmons, of Gretna, Neb., who finished third in class. Street Touring X also finished in nearly a dead heat for the win. Houston€™s James Wilson, driving a 2002 Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Subaru WRX, topped Neal Tovsen, of Saint Paul, Minn., by just 0.019-second. Barely 0.05-second covered the top three places, as Mike Vanderstappen, of Woodstock, Ill., finished just 0.043-second in arrears of second place. Patrick Lipsinic€™s Gotcone.com/kartboy.com 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX led the 2007 AXWare Systems WRX STI of Vitek Boruvka, of Austin, Texas, in a battle of Subarus by 0.128-second in the Street Touring Ultra class. The Bixby, Okla.-native turned his quickest circuit on his final run to edge Boruvka for the crown. Washburn, driving a 1989 SoloPro/Lucky Lugnut Racing Honda Civic, had a battle to earn the Street Touring crown with Chris Delay. Delay, of Hudson, Wis., finished 0.175-second behind Washburn while sharing a car with his Lucky Lugnut Racing teammate. With storm clouds on the horizon, Washburn advanced to meet Bump Class 2 winner Erik Strelniecks, of Cedar Park, Texas in his 1993 Jungle Cat Racing/Hoosier/Soulspeed Mazda RX-7 in the semi-finals of the Gumout Super Challenge. In the other final four match-up, Wilson squared off against E Stock runner-up Barry Ott, of Elizabeth, Colo., driving a 1994 Mazda Miata. Wilson edged Ott, setting up a finals showdown with Washburn. Mere seconds after Washburn claimed the win, the skies opened up with a thunderstorm, blowing over signs, timing trips, and rocking the TireRack Timing Trailer in dramatic fashion €“ and forcing the cancellation of the end-of-the-weekend awards ceremony for just the third time in more than 20 years. The next round of the Tire Rack 51°µÍø ProSolo Series takes place May 22-23 in Wendover, Utah, at the Wendover Airport. For full results from the Lincoln ProSolo and more information on the Wendover ProSolo, visit www.scca.com/solo. Results from Lincoln are available directly at -30-