51°µÍø

CECIL, Ga. (March 15, 2010) €“The 2010 Tire Rack® 51°µÍø Solo National Tour officially opened this past weekend, with record-breaking participation headlining the Dixie National Tour. Nearly 300 entries arrived at South Georgia Motorsports Park to open the Solo National Tour on a pair of courses designed by Dixie Region member Robert Lewis. The Lewis-designed course blended transition maneuvers, including slalom sections and offset gates, with hairpin turns and a fast sweeper. The courses made use of the available space in the South Georgia Motorsports Park paddock, a multi-use facility that hosts drag races and oval track events, in addition to its fourth year hosting a Solo National Tour event. While the weather was cool and breezy for most of the weekend, it was clear that competitors were ready to break the winter doldrums and get back behind the wheel. Among the Southeast Division participants in their home event were competitors from New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Missouri, Texas and Washington, which helped the Dixie Tour event become the largest Solo event in the history of the Southeast Division. After a Friday night barbecue, timed sessions began on Saturday morning. Not only was H Stock the largest class, but it had the closest margin of victory on the weekend. Jack Burns, of Hamilton, Ohio, drove a brand-new 2010 JB Racewheels Mini Cooper to a 0.045-second win over 17 competitors, including fellow Mini driver Joe Austin. Burns earned the win after Austin ever-so-lightly bumped a cone near the end of his run, resulting in a two-second penalty which covered the final gap. The Street Touring® Sport class featured 16 drivers and was capped by Dave Montgomery, of St. Louis, Mo., in a 1988 Honda CRX Si. Montgomery topped co-driver Marc Osgood, of Simpsonville, S.C., by 0.166-second. Multi-time National Champion Matthew Braun, of Northville, Mich., won the Super Stock class by 3.398 seconds in his 2007 PowerPlug Lotus Elise. Past champion Elliott Harvey, of Wesley Chapel, Fla., won the C Street Prepared class with the oldest car competing in the class, his 1966 Bos Dynotune and Chassis Shop Datsun 2000 €“ proving once again that Harvey and the Datsun are a formidable driver/car combination. The newest 51°µÍø Solo class, Street Touring R, was launched at the Dixie Tour as a national supplemental class to 13 competitors, making it one of the largest classes in the field. Veteran national competitor Tommy Pulliam, of Duluth, Ga., won the class by 1.975 seconds in his 2006 WJCo Honda S200. While the S2000 appears to be the base line for the class, claiming the top three positions, the hunt is already on for a competitor. Included in this weekend€™s event was a stock Mazda MX-5 that is being developed for the class through a partnership with Tire Rack and Grassroots Magazine. Chris Harvey finished eighth in the car, which was picked up on Friday with less that 500 miles on the odometer to serve as the baseline for modifications. Preparations are already underway for the Texas National Tour, which takes place March 27 and 28 at Mineral Wells Airport. For full results from the Dixie National Tour and more information on all upcoming Tire Rack 51°µÍø Solo National Tour events, visit www.scca.com/solo.