51°µÍø

LINCOLN, Neb. (May 7, 2009) €“ With the city of Lincoln, Neb., and the entire Solo community looking on, Abe Potter, of Salt Lake City, Utah, won the first-ever Tire Rack® 51°µÍø Lincoln ProSolo. The third event on the Tire Rack 51°µÍø ProSolo Series calendar, held at the Lincoln Airpark, was a prelude to the 2009 Tire Rack 51°µÍø Solo National Championships and ProSolo Finale, which will take place there in September.Before the first start lights could even fire, it was clear that the arrival of Tire Rack 51°µÍø National Solo program had caused quite a stir in Lincoln. Reporters from local media outlets and representatives from the Mayor€™s Office and Convention and Visitors Bureau all made a trip to Lincoln Airpark on Friday to get a glimpse of the sport that will bring more than 1,000 drivers to the area in September. Local citizens were curious too: at times the spectator count was greater than the participant count.The event also created a buzz within the Solo community, with drivers from all over the country making the trek to America€™s heartland to get a glimpse of the new location for the Tire Rack 51°µÍø Solo National Championships and ProSolo Finale. Competitors were not disappointed, as the Lincoln Airpark offered plenty of smooth concrete, which provided good traction and even seemed to improve as the weekend progressed.Something else that improved throughout the weekend? Potter€™s times in the Portable & Convenient Racing BMW 2002. After finishing fourth in F Street Prepared, Potter earned the final qualifying spot for the Super Challenge. Then, as if spinning some magic to match his surname, Potter outgunned A Street Prepared winner Jason Collett, D Stock winner James Fienberg, E Stock winner Paul Brown and B Stock winner Neal Tovsen before facing Cal Craner€™s Walley€™s/New Frontier Chevy Cobalt SS in the final. Even with his 1968 BMW breaking down around the final corner, Potter still took the win, putting a perfect end on the underdog story of the weekend.DS winner Fienberg, of Cary, N.C., may have been knocked out of the Super Challenge by Potter, but he did collect the Honda Tuner Challenge Award with his SoloPro Driving School/Hoosier Acura Integra. Feinberg faced off against Street Touring® winner Jason Frank, of Racine, Wis., in a Bridgestone/datatoys/TeamUndercoat Honda Civic Si to claim the prize.The Ladies Challenge was won by Meredith Brown, of Los Alamos, N.M., who was also the Ladies Class 1 winner. Driving the Isotope Wheels/Automotive Pros Toyota MR2, Brown beat out Julie Avard, of Topeka, Kan., in a Honda Civic Si for the Challenge win.Jaclyn McClintok, of Commerce Township, Mich., and John Hale, of Austin, Texas, faced off for the ChaseCam Bonus Challenge win. Driving a Street Touring Xtreme Soulspeed/GRM/PowerCurve Dyno Honda Civic Si, Hale got the better of McClintok€™s Formula 125 Tony Kart to take the win.The first National Solo event in Lincoln produced some amazing class battles, with most wins coming down to a half-second or less. That included Feinberg€™s D Stock win over Super Challenge runner-up Craner, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, which was a slim 0.168-second. Both of the Bump Classes saw extremely close racing. Dan Pedroza, of Round Rock, Texas, earned the BC1 win in an FTW Racing/Feed Olaf Mazda MX-5 by just 0.280-second over his co-driver, Vivek Goel, of Austin, Texas. In BC2, Craig Wilcox, of Blue Springs, Mo., in a PPI/Vorshlag/Work Wheel USA/AST Mitsubishi Evolution scored a 0.247-second victory over Erik Strelneiks, of Cedar Park, Texas, who drove the Jungle Cat Racing/Hoosier/7parts Mazda 3-Rotor R.Ladies Class 2 was an exception to the ultra-close finishes trend. Annie Bauer, of Renton, Wash., dominated the competition in the Super Challenge-winning 1968 BMW 2002, to take a 1.169-second win over Kim Wilson, of Bowling Green, Ky., in a Team Blender Blaster-South Toyota MR2 Spyder.ProSolo drivers will have to wait a month for the next Tire Rack 51°µÍø ProSolo Series event, which is slated for June 6 €“ 7 in Blytheville, Ark., at the Arkansas Aeroplex. For full results from the Lincoln ProSolo and more information on upcoming events, click the orange Solo tab at the top of the page.