51°µÍø

TOPEKA, Kan. (Sept. 17, 2008) €“ The first 36 Solo National Champions of 2008 have been determined, as the opening rounds of competition for the Tire Rack® 51°µÍø Solo National Championships came to a close Wednesday at Heartland Park Topeka.Some of the sweetest victories are the ones that require a driver to pull themselves out of a time deficit, and it€™s sweeter still when that leads to one€™s very first Solo National Championship. In the ultra-competitive A Stock class, Gregory Hahn, from Saint Augustine, Fla., pulled the ultimate upset, going from ninth on Tuesday, to a 0.021-second win in his Honda S2000. In his 16th year of Solo National competition, Hahn finally has his title and can boast that he beat 57 other AS drivers to get it.In F Modified, Brian Ciarlei, of Manlius, N.Y., took his first National Championship though he ended Tuesday€™s runs in fourth, 0.285-second behind day one leader Tage Evanson, of Phoenix, Ariz. By the close of Wednesday€™s competition, Ciarlei had made up enough ground to take the win in his Sharlay Machine/Pennon Composite Red Devil F440 by 0.513-second.Robin Lumb, of Plymouth Meeting, Pa. pulled a similar feat in F Modified Ladies. Driving a Race Ready Technologies Raptor F500, Lumb ended Tuesday€™s competition in third place, with 0.890-second between herself and leader Michelle Quinn, of Buffalo, N.Y. By the close of competition on Wednesday, however, Lumb had vaulted into first place by more than half a second to take her first National Championship.So too did Fred Zust, of Tempe, Ariz., going from third in X Prepared after day one to the top spot following Wednesay€™s runs, claiming his first Solo National Championship in a Blackwatch Racing/ChaseCam Lotus Elise.Sam Strano, of Knoxdale, Pa., also jumped from third to first following Wednesday€™s runs. Strano took home his second-consecutive F Stock National Championship in a Strano Performance/Capital Quest Mtg. Ford Shelby Mustang by 0.369-second over day one leader Jason Burns, of Red Lion, Pa., who was also driving a Strano Performance Parts Ford Shelby Mustang. This gives Strano a total of five National Championships.For some competitors this year€™s Solo National Championships was business as usual, like Jeremiah McClintock, of Commerce Township, Mich., who took his third-consecutive Formula 125 Championship, or Suzanne Segal, of Las Vegas, Nev., who claimed her claimed her seventh, and fifth-straight, Formula 125 Ladies Championship.Lorien Feighner, of Howell, Mich., drove a Ford Mustang to her third-straight E Street Prepared L title, making it a total of four career Championships for her. It was Championship number five for Jeff Cashmore, of New Berlin, Wis., who drove a Sprinto YC-3 to the D Modified win, and Tom Berry, of Alta Loma, Calif., recovered from a 0.398 deficit in B Street Prepared to take his second-straight class Championship in the Berry Family Racing/Hoosier Mitsubishi Evo, giving him a total of five Championships.The Thursday/Friday groups will get the second round of the 36th Tire Rack Solo National Championships underway at 8:00 a.m. (CDT) Thursday morning. For full results visit the Solo National Championships event page.