Cal Club Autocross Wins 8 Classes, 20 More Trophies, and 1 Super Challenge at Crows ProSolo
Crows Landing, CA—Members of Cal Club Autocross competed in the Tire Rack SCCA Crows Landing ProSolo on April 20-22 at the old Crows Landing Naval Base, winning eight classes, earning 20 more trophy positions, and one challenge victory.
The SCCA ProSolo is not your average autocross: it’s an adrenaline-pumping format which pits drivers starting off side-by-side in a drag racing style before attacking mirror-like courses to see who can get back to their respective finish lines first. Each driver gets 12 total runs (comprised of six from each left and right side, split into three separate driving heats) to put together the best run from each side. Class winners are determined from putting the best right and left side runs together for a total time. After class competition, there are three single-elimination challenge rounds. The first is a bragging-rights Bonus Challenge drawn at random, then comes a Ladies Challenge for the top eight performing ladies class drivers, and finally the Super Challenge which pits the top 32 drivers from regular competition into a bracket.
That one challenge win for Cal Club Autocross came from Nicole Wong in the form of the Ladies Challenge, earning her second such victory of the season. Wong ended up placing third in her class, L1, but finished well enough to make the challenge.
In the other Ladies classes, Shauna Rios vaulted into the top spot in L2, driving the family’s new 2006 Porsche Cayman to a near one-second triumph. Jessica Pao won L3 for the second time this season, holding off a surging Kate Fisher in second place for the .357 win. Catherine Tran rounded out the trophies in the 13-driver class by finishing fourth.
In other index classes, co-drivers Mike Nakata and Stanley Kowalski placed second and third respectively in S1. The 2003 Evo was plagued with alternator issues, causing Nakata to get only one run on Saturday. Facing a two-hour drive for replacement parts, the duo (with help from the Grice/Berry family) got the car working again, and saw Nakata move up the standings on Sunday with two fast runs.
In S2, the lead rotated drivers as fast as a hot potato; eventually, Tom Berry finished third with Anthony Porta in fourth by 61-thousands. Scott Mullens saved his best for last, moving into the second trophy spot in S3 with two clean runs, while the father-son duo of Jeff and Zak Kiesel went 1-2 in R1.
The largest class of the event, CAM, witnessed 26 drivers duking it out for one of eight coveted trophy spots, and it was Chad Ryker in his 1968 Camaro taking the crown by over six-tenths. Brandon Porambo placed fourth with co-driver Paul Molina in seventh.
After making a change following Saturday morning’s competition, Steve O’Blenes shot to the top of the 19-driver STX class, ultimately holding on for the three-thousands win while co-driver Adrian Cardenas finished in third. Cal Club Autocross earned four of the five trophies in STR, with Jonathan Lugod claiming first place, Ken Motonishi second, Pete Loney third, and Kevin Pao fifth.
SSC was another close battle to the very end as Max Hayter ultimately fell to second after being edged on the final run by just .047, with co-driver Mike Simanyi moving up to third. In FS, Jeff Wong led from the gate en route to a near four-second victory. Dennis Hubbard and Leonard Cachola finished third and fourth in ES, while Sebastian Rios climbed the charts to fourth in BS. Matt Jones put in two fast runs on Sunday to win AS by .181, with co-driver Danny Gross placing third and James Yom taking fourth.
