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Rivergate Solo
2000 SS Chris Eckles 26.682 STR Shane Metzger 26.771 Thomas Simon 27.760 STS Andrew Hagenbush 28.173 Matt Berman 28.677 Kevin Patrick 28.700 Randy Orza 28.891 Joshua Buchbinder 31.024 AS Jim Thompson 25.767 ASP Rusty White 28.310 BS John Darrow 26.384 Tom Shirley 26.639 George Lewis 28.795 Ron Hlozansky 29.944 BSL Jeanne Darrow 27.780 CS W. S. Baggarly 29.046 CSP John Brown 24.951 Jim Rakowitz 28.381 DP Rich Miller 27.049 DSP Brian Flanagan 25.922 Billy Miller 26.364 Gerrit DePreter 27.596 Greg Green 28.923 David McDaniel 29.251 DSPL Jennifer Boyd 30.596 EM Chris Raglin 24.851 EPL Allison von Gruengen 27.285 FS Jerry Grigg 25.794 GS Joey Gentry 32.097 JD Drew Tompkins 43.788
Thirty competitors from the surrounding area came out to enjoy the Chattanooga Region's first autocross of the season. The course was quick and technical with each competitor getting in 7 timed runs. A contingent of Street Touring cars arrived in caravan from the Atlanta area and proceeded to do battle in the largest class of the day. In STS, Matt Berman put down the quick time on the first set of runs followed by Randy Orza, with Andrew Hagenbush close back. But it was Andrew who put it all together on his 6th run to win the STS class edging Matt Berman by ½ a second. In STR Shane Metzger lead from the first run to top Thomas Simon by almost a second. In the events next largest class, DSP, Brian Flanagan, from Chattanooga, showed the driving style he perfected with many hours behind the wheel of a Mustang by wowing the crowd with controlled power slides in the FASTECH BMW 325 ITS. His best time of 25.922 was quick enough to beat co-driver Billy Miller by 4/10 of a second. Billy was responsible for course design and his first effort was full of subtle tricks. Many of the competitors think Brian may have had a hand in helping with the more devilish parts. What appeared to be a simple course was actually a very technical test in spots. The Miata bunch in BS saw John Darrow from Byron, GA run away with the win. Driving a new 2000 model with 900 miles on it, John led from the first run and iced the win on his 5th pass beating Tom Shirley from Sale Creek, TN. by .255 seconds. George Lewis from Rossville finished 3rd followed by Ron Hlozansky. Ron took a lot of pictures of the event, including the winners hamming it up for the photo-op. They can be seen on the web at http://rphphoto.photoreflect.com CSP competition saw John Brown in his ultra quick MR2 almost take FTD from Chris Raglin running in EM. The battle went on until the last run when John coned to take himself out of the fight. John topped Jim Rakowitz from Powder Springs, GA for the class win. Chris from Huntsville, AL. has fitted his Civic SI with a turbo and it is quick. Drivers running uncontested in their class were Jeanne Darrow from Bryan, GA. in BSL. Jim Thompson from Cleveland, TN. driving a 91 Toyota MR2 Turbo ran smooth and quick to win AS, while Rusty White from Chattanooga in a 93 RX7 that is quickly becoming a road race machine, won ASP. W. S. Baggarly took the honors in CS. Rookie driver, Jennifer Boyd sharing the FASTECH BMW ran her first autocross in DSPL and Rich Miller from Knoxville took DP in his Bugeye Sprite. Allison von Gruengen from Lenoir City, TN, driving a fast Ford Fiesta, took the honors in EPL. Joey Gentry, also in his first autocross, took GS. Chris Eckles took SS from Waleska, GA in his BMW. Roadster and Jerry Grigg from Warner Robbins, GA took FS in his Camaro. In the Junior Driver class, Drew Tompkins from Ringgold, GA., driving in his first event, was consistently faster on each run in his go kart. Drew became eligible to compete in the Junior Division just weeks ago and from his reaction and the big grin, it looks like the SCCA has a new competitor that will be racing and winning a lot in the future. If you want to put a smile on your child's face, find out about the Junior Division and get involved. -- Tom Shirley Solo II Schedule Modified May 17, 2000 |
