The 2000 Georgia State Solo II Championship featured hot weather, hot
competition and enough adversity to last a Solo II program a lifetime.
Atlanta and Middle Georgia Regions teamed up to host the first (hopefully
of many) Georgia State Solo II Championship at the Georgia National
Fairgrounds in Perry, which is 110 miles South of Atlanta.
The State meet was held in conjunction with The Georgia MotorFest which
featured a car show, an audio soundoff competition and the Solo II.
The whole Solo II part of the event was in jeopardy, however, as Atlanta
Region's Van (with many of the cones) blew a radiator hose and overheated
on the trip to the event and had to be abandoned by the side of the road
for the weekend. Clint McMahan's willingness to drive back up to the van
to put the needed supplies into the back of his pickup saved the day.
That was a 2 hour round trip!
Sunday saw the distant black clouds and lightning approaching as the
2-day drivers wound up their runs. 33 Sunday-only drivers were lined up
to take their shots (and contend for their local region's series points)
when the huge thunderstorm rolled in with no end in sight. So their runs
got scrubbed.
70 drivers competed for their class championships in addition to a $1000
purse that paid out from $200 down to $20 for the top 20 drivers based
on their PAX (handicap factor) performance. This event turned into a
Southeastern event as drivers came from Georgia (of course), Florida,
South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama. Many of the
Southeast's finest were getting final seat time in preparation for their
trips to the Tire Rack Solo II National Championships in Topeka, Kansas
in early September.
Rich Shafer (of CP Trans Am fame) designed a HUGE course that meandered
over 5 different parking areas and averaged 70 to 80 seconds, Saturday
and 60 to 70 seconds on Sunday. The high heat in the 90s combined with
small run groups and 6 runs put maximum stress on engines and tires on
Saturday seeing many competitors opting NOT to take all their allowed
runs. More conservatively sized run groups and a maximum of 4 runs on
Sunday encouraged closer competition with most drivers taking all their
shots.
When the smoke and tire dust had settled into the, now forming, puddles,
Robert Carpenter (from Knoxville, Tennessee no less) walked away with the
$200 prize with his ancient Honda CRX over fellow ES competitor Ken Rupp
(who won $120) driving the, supposedly, hot ES ride, a 2000 Toyota Celica
GT.
Class Last Name First Name Car Combined
AM QUILLIAN MAC 97 MERCER FSAE 147.445
AM HINES RENEE F500 160.041
AM JOHNSON THOR 97 MERCER FSAE 162.472
AS SIPE MARK 99 BMW Z3 COUPE 143.224
AS STEVENSON MIKE 99 BMW Z3 COUPE 153.383
ASP MATTHEWS RICHARD 93 MAZDA RX7TT 149.279
ASP KOBS JOHN 90 MAZDA RX7T 150.230
BP DUCHENE STEVEN 87 MERKUR XR4TI 169.745
BS DARROW JOHN 00 MIATA 154.254
BSL DARROW JEANNE 00 MIATA 156.892
BSP THATCHER-TS BEN 86 CORVETTE 144.422
BSP RATCLIFFE ED 86 CORVETTE 153.195
CP SHAFER-TS RICH 84 TRANS-AM 142.909
CS PARCON JAY 93 TOYOTA MR2 149.784
CS ABERSON AL DATSUN 280Z 156.855
CS BAGGARLY SCOTT 92 MIATA 162.993
CS ANNEE CARL 86 MAZDA RX7 163.025
CSP BROWN JOHN 86 TOYOTA MR2 142.904
CSP SWAIN-TS JOHN 96 MIATA 151.780
DM KNOBEL HAROLD AUSTIN MINI COOPER 138.500
DS HENDY PETER 96 NEON 154.144
DSP STUBBS BARRY 88 CHEVY CAVALIER 158.716
EP BRYAN-TINSLEY BETSY 86 HONDA CIVIC 139.576
EP TINSLEY RICK 86 HONDA CIVIC 140.487
ES PULLIAM LARRY 00 TOYOTA CELICA 149.934
ES HENDRICKSON JIM 98 FORD ESCORT 154.011
ES KROLEWICZ JON 85 HONDA CRX SI 155.655
ESP LEWIS ROBERT 99 MUSTANG COBRA 144.471
ESP LEWIS TRACY 99 MUSTANG COBRA 151.191
ESP WEST JOSHUA 95 MUSTANG COBRA 155.846
ESP LOCKLAIR PAUL 99 MUSTANG COBRA 163.201
FM METZGER SHANE 84 DAREDEVIL F500 129.430
FM MCMAHAN CLINT KBS F500 130.162
FM MCMAHAN DAN KBS F500 136.822
FM STROUD JAY 92 KBS 150.649
FM CROWE CARL 92 KBS 1069.953
FP COFFEY BILL 71 DATSUN 240Z 141.648
FP SULLIVAN PATRICK 91 MAZDA RX7 169.224
FS GRIGG JERRY 96 CAMARO Z28 149.096
FS KLINE-TS KEVIN 98 MUSTANG 152.232
FS GRANT TYLER 99 TRANS AM 157.687
FSP JACKSON JK 74 TRIUMPH TR6 144.974
FSP MOORE CHRIS 74 TRIUMPH TR6 146.976
FSP HOWELL-TS J.BRETT 92 HONDA CIVIC 148.902
FSP VEHIGE JASON 85 VW GOLF 152.433
FSP WOERNER STEVEN 97 NISSAN TRUCK 161.116
GS SIMON-TS THOMAS 95 TAURUS SHO 155.588
GS GANG MARK 98 FORD CONTOUR 164.350
HS SANEY BARRY 91 HONDA CIVIS SI 156.958
HS FOLEY RON 99 MAZDA PROTEGE 157.565
HS MIGLINO PETER GEO STORM 159.394
N SULLIVAN PAT L 87 FIERO 186.697
OSP DIDUCK GARRET 94 MIATA 143.188
OSP RATHBONE W. DICKSON 66 FORD SHELBY GT 158.879
PES CARPENTER ROBERT 85 HONDA CRX 146.361
PES RUPP KEN 00 TOYOTA CELICA 147.545
PES CONE RICK 00 CELICA 149.592
PFS PULLIAM TOM 00 CAMARO Z28 144.293
PFS YOUMANS JEFFERY 96 CAMARO Z28 146.069
SM WEIMER JEFF 94 HONDA CIVIC 168.811
SM VANZINA TONY 96 Honda Civic 170.616
SS ECKLES-TS CHRIS 99 BMW M-ROADSTER 147.558
SSL SPENCER CAROLINE 2000 PORSCHE BOXSTER S 149.997
STR EASTON STEVE 99 HONDA CIVIC 156.025
STR LOWE SHELTON 00 HONDA PRELUDE 156.950
STS DOWNS PATRICK 96 VW GTI 159.237
STS SULLIVAN TREY 96 HONDA CIVIC 165.744
Overall PAX prize money winners
Perry Payout
Winnings Class Last Name First name Car
1 200 PES CARPENTER ROBERT 85 HONDA CRX
2 120 PES RUPP KEN 00 TOYOTA CELICA
3 80 PFS PULLIAM TOM 00 CAMARO Z28
4 70 AS SIPE MARK 99 BMW Z3 COUPE
5 60 FM METZGER SHANE 84 DAREDEVIL F500
6 50 PES CONE RICK 00 CELICA
7 50 FM MCMAHAN CLINT KBS F500
8 50 ES PULLIAM LARRY 00 TOYOTA CELICA
9 40 PFS YOUMANS JEFFERY 96 CAMARO Z28
10 40 ESP LEWIS ROBERT 99 MUSTANG COBRA
11 40 FSP JACKSON JK 74 TRIUMPH TR6
12 40 CS PARCON JAY 93 TOYOTA MR2
13 20 FS GRIGG JERRY 96 CAMARO Z28
14 20 FSP MOORE CHRIS 74 TRIUMPH TR6
15 20 CSP BROWN JOHN 86 TOYOTA MR2
16 20 ES HENDRICKSON JIM 98 FORD ESCORT
17 20 EP BRYAN-TINSLEY BETSY 86 HONDA CIVIC
18 20 FSP HOWELL-TS J.BRETT 92 HONDA CIVIC
19 20 BSP THATCHER-TS BEN 86 CORVETTE
20 20 ES KROLEWICZ JON 85 HONDA CRX SI
1000 Total
Ben Thatcher
Apex Benefit Services & Motorsports
Stockbridge, GA
|