MX-5s take top 12 positions in C Street as five more Mazda-powered champions are crowned

Mazda MX-5 dominance in the C Street class at the SCCA Tire Rack Solo National Championships in Lincoln, Neb., wasn’t a given. But with the ND Miata being the overwhelming choice of the top drivers in the class, it seemed likely. While Miata drivers didn’t sweep the trophy positions as the Solo Nationals wrapped up its week with the second half of competition on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 7-8, they did take the top 12 of 13 trophy positions in the class.

As many predicted, Daniel McCelvey of Houston took the top spot. After Thursday’s runs, his best was a scant two-thousandths of a second ahead of Robert Carpenter. But Friday’s course seemed to suit him well, and he ended up with nearly a 1.3-second margin of victory over Carpenter. Julian Garfield, Brian Garfield and ProSolo champ Rick Cone rounded out the top five.

The C Street Ladies competition ended up much closer than the Open class. Anne Robinson posted the quickest time on both courses to claim her first National Championship in C Street Ladies. It was her fifth total championship. Deana Kelley took the other trophy in second and Linda Duncan was third in the all-MX-5 class.

As much as MX-5s dominated C Street, Mazda3s took every trophy in Street Touring FWD and were the top four in the class after two days of competition. Daniel Gross drove his Mazda3 to the championship. The Maryland driver started with a 0.8-second margin after the first day and held on for the win by 0.939 seconds and his first National Championship. Adam Deffenbaugh and David Hedderick completed the trophies, with Raymond Wise in fourth.

Jeff and Shawn Kiesel’s rotary-powered Sprite continued its domination of E Modified, and the pair scored their 11th and ninth E Mod titles, respectively.

SCCA Tire Rack Solo National Championships
Lincoln Airpark
Lincoln, Neb., Sept. 5-8. 2017
Class; Driver; Hometown; Car; Winning Margin (Championships won)
C Street: Daniel McCelvey; Houston, Texas; Mazda MX-5; 1.297 (Third National Championship, third in class)
C Street Ladies: Anne Robinson; Highland, Ind.; Mazda MX-5 Miata; 0.370 (Fifth National Championship, first in class)
Street Touring FWD: Daniel Gross; Frederick, Md.; Mazda 3; 0.939 (First National Championship)
E Modified: Jeff Kiesel; Poway, Calif.; KFR Turbo Sprite; 3.579(12th National Championship, 11th in class)
E Modified Ladies: Shawn Kiesel; Poway, Calif.; KFR Turbo Sprite; 4.676 (10th National Championship, ninth in class)