With two events left, several autocrossers have scored more than one win in Champ Tours
The SCCA Championship Tour autocross season is winding up, with two events left to go in July, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Connecticut and then on the other side of the country in Packwood, Wash. While Championship Tour competitors don’t compete for a points championship like ProSolo, there are some interesting patterns, including Mazda driver domination of certain classes.
The C Street class at each Championship Tour event has been won by a driver in an ND (fourth-generation) Miata. That includes two wins each by DJ Alessandrini from Lakewood, Ohio, and Dave Ogburn III of San Angelo, Texas. In some cases, a win by an ND Miata is a given as the class has had nothing but 2016 or ’17 Miatas entered, such as the most recent event at Peru, Ind. Other winners are Andrew Pallotta and Brian Coulson. Tara Johns, Valerie Goebel, Lori Gill and Youmna Zalzal have won in C Street Ladies.
While not complete sweeps, Mazda drivers are more likely to win than not in E Street, Street Touring Roadster and C Street Prepared – and that goes for the Ladies’ classes as well, Mark Dudek of Kensington, N.H., won STR at both the Finger Lakes Champ Tour and at Peru. Other STR winners include David Marcus, Jonathan Lugod and Daniel McCelvey. Winners in E Street are Steven Hughes, Jeff Stuart, Bartek Borowski and Matt Waldbaum. There are no repeat winners in CSP and CSPL, with Jodi Fordahl, Shannon Kathleen Ireton, Matt Zyskowski, Aaron Zenger, Neal Tovsen, and Robert Kliffel taking victories.
Street Touring Sport is also a popular playground for Miatas, and David Whitener is the king of that class if results in recent years are any indication. Whitener, of Fort Worth, Texas, won the class in both Texas and at Lincoln in a ’92 Miata.
One driver has taken victories in two different classes in the same car. That honor belongs to Randall Wilcox who won Super Street Modified at the Dixie Tour and X Prepared at the Lincoln Championship Tour, in Eric Anderson’s ’96 Miata. Andy McKee has also won in XP at Crows Landing in his RX-7, as has Zachary Sober in Texas. Kim Bollinger won XPL in a Miata at Lincoln. James Yom won SSM at Lincoln in a Miata.
The most unusual winner, taking victory in E Street Prepared where pony cars usually dominate, is Clint Griest of Auburn Hills, Mich., in a Mazdaspeed6. Griest took ESP victories at Finger Lakes and Peru.
Other classes in which Mazdas have won include STX (Jason Stroud, RX-8, Dixie; Adrian Cardenas, RX-8, Crows Landing; and Catherine Tran, RX-8, Crows Landing); B Street Prepared (Anthony Porta, Mazdaspeed Miata, Crows Landing; Ken Houseal, Mazdaspeed Miata, Finger Lakes; and Timothy Maxey, Mazdaspeed Miata, Peru); D Street Prepared (Gabe Argenta, RX-8, Peru); and D Prepared (Todd Roberts, Miata, Texas; and Stephen Simonds, Miata, Lincoln).
In all, Mazda drivers have scored 51 victories in Championship Tour competition in 2018. They have two more chances to score victories in Championship Tours in July before turning their attention to the final ProSolo events of the season and the SCCA Solo National Championships in Lincoln, Neb., in September.