February 22, 2022
The National Solo program took the green flag on the 2022 season this weekend with the Tire Rack Florida ProSolo1 event held at The FIRM in Starke, Florida. An impressive 113 drivers took on the ProSolo1 format — a modified, single-course version of the traditional ProSolo.
The modified format utilized the stage lights, shot clock, and tree — along with the rapid pace of a ProSolo — as drivers made all of their morning and afternoon runs without going back to Grid. Each driver got three runs in the morning heat and three runs in the afternoon heat. The best times in each heat were then added together for the final score.
Challenge points were awarded based on seeding after class competitions, rather than a traditional Challenge. Sunday’s timed runs were run under mid-70s temperatures and sunny skies, a true Chamber of Commerce Day in Starke.
In class runs, Wes Hughson came back to win his first career ProSolo event in Race Tire Index 2 (R2) after breaking an axle on his second run. That left him to stand on his single time in the morning heat — though still in the class lead — as the work continued. Hughson was able to fix his Honda S2000 in time for the afternoon heat, laying down times quick enough for the win.
Chris Cervenka was another first-time winner in ProSolo, taking the CAM win in his Ford Shelby GT350. Cervenka trailed JG Pasterjak after the opening heat, but leapfrogged his Chevrolet Corvette and held off a charging Jon Nwanagu for a 0.956-second win.
Seeding determined the Challenge winners in the ProSolo1 format. Ashley Weaver wheeled her Ladies 2 Mazda MX-5 to a class win and earned the full Ladies Challenge points over Jennifer Bedell and Chris Peterson, who ran one-two in Ladies 3.
G Warren Hahn is the ProSolo point leader in the Clubhouse after the first event, gathering full points for his work in the Street 1 indexed class. Hahn topped that group by nearly three seconds and earned the overall top spot in his Honda S2000. Wes Hughson’s first ProSolo class win led to major points in the challenge, as he was scored in second.
Erik Cardenas captured the Street Touring Roadster class in in his Mazda MX-5 by 2.941-seconds to earn the number three seed and third-place points in the season-long challenge standings.
The TireRack ProSolo season continues March 18-20 at Naval Air Station Chase Field in Beeville, Texas, with a traditional ProSolo event on the calendar.
