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2007 Solo Nationals

Christopher Hammond

08.14.07

Good news for me! After taking a year off of Nationals in 2006 I'm once again headed to Topeka for a week in September! I registered this morning in CStock in a 2007 Pontiac Solstice! The Collins have asked me to codrive this year in Topeka, a great honor for me to be asked. Bud was also mentioned as a contender for the CS National Championship so I'm doublely honored to get the opportunity to assist him in doing so. I booked my hotel for the week in Topeka this morning and registered for #63 CS as well! More on my Nationals adventure coming up here online! Also, I want to thank Nick Jackson for also offering me a ride in his STS Civic at Nationals. While I had looked forward to trying my hand at a FWD car at Nationals again (my first two tries I think left me with DFL both times) I couldn't turn down the opportunity to drive a RWD stock car, one that has a great chance at winning to boot! See you all at Nationals, and look for reports from our crack reporting staff this year in Topeka! posted from...

My motivation to win at the SCCA Solo Nationals

Christopher Hammond

09.19.07

So, I'm very fortunate this year for the Solo nationals, Bud Collins asked me to be his tire warmer in his 2007 Pontiac Solstice, something I am very thrilled to do. I've already told my wife, that if, by some fluke of luck, I were to win CS at the 2007 Solo Nationals in Bud's Solstice I'm going to buy myself a Solstice. I don't expect to win CS, hell I'll be glad to get my first Nationals trophy if I can perform well enough. I would love to have a Solstice to autocross every event, but at the same time I don't want one for my daily driver, and right now i can't justify having a daily driver with a car payment, and an autocross car with a car payment. Now, if I were to win CS at Nationals, I'd get rid of the daily driver and suck it up and drive a convertible around without air conditioning (Solstice Z0k) I made mention of this goal/reward to my good buddy Jeff Krekeler from Krekeler Jewelers in Farmington Missouri today on instant messenger. He proceeded to tell me that I owed him a new monitor to replace the one he was sitting in front of because of the soda I caused him to hurl out of his mouth and nose. Then, and this is the best part, he told me "you win nationals i'll buy you a solstice". So, now I need to get myself some cash, bribe all the CS competitors into letting me win the class and claim my car! Granted that bribery probably won't work, but I'll be doing my damndest to see if I can't perform well in Topeka next week. Thanks Krek, you're the best! And this just in, right before I go to submit this blog post, my good friend Dave Whitworth from Solo Performance Specialties has said that he'll split the Solstice with Jeff if I win! posted from...

On my way to Topeka

Christopher Hammond

09.21.07

Well I'll be on the road in just over 8 hours. I still have to finish packing! I'm meeting a few guys for breakfast at 7am and then we're hitting I70 and heading west towards Topeka. I hope to get there between 12 and 1 so I can get checked into my hotel and then head to Heartland Park to get my paddock spot and tires mounted on the Solstice. Sunday Joyce Ruth and I are driving the Solstice at the warmup, on Monday the Collins should arrive from Massachusetts. Pictures and High Def video will be coming all next week! Stay tuned. Here's the first pick for the week of Solo Nationals, the truck and trailer loaded up tonight! posted from...

The trip to Topeka

Christopher Hammond

09.23.07

The trip to Topeka went great today. I'm tired, it's late! So here's a quick review Met for breakfast around 7am. Hit the road around 8am, stopped three times, got to the hotel around 1:30pm. A quick word about ValuePlace hotels, weird, but cheap, and clean Headed to Heartland Park, parked the trailer, unloaded the car. Got tires mounted from the great Ron Vermulm. Got the car teched, loaded the car into the trailer, locked up and headed back to the hotel. Played in the Poker tournament, lost. Went to Walmart to Stock up on supplies. Got back to the hotel and realized I didn't bring my phone charger, great. So if anyone has a automotive phone charger for a Blackjack can I borrow it for a few hours on Sunday? Tomorrow: Register for the warmup, get the car cleaned up, run the warm up. Take lots of pics and video. Time for bed, a quick pick from today. Lots more pictures tomorrow, and video. posted from...

Warmup in Topeka

Christopher Hammond

09.24.07

The warmup was great yesterday, we got to scrub in the Hoosiers for Tues/Wed. Also figured out that it is possible to spin a solstice! I took video yesterday but am having issues getting it transferred off my camera so it may have to wait till next week. For up to the minute photos today check out my Flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/chammond/ posted from...

Solo Nationals Day 1 (Tues)

Christopher Hammond

09.25.07

Today was an interesting day. It started out dark, cold and wet, finished up bright sunny and almost hot. It rained last night a bit, so the course was wet this morning when we were walking first thing. I ran in CS today, the 5th car or so out in the 2nd heat on the West course. It started drizzling just as I was getting ready. Every run I took was a different surface, the rain came, went, came and went, multiple times throughout the heat. I ended up sitting in 9th, there are 7 trophy positions so I've got some work to do tomorrow! I took a LOT of video today, I'll try to get it posted next week when I get back in town. posted from...

Solo Nationals Day 2 (Wednesday)

Christopher Hammond

09.26.07

So, the 2007 Solo Nationals are halfway complete. Natalie and I took another hour of video today, more stuff to go through next week! A quick summary of the day. Bud finally got a clean run today, so that made 1 out of his 6 runs in CS cone free. I ran what I thought was well but not well enough. I was in 9th at the beginning of the day, 11th at the end of the day. Lynn Collins got 2nd in CSL, a few tenths out of 1st I believe. Time for bed, it's been a long week so far! posted from...