Bill Pemberton
0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
The National Solo Tour ( Autocross ) held this past Memorial Day weekend saw the F Stock Class dominated by TMO members, though the event did not start with such a positive beginning. TMO member, Emery Seaton ( CAMT National Champion for 2022 ) found his Fox Body beast not starting correctly and that meant both he and his dad, Brent , were left wondering what to do with the electrical glitch sidelining the car that took Emery to the National win. The great thing about amateur motorsports is that so often the friends you make at the track/course end up being more than just casual acquaintances. Hearing of the dilemma TMO member Brian Meyer came to the rescue for Emery and Emery's dad found another participant to let him share his car ( albeit in a different class and not a Mustang ,ha ).
The battle ensued on Sunday with Emery putting down some solid times and keeping F Stock National Champion Sam Stano on his toes. The Sunday course was a fast, constant transition course that lent itself to plenty of cone decimation, and Emery was working to become the King Cone Killer! National Champ against National Champ, he kept Strano honest but he only had one clean run on both Sunday and Monday. He still would not have beaten Strano, who in typical fashion was Mr. Consistent with only one cone destruction run on both days. Meyer seemed to be reveling in the great runs Emery was having and he confided he could not get the rhythm of the Sunday Course and he found himself down in 5th spot on Sunday - one spot out of the trophies.
Monday dawned with threats of rain that never materialized and Brian found the course very much to his liking. Realizing he was likely too far back to catch Strano and Seaton, he was still fired up knowing vaulting just one driver would get him into a trophy position at the even commonly referred to as the " Spring Nationals " as it draws top drivers from around the US and even Canada. He confidently went out and ran a fast 60 second run and he jumped not one , but two spots , making it possible for him to end up in third. That first solid run was his story as he boldly attacked the course in his second and third runs just a bit too aggressively and he would have to sit and sweat out his competitor's runs since his Bronze Medal hung on the balance of others. Emery continued to pulverize pylons, but like Brian he laid down a super solid first run and that kept him securely behind Sir Strano.
Strano, with too many National Championships to count realized how lucky he was to get by the CAMT Champion Seaton who had never driven Meyer's GT 350 before, but he again proved his mettle under tough competition. His well prepared Mach 1 ( with the quite rare handling package ) again proved to be a strong ticket for F Street domination and the cool part is the top three spots all went to Mustangs and.............................TMO members!!
Congrats to Strano, Seaton and Meyer and it just shows you meet the nicest people racing !!
The battle ensued on Sunday with Emery putting down some solid times and keeping F Stock National Champion Sam Stano on his toes. The Sunday course was a fast, constant transition course that lent itself to plenty of cone decimation, and Emery was working to become the King Cone Killer! National Champ against National Champ, he kept Strano honest but he only had one clean run on both Sunday and Monday. He still would not have beaten Strano, who in typical fashion was Mr. Consistent with only one cone destruction run on both days. Meyer seemed to be reveling in the great runs Emery was having and he confided he could not get the rhythm of the Sunday Course and he found himself down in 5th spot on Sunday - one spot out of the trophies.
Monday dawned with threats of rain that never materialized and Brian found the course very much to his liking. Realizing he was likely too far back to catch Strano and Seaton, he was still fired up knowing vaulting just one driver would get him into a trophy position at the even commonly referred to as the " Spring Nationals " as it draws top drivers from around the US and even Canada. He confidently went out and ran a fast 60 second run and he jumped not one , but two spots , making it possible for him to end up in third. That first solid run was his story as he boldly attacked the course in his second and third runs just a bit too aggressively and he would have to sit and sweat out his competitor's runs since his Bronze Medal hung on the balance of others. Emery continued to pulverize pylons, but like Brian he laid down a super solid first run and that kept him securely behind Sir Strano.
Strano, with too many National Championships to count realized how lucky he was to get by the CAMT Champion Seaton who had never driven Meyer's GT 350 before, but he again proved his mettle under tough competition. His well prepared Mach 1 ( with the quite rare handling package ) again proved to be a strong ticket for F Street domination and the cool part is the top three spots all went to Mustangs and.............................TMO members!!
Congrats to Strano, Seaton and Meyer and it just shows you meet the nicest people racing !!