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When Don Knowles drove his Pontiac Solstice to its first-ever Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) National Championship Runoffs win at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas, he kicked off a three title weekend for GM vehicles and also extended GM's consecutive championship win streak to 51 years.

Prepared by Phoenix Performance and Joe Aquilante, Knowles' Solstice was one of five racing in the 28-car Showroom Stock B (SSB) class, and the win earned the veteran road racer his third SCCA National Championship. He averaged 72.884 mph during the 45-mile race, while teammate and Northeast Division SSB champion Andrew Aquilante set the fastest lap on the 2.5-mile track at 2:01:700 with his Solstice.

"This win puts the finishing touch on an extremely strong rookie year for the Solstice in SCCA," said GM Performance Division executive John Heinricy. "We knew the Solstice would be very competitive, but winning a National and Northeast Division Championship in Club Racing and two more National Championships in Solo autocross competition really validates the performance of this top selling vehicle."

All SCCA Club Racing Solstices and most Solo entries are equipped with the Z0K Club Sport regular production order option package, which is designed for the weekend racer and currently available to order through any Pontiac dealership.

Developed by GM Performance Division, the Club Sport package features the standard five-speed manual transmission along with antilock brakes (ABS), a limited-slip differential and FE3 suspension. The FE3 suspension is standard on the 2007 Pontiac Solstice GXP.

Phoenix Performance was instrumental in introducing the Pontiac Solstice into SCCA racing for 2006 in cooperation with GM Performance Division. In addition to the Solstices driven by Knowles and Andrew, Phoenix also supported Runoff entries driven by Stan Czacki and Beth Aquilante. A fifth Solstice was raced by Alan Yankielun.

Solstice Victory Lap

Don Knowles and his Solstice on the winning lap.

WARREN, Mich. – When the 43rd Annual Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Club Racing National Championship Runoffs debut at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas next week on Oct. 9-15, GM-powered vehicles will attempt to make it 51 straight years of winning at least one SCCA National Championship.

In 1956, Dr. Richard Thompson drove a 265 cu. in. V8 Chevrolet Corvette to the first SCCA National Championship win for a GM vehicle. Since then, club racers in GM-powered cars have won 125 National Championships, using almost every engine configuration the company has developed – a multitude of big- and small-block V8s, opposed-six cylinders, V6 and four-cylinder engines.

Through the efforts of GM Performance Division, GM brand vehicles are now classed in every SCCA Touring and Showroom Stock class, including the Chevrolet Corvette in Touring 1 (T1), Cadillac CTS-V, Pontiac GTO, Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird in Touring 2 (T2), Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged and Saturn ION Red Line in Touring 3 (T3), Pontiac Solstice, Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird in Showroom Stock B (SSB) and the naturally-aspirated Chevy Cobalt SS in Showroom Stock C (SSC).

GM Performance Division also provides engineering technical support for GM vehicles competing in all the Touring and Showroom Stock classes, and will be on-hand at the Runoffs with a cadre of engineers who will support GM racers and source any needed parts through Superior Chevrolet’s on-site parts truck.

“With the CTS-V, Cobalt SS, ION Red Line and Solstice all classed for competition, club racers now have a wealth of current GM product options to choose from when they get involved in SCCA racing,” said GM Performance Division executive John Heinricy. “Plus, vehicles such as the Chevy Corvette, Pontiac GTO, Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird are always strong contenders.”

“We’re very confident GM’s consecutive win streak will stay intact, especially when you consider roughly 10-15 percent of the more than 700 vehicles racing next week will be GM products.”

The T1 class has been dominated this decade by Heinricy and his Corvettes, which are race-prepared by Phoenix Performance and owner Joe Aquilante. Through 2005, Heinricy has won five straight SCCA T1 National Championships in his Corvettes and has nine total championships in three classes, the most wins by any active SCCA driver. He also set two new track records this year at Sebring in both T1 and SSC en route to his Runoffs invitation.

The thunderous T1 race will again be a crowd-pleaser for Runoffs fans of mega-horsepower. In this year’s race, a fleet of Chevrolet Corvette Z06 drivers, including other strong entries from Phil Croyle, Chris Ingle and Lance Knupp, will go wheel-to-wheel with drivers of the Dodge Viper SRT-10 and Ferrari 360 Challenge.

“The Corvette Z06 against the Viper is the present generation’s version of the late 1960s Runoffs battles their fathers watched, between the 427 Corvettes and the 427 Cobras,” added Heinricy.

Tacking on two more wins for the weekend were a Pontiac Firebird driven by GM Performance Division executive John Heinricy in American Sedan (AS) class and a Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z06 driven by Lance Knupp in Touring 1 (T1), bringing GM's grand total to 128 SCCA championships since 1956.

Heinricy's win extended his personal Runoffs consecutive win streak to six, and also gives him a grand total of 10 SCCA National Championships for his career. It was his fourth championship in the AS class.

The T1 victory earned Knupp his first National Championship as he bested a strong field of challengers, including drivers of the Dodge Viper SRT-10 and Ferrari 360 Challenge.

"Lance's terrific T1 class win was a complete surprise after the way the Vipers and Ferraris performed in qualifying, but qualifying is only for tomorrow's newspaper; winning the race is for the history books," said GM Performance Division engineer Greg Fadler. "A Corvette has now won T1 for six consecutive years."

Joe Aquilante finished fifth in the Touring 3 (T3) race with his Cobalt SS Supercharged, and was the only non-Mazda RX8 in the Top 11 finishers. Other GM entries in the T3 race included Stan Wilson and Mike Kramer in their Cobalt SS Supercharged and Saturn ION Red Line cars respectively.

A Pontiac GTO driven by Chris Brannon, who had five national wins during the season, finished 11th in the Touring 2 race after suffering a crash earlier in the week.

GM Performance Division provided on-site engineering technical support for all GM vehicles competing in the Touring and Showroom Stock classes during the 2006 Runoffs, and paid $19,000 in contingency money to the GM-powered drivers who finished in the top three of their class or qualified on the pole. The Division's cadre of engineers and technicians sourced any needed parts through Superior Chevrolet's on-site parts truck and also through a Topeka Chevrolet dealer.

Through the efforts of GM Performance Division, GM brand vehicles are classed in every SCCA Touring and Showroom Stock class, including the Chevrolet Corvette in Touring 1 (T1), Cadillac CTS-V, Pontiac GTO, Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird in Touring 2 (T2), Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged and Saturn ION Red Line in Touring 3 (T3), Pontiac Solstice, Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird in Showroom Stock B (SSB) and the naturally-aspirated Chevy Cobalt SS in Showroom Stock C (SSC).

SPEED TV will broadcast all 25 Championship races in their entirety beginning on Nov. 7 and running through Dec. 19. Check local listings for dates and times.

GM Performance Division develops compelling, low volume, high-performance production and specialty vehicles, including the 205 hp Chevrolet Cobalt SS Supercharged, 395 hp Chevy Trailblazer SS and 400hp Chevy SSR; the 400 hp CTS-V, 469 hp STS-V and 443 hp XLR-V from the Cadillac V-Series; and the 205 hp Saturn ION Red Line.

WARREN, Mich. – Pontiac Solstice driver Andrew Aquilante nipped teammate Don Knowles just as the checkered flag flew on Showroom Stock B class qualifying at the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) National Championship Runoffs at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas, earning the Solstice its first Runoffs pole position in the car’s first year of production.

“Don and I drafted each other, with me following him, but I knew I’d be faster on that last lap,” said Aquilante, a 19-year old sophomore at Penn State University. “Our drafting each other at the start of tomorrow’s race will be our best chance to get away from the cars behind us.”

Aquilante’s iRacing.com-sponsored Solstice covered the 2.5-mile Heartland Park Topeka in 2:01.232, just :00.4 quicker than Phoenix Performance teammate Knowles, also in a Solstice.

Aided by GM Performance Division, the Solstice made its racing debut this past Spring. Aquilante and his Solstice won four SCCA National Championship points races to earn his Runoffs invitation.

“We’re thrilled to see a Solstice with the Z0K Club Sport option package, which is designed for weekend racers, on the pole in its class in just its first year,” said GM Performance Division engineer Greg Fadler. “And we’re equally happy to see all five Solstice drivers qualify in the top half of the field.”

GM quality engineer Alan Yankielun qualified sixth in his Solstice. Retired GM engineer Stan Czacki was 11th quickest. Beth Aquilante, Andrew Aquilante’s cousin, was 13th.

GM Performance Division also provides engineering technical support for GM vehicles competing in all five Touring and Showroom Stock classes, and is on-hand at the Runoffs with a cadre of engineers who are supporting GM racers and sourcing any needed parts through Superior Chevrolet’s on-site parts truck.

GM Performance Division develops compelling, low volume, high-performance production and specialty vehicles, including the 205 hp Chevrolet Cobalt SS Supercharged, 395 hp Chevy Trailblazer SS and 400hp Chevy SSR; the 400 hp CTS-V, 469 hp STS-V and 443 hp XLR-V from the Cadillac V-Series; and the 205 hp Saturn ION Red Line.

August 8, 2006

Second Solstice Sets New Track Record for an SSB Lap and Finishes Second in Both Races

WARREN, Mich. – It was a banner weekend for the Pontiac Solstice at Pocono International Raceway as Andrew Aquilante won both races of the Tri-Region August Double National, clinching the first-ever Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Northeast Division championships for the Solstice and himself in the Showroom Stock B (SSB) class. A second Solstice driven by Don Knowles set a new track record for an SSB lap with a time of 1:54:555 on Saturday, and finished second in each race.

Debuting in SSB for 2006 and racing on Aug. 5-6 in Long Pond, Penn., the Solstice again prevailed over its key competitors from Mazda and Toyota, and each race featured close nose-to-tail racing on both afternoons. Both races also included a third Solstice driven by GM quality engineer Alan Yankielun, which marks the first time three Solstices have competed in the same race event.

"The Solstice has become very formidable in only its first season of SSB," said GM Performance Division executive John Heinricy. "With a Divisional Championship under its belt as well as two track records for the fastest SSB lap, Solstice heads to the National Championship Runoffs in Topeka this October looking to maintain its edge."

In seven national SSB races this season driving the Solstice, Aquilante set the fastest lap four times and finished no lower than fourth, including the two wins at Pocono and two wins at Lime Rock.

Combined with Knowles' record lap time (1:54:555) on Saturday at Pocono, the Solstice now holds two track records for the fastest SSB lap, which includes a time of 1:18:811 set by Aquilante at Nelson Ledges in Garrettsville, Ohio on May 28.

The Pontiac Solstice will next race at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas on October 9-15. Aquilante, Knowles and Stan Czacki of the Rocky Mountain Division are all expected to race their Solstices in Topeka, and will join a formidable contingent of GM vehicles competing for National Championships.

The Solstices are all equipped with the Z0K Club Sport regular production order option package, which is designed for the weekend racer and currently available to order through any Pontiac dealership.

Developed by GM Performance Division, the Club Sport package features the standard five-speed manual transmission along with antilock brakes (ABS), a limited-slip differential, an improved power steering cooler and FE3 suspension. The FE3 suspension will be standard on the upcoming 2007 Pontiac Solstice GXP.

No other options are available when ordering the Club Sport Solstice, but some components and safety equipment are required by SCCA to make it track ready, including a hardtop, racing tires, higher friction brake pads, rollcage, seatbelts, etc.

Aquilante is the 2004 Northeast Division Rookie of the Year and 2005 Philadelphia Region Driver of the Year. He is also the two-time defending Northeast Division Touring 1 (T1) champion for 2004 and 2005 driving a Corvette C5 Z06.