With the St. Louis Regional Event 2 and 3 Overall Index Wins going to ShimmySideways driver Jeff Templeton, there was a good chance of a Hat Trick. But with over 110 drivers in attendance, no one was going to hand it to him.  Fortunately, Jeff and the ShimmySideways STi were in top form and he once again took the Overall Index Win and the B-Street Prepared class win.  This widens the gap further for Jeff at the top of the Index Standings.  Martha Lou Haddon also got behind the wheel and is showing great improvement and potential as a serious contender in the ladies class.  James Elterman did not compete but took some fun laps.

Videos of Jeff and James' best runs are available on the videos page.

The ShimmySideways Team is always excited to attend the annual Great Lakes Region Subaru Challenge, formerly the Central Region Subaru Challenge.  This year was no exception.  This years' challenge took place once again at the infamous Lot L at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.  The event, which caters exclusively to Subaru enthusiasts, hosted nearly 50 competitors of various skill levels.  Some of the top drivers in attendance included 2005 Tire Rack Solo2 Nationals STU Class Champion Branden Burkhart, and ZZYZX Motorsports owner and driver, Steve Sulatycki.  James Elterman and the ShimmySideways STi of course returned this year in hopes of defending his 2005 Super Star Challenge win.  Event Chairman Steve Sulatycki prepared a fast and fun course and all competitors had 10 runs over the course of the day.  As the temperature increased over the course of the afternoon, James and Jeff struggled to keep the tire temperatures in check.  In the end, James found his 2nd consecutive Super Star Challenge Win by a narrow margin over Branden Burkhart and Jon Simmons.  In addition to the Index win, James and the ShimmySideways STi had the honor of having the Fastest Raw Time of the day.  Jeff just missed the Index podium with a 4th place finish, despite having the 2nd fastest raw time of the day. 

You can view the In-Car video from the event on our videos page.  You'll also find a clip marked Shimmy, in which James experiences a ShimmySideways after hitting a bump at near the traction limit.  Photos from the event are available at PeatPics.  Official results from the event will be available soon at SubaruChallenge.com.

Each year the ShimmySideways Team finds great competition in Peru, Indiana.  This year the Peru National Tour was skipped in favor of the Peru ProSolo.  James and Jeff joined Aaron and Francis Miller with their Lancer Evo, and 2005 BSP ProSolo Champion Lee Piccione in the BimmerHaus BMW M3 to compete for the top spot in B Street Prepared.  Unlike the Walnut Ridge ProSolo earlier this season, James and Jeff found themselves running neck and neck with Lee Piccione at the top of the pack.  After the first day of competition, Lee was leading the class by a mere .010 margin over James.  Unfortunately, on just the second run of day two, a rear half shaft failed, taking the ShimmySideways STi out of competition.  In the end it was Aaron Miller who made a Sunday miracle and won the class with only one clean run on each side.  None the less, James' Saturday runs were worthy of 3rd place, with Jeff taking 4th.

For video of the half shaft failure, visit the video gallery.  For complete results, follow the jump.

The ShimmySideways Team was absent from the first St. Louis Regional of the year due to participation in another event out of town.  The St. Louis Regions second event of the year took place at Gateway International Raceway on a very warm Memorial Day.  James Elterman, Jeff Templeton, and Martha Lou Haddon all took turns behind the wheel.  Jeff Templeton attacked the course and not only took First in B-Street Prepared, but also took the Overall Index Win, quite a feat considering the field of over 160 drivers!  Martha Lou Haddon also took the uncontested win in B-Street Prepared Ladies.  James Elterman, who isn't competing at regional events in 2006, made some fun runs but did not find the time Jeff did.  Although the Team missed the first event of the year, Jeff Templeton is well on his way to a good season result on the index standings.

Video from the event is available in our videos section.

The ShimmySideways STi made its first ever appearance at a ProSolo recently at the Walnut Ridge ProSolo.  James found the best possible competition in B Street Prepared with former ProSolo National Champion Lee Piccione in the BimmerHaus BMW M3 and familiar competitors Joel Fehrman and Tommy Pulliam in the Knowledge Performance STi, aka Stompy.  The high skill level of the competition was evident as the 4 top drivers from BSP advanced to the Super Challenge.  Unfortunately James could not match the times put up by the rest of the class and did not make the Challenge.  Tommy Pulliam took the BSP win by a narrow margin.

Keeping James honest at the event was RX4Speed Racing's Matt Huntman who drove the ShimmySideways STi in Street Modified.  Matt found the time on course James was looking for with one half second faster laps on each course.  Matt's performance was worthy of the 2nd place SM trophy and he narrowly missed the opportunity to enter the Challenge.

Complete results are after the jump.  Three videos are available from the event; Tommy and Stompy in action, Two consecutive runs by James, and a James vs. Matt comparison on the right side course.  If you have never attended a ProSolo, the consecutive runs video will give you an idea of the fast pace of the event.  Check the video gallery for the videos.

The 5 race Midwest Divisional Championship has come to and end and the ShimmySideways Racing Team has finished on top.  The finale was conducted at Forbes Field in Topeka, Kansas, which is the home of the upcoming Solo2 Nationals.  Since this event is one of the rare chances each year to practice on the Nationals surface, the event often draws competitors from other regions.  The competition in E Street Prepared was very good.  Mark Jorgensen brought both his Cobra and STi, and former National Champion Mark Madarash brought his Trans-Am.  The racing was intense.  After the first day of competition, James Elterman had a 0.2 second advantage over Mark Jorgensen.  Although Mark was able to reduce this margin on day two to less than 0.1, it was ultimately cone trouble that prevented him from taking the win from James.  James and Jeff's performance in the series earned them 1st and 2nd in the Midwest Divisional Championship.  The excellent result in Topeka is exciting with the Tire Rack Solo2 Nationals right around the corner.  Compete results for the event and the series after the jump...

The Peru National Tour is one of the best autocross events of the year, and this year was no exception.  In fact, it was the largest National Tour event ever with 398 competitors.  The competition is always terrific in Peru because many drivers are anxious to find out where they stand versus their competition with Nationals just around the corner.  We were anxious to catch up with Joel Fehrman and his STi named Stompy.  Stompy is likely the best prepared ESP STi in the country.  Combine this with Joel's excellent driving skills, and that of co-driver Tommy Pulliam, and you have a dangerous combination.  Amongst a field of some of the best ESP cars in the country, Tommy managed to beat the entire field by over two seconds over two days of competition.  Extremely impressive to say the least.  The ShimmySideways STi was the second fastest STi, with James and Jeff finishing 6th and 7th respectively.  James's 6th place was good enough to earn the final trophy spot, his second National Tour trophy this year.  Complete results after the jump...

Cones of Salina, Kansas; Be Afraid.  Be very afraid.  Because the autocrosses held in Salina, Kansas are notorious for high cone kills.  The narrow and long airstrip that the event is conducted on is one of the stickiest surfaces in the region.  The combination of the narrow lot and sticky surface makes for a very fast transition heavy course.  At this third divisional in the five divisional series, many classes were won and lost because of cone counts.  The ShimmySideways Team did not show any mercy to the cones.  Driver Jeff Templeton singlehandedly killed 20 cones over the course of the weekend.  Despite all the cone kills and even some brake fade issues, James and Jeff finished 1st and 2nd in class respectively for the two day event.  After this third event, James and Jeff have a comfortable lead in the R&S Racing and Solo Performance Specialties MiDiv Solo Series.  Complete results after the jump...

James Elterman and the ShimmySideways STi followed up the index win at the first St. Louis Regional with a second Index Win at event 2.  Keeping the pressure on in the index standings is Chris Hammond driving the Solo2.org 350Z who has come in second at both events.  Jeff Templeton was unable to attend the event but will return to co-drive at the Peru National Tour.  Index and Class results after the jump...

Due to lot availability issues, the St. Louis Region SCCA got off to a late start for the 2005 regional autocross series.  It was obvious that many people were anxious for the first event because the event had an excellent turn out with over 145 entrants.  James and Jeff had an excellent start for the season taking home 1st and 2nd in class respectively.  Jeff finished 9th on the index, and James took 1st on index by a significant margin.  The ShimmySideways STi was the fastest fendered car at the event.  Videos of James and Jeff's runs from the event can be found on the videos page.  Detailed results after the jump.

We didn't intend to bring the Shimmy Sideways Sti to Event #11.  Robert and I were planning to drive his Honda S2000.  A day before the event that plan was aborted when something came up for Robert which prevented him from coming to the event.  After a scramble to prepare the STi late Saturday night, I arrived at the race Sunday moring alone in my STi.  I was really glad I did too.  The crossover course designed by Richard Wiese was fast and fun, and the weather was great.  The course designer himself earned fastest time of the day indexed, and I earned 2nd.  In addition I also placed 1st in class.

More after the jump...

The event we have been preparing for all year, The Tire Rack 2004 SCCA Solo2 Nationals, has finally come and gone.  The competition in E Street Prepared was very good as we expected.  Unfortunately we were not able to get the result we wanted due to a mechanical failure.  Because of the failure we were not able to complete our runs on the second day of competition.  Thankfully our car was capable of completing a few timed laps, albeit slightly off the pace, in order to give us a time for the day.  After two days of competition, James finished 20th, and Robert finished 31st in a field of 38 cars.

More details about our impressions of the course and results after the jump.

We continued the tradition this year by going to the Central Illinois Region SCCA Labor Day autocross in Rantoul, Illinois.  This was our first opportunity to meet at an event with our sponsor, Nukabe Automotive.  Chad of Nukabe brought out their STi which sports nearly everything available from Cusco for the STi.  Fortunately I had an opportunity to drive it and I was extremely impressed.  I now have LSD envy.  In keeping with tradition, again this year I managed to bring home the Fastest Time of the Day: Indexed.

For pictures of Nukabe's STi, visit the Gallery.  More about the event after the jump...

Event #9 was another great local event for us.  The potential for rain meant a low attendance of 96 entrants.  The Shimmy Sideways Team STi was again one of the fastest cars at the event.  James and Robert placed 1st and 2nd in class respectively.  James also earned 2nd on index behind Dan Marx in his Mini Cooper.  The really story of the day was Robert's excellent performance which earned him 4th on index; his highest index finish this year.  This was a repeat performance for Robert after his 4th place finish at Event #8.  This recent success has moved him up into 4th place in the overall index standings, and only 6 points out of third behind Richard Wiese.  With 3 more local events this season it will certainly be exciting.

More after the jump...

Our performance at Event #8 was our best in recent history.  We have typically been very successful at Riverport because of the low grip surface.  Of the 111 competitors, the Shimmy Sideways team STi was the fastest car in attendance, which earned us not only the Fastest Time of the Day: Index but also Fastest Time of the Day: Raw.  The highlight of the day came after the event during fun runs, when I filled the STi to capacity with 3 passengers and took them for a wild ride!