The month of May concluded with our annual AutoX 101 Novice School on Saturday and Points Event 3 on Sunday, both of which saw high registration numbers and some fantastic weather.
Saturday
The AutoX 101 school has proven to be a great value for money over the years, especially for those who want to get a taste of autocross without being completely sure if they’re ready for a full-time commitment. In total, our class of 2026 included 32 novice drivers with a tremendous variety of cars and driving backgrounds.
The day began with the drivers split across two separate courses (one slalom, the other a short combination of a Chicago box, chicane, and 180-degree turn) getting some instruction about the basics of car control, how to pick a driving line, getting a feel for chassis dynamics and braking points, as well as driving position.
After a lunch break the two elements were connected into a single course and the afternoon ran like a standard event with instructors riding along and providing feedback before letting some of the students loose on their own.
By all accounts the day was a fantastic success, with one student telling their instructor “This is it, I found my people.”
Sunday
The changeover from Saturday’s school course presented some challenges for Sunday’s runners, leading to a fairly short and at times tight course that to call “polarizing” would be an understatement.
Points Event 3 was another capacity field with 177 drivers registering times across four heats. The fastest of which was laid down by Myke Dziengel (No. 6, BST) in his 2006 Subaru WRX STi with a raw time of 30.026 seconds. Dziengel also owned the top PAX time of 25.071 seconds on his way to winning the Pro class.
B Street (BS) provided some excitement early with the 2026 Audi RS3 of Terry Prand (No. 50) and 2026 Toyota Supra of Jo Jadeke (No. 90) swapping the lead nearly every run until Prand delivered a 31.687 on his final pass to take the win from Jadeke, with her own best time of 31.971. Third place went to Scott Welsh’s 2025 Toyota GR Corolla (No. 12) with a best time of 32.126, also on his final pass.
The results will show that C Street Touring (CST) was won by Logan Lohmoeller (No. 36) in his 2000 BMW M Roadster, but the story of that win was a bit more dramatic than the records indicate. Going into the final runs of the heat, Lohmoeller’s lead was ended by Joshua McDonald (No. 117) with a 33.005 in his 2001 Mazda Miata. Lohmoeller responded on his own final run with a best time of 32.468 to retake the lead – but a late cone penalty call reverted the lead back to McDonald. A protest was filed and video evidence brought forth that proved no cones were hit. As a result the penalty was reversed, reinstating Lohmoeller’s fastest run and the class win. McDonald’s fastest run was still good enough to place second, with Dan Steele (No. 19) taking third in a 2004 Toyota MR2.
Classic American Muscle Sport (CAMS) saw not only the largest field with 19 cars, but also the tightest margins with the top ten finishers all covered by one second. Ultimately Danny Popp (No. 10) won the class with a raw time of 30.823 seconds, a scant 0.076 from the fast time of 30.899 set by Chandler Roe (No. 5) in second and Jansen Fischer (No. 99) in third with a best time of 31.151.
Street Open (S) continued a season-long trend of never having a repeat winner as the 2017 Ford Focus ST of Alex Kruetzkamp (No. 22, HS) – who finished second at both of the previous points events – broke through for his first win of 2026. Kruetzkamp managed a fast time of 33.112 to stay clear of second-place Jayson Breier (No. 4, FS) in his 2022 Chevrolet Camaro and third-place Takuto Takagi (No. 56, CS) in his 2019 Mazda Miata.
Street Touring Open (ST) also saw a third winner in as many events when Nick Isaac (No. 5, CST) and his 2001 Honda S2000 made a triumphant return following a mechanical failure at the previous event to take the lead and class win on his final run, denying the 2015 Subaru WRX of Nate Chester (No. 92, GST) from what would have been his second win of the season. Chester ended the day in second, with Dave Riley (No. 16, BST) finishing a close third in a borrowed 2006 Subaru WRX STi.
Classic American Muscle Contemporary (CAMC) saw another extremely tight battle at the top with the top three cars separated by less than a tenth of a second. Brian Coney (No. 25) scored the victory in his 1969 Chevrolet Camaro with a time of 31.154, taking the lead on his final run from Jae Hun Choi (No. 18) to beat a best time of 31.173 – just 0.019 seconds back from first. Third place belonged to Cam Joseph (No. 125) with a 31.245.
Novice Street (NS) was won by James Melone (No. 4, FS) in his 2018 BMW 340i, but the big story from NS may lie with Clayton Stimpert (No. 1, CS) taking second place in a borrowed 2019 Mazda Miata. Stimpert participated in Saturday’s AutoX 101 school driving his 1993 Mercury Capri XR2, but mechanical issues suffered early in the day – reports indicate an issue with the center shaft – forced him to nearly miss not only the remainder of that day, but Sunday’s event. Luckily Takuto Takagi came to the rescue and offered a seat in his Miata, lovingly nicknamed ‘Tofu’, and Stimpert was back on track. Carter Jacobs (No. 3, DS) rounded out the podium in his Volkswagen Golf R.
Novice Modified saw an all-CAM podium with Charles Russell (No. 53, CAMC) taking top honors in a 2019 Chevrolet Camaro, followed by Anthoiny Budke (No. 85, CAMC) in second driving a 2022 Ford Mustang Mach 1 and the 1997 Ford Mustang GT of Andrew Hartwell (No. 97, CAMT) in third.
A list of the full event results can be found here.
Our next points event will be on Sunday June 28th, with an added bonus of the SCCA Starting Line school making a visit on Saturday June 27th.
Registration for Points Event 4 can be found at CincySCCA.MotorsportReg.com.
Registration for the Starting Line school can be found here.
Thank you again to all of the incredible volunteers who help make our events work, it truly is a monumental task with a considerable number of moving parts and we absolutely wouldn’t be able to do it without you.
Josh Smith
Cincinnati Region SCCA Solo Co-Chair
