Okay, I was convinced by another female in my area to enter my car, though I know at least one other in MAIC who might garner more votes than me.
My name's Karen Kraus, and I first competed with Eric Kriemelmeyer's (goes by "Eric" on here) 2.5RS in SCCA's ST (then STS) class at the 2000 Harrisburg ProSolo. I dominated the ladies class, won the ladies challenge, and was told, "You should buy a Subaru!!"
Off an on through 2006, I codrove Subarus with various success, including Billy Brooks's (bbimpreza) 2000 2.5RS in STS, Keith Casey's (KC) STX WRX Wagon, and one off codrives with Tom Hoppe (trhoppe), Joel Fehrman (AUTOwrXER), and some other local guys. Then, in 2007, Justin Rest (mtbgael) offered me a ride in his 2006 WRX... and I took it to the SCCA Nationals and won D Stock Ladies with it. The following year, I finally bought my own 2006 WRX and won the ProSolo L1 Championship with it and finished second in the ladies challenge for the year.
I almost didn't buy my WRX. When I went to look at it, it was supposed to just be silver. Instead, I find a CGM car with painted
flames on the hood and a massive stereo system. I thought long and hard about how much I wanted this car... and finally, the fact that ScoobySouth (Bill Cook) had assured me that the car's warranty was still intact (it only had 15K miles when I looked at it) let me cave into buying it.
A year after I bought it, Subaru had dropped it's association with SCCA's Solo program, and there was no more contingency. So, the lure of running the soft DS index in ladies classes at the ProSolos no longer was there, and I talked to the guys at IAG Performance in Westminster, dropped off the car and a copy of the SCCA Solo Street Prepared rules and said, "Do it."
A month later, I had my fledgling ESP beast. By August 2009, I knew it wasn't good enough as it stood, and was already putting more into it just before Nationals. I was able to win the ESP Ladies National Championship that year, but I wanted more. I wanted an open class trophy, if not an open class championship. I would fail miserably in 2010, and for 2011 didn't look like there would be a chance at all.
I didn't think I would even be able to go to Lincoln in 2011, as Nationals were the first week of school, and I'm a high school teacher. After a very successful trip to Packwood, Washington (yes, I drove my ESP prepped car across the country and back!), I tentatively asked my principal for two days off so that I could go out to try, yet, again, for the elusive open class trophy. Only two women have ever won open class championships before 2011, and only a handful more have won trophies in the open classes. For eight years in FS with my Camaros, I'd tried, and finished within a tenth or two of trophies too many times, and last year, I was less than 0.3s out of the trophies in ESP. I was already starting behind the eight ball for this year by running tires from last year's Nationals and only have 3 events in the car in the year since my last trip to Lincoln.
It would prove to be enough. While the first day had me in the last trophy position, with the rest of the WDCR SCCA ESP crowd breathing down my neck, I was able to hang on to that seventh place finish after the second day. I'm not too ashamed to say that I couldn't stop crying after those results were final, as it was something I'd worked so hard to obtain, that it felt better than any of my ladies class championships.
The car is a CGM 2006 WRX, and the mod list is pretty extensive. Over last winter, I was fortunate enough to catch Greg McCance (mccanixx) in a state of temporary insanity as he sold off everything from his car, and obtained his set of the elusive zzyzx coilovers, and the suspension changes from last year have really transformed the car. If you've seen my build thread in the Motorsports area, you know all this pretty well already, but for those who are new :
Engine :
COBB V2 AccessPORT with Pro Tune map
Invidia G200 Catback Exhaust with Kartboy PINK exhaust hangers
COBB cold air intake
STi TMIC
APS Catted Down Pipe
Cusco Turbo Heat Shield
COBB Uppipe
Kartboy oil filler cap
Driveline :
ACT Heavy-Duty Clutch & Streetlite Flywheel
MFactory Helical Front Differential
'02/'03 front axles and axle stubs
Cusco Type RS 1.5 Way Rear Differential
MODE Racing double adjustable short shifter
TurnInConcepts shift lever bushings
Kartboy shifter bushings (front and rear)
Kartboy Delrin shift knob
Kartboy rear differential outrigger bushings (hard black)
Kartboy transmission cross member bushings
Whiteline steering rack bushings
TurnInConcepts rear differential mount bushings
Suspension :
Stock front sway bar with solid Kartboy endlinks
Whiteline 22mm rear sway bar with Kartboy endlinks
ZZYZX coilovers (w/ Koni 8611 inserts)
Swift 120 front springs (~650#) and Hypercoil rears (600#) w/ tenders
Custom Front Camber Plates and Cusco rears
Wheels & Tires :
18x9.5" Rota Torques/Grids
285/30ZR18 Hoosier A6 DOT Radials
ARP wheel studs
Brakes :
Ferodo Brake Pads (front and rear)
stainless steel brake lines
Interior :
Sparco Evo2 Plus driver seat
Sparco Evo passenger seat
Stri DSD 52mm smoke/white boost, oil pressure and EGT gauges
Exterior :
'05 WRX taillights
IAG Fender Rolling & Pulling
STi Rear Fender Flares
Custom Paint
Choosing only three pics is very, very tough, but here we go :
Yes, this car's been on the Bonneville Salt Flats.... twice.
2010 SCCA Solo Nationals, West Course.
The 2009 DC ProSolo saw some nasty rain at times. Didn't stop me from taking the win in L2 and the win in the Ladies Challenge.