Autoblog

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Four years after it first hit showrooms, the Scion tC will finally make a showing in a professional road racing series. And no, factory optioned and equipped vehicles being tossed around Long Beach by B-list celebrities cannot be considered professional. A tC has already been heavily modified to compete in the Formula Drift series, but the peppy compact's road race profile, outside the annual celebrity race of course, has been relatively low. This weekend though, Toyota's sporty little coupe will be moving up from amateur abuse to make its big time debut in Grand-Am's KONI Challenge Series. This week's race will take place at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH and the tC will be part of the ST (Sport Touring) class.

The Scion's venture into the KONI series is being fueled by communications firm Jackson-Dawson, TRD and BGB Motorsports. Driver and team manager Dan (pronounced Don) Gardner has taken his Scion's setup through the NASA club ranks to prove its worth. Having already tackled that territory, moving onto a production-based national series is the next logical step for the team. In the KONI Challenge ST class, Dan and his tC will face formidable foes such as Mazda RX8s, BMW 330s and Acura TSXs. While Toyota may be competitive on the ovals, hopefully this one can do better on the curves than the company's F1 effort. Check out the gallery below for snap shots of the Jackson-Dawson Scion tC and hit the jump for the full press release.


[Photos: Brian Reynolds - CaliPhotography.com]

Once a year, drivers gather in a central location to test their skills in a myriad of motorized conveyances. The Dunlop Drivers Cup isn't just a day or two of on-track driving. Nor is it limited to four-wheeled vehicles. It's a five day long event that encompasses autocross, road racing, off-road driving, motocross and an ATV trek.

Drivers are selected for both their behind the wheel/handlebar skills, but also their physical prowess and the qualifying begins this September 11th. The winner of the stateside event will then move on to the Dunlop Drivers Cup World Finals sometime in 2007, where they'll compete in events across six different continents, with the final event being held in Africa.

A profile of some of the finalists can be found here, here and here, which are all definitely worth the read, especially for anyone considering entering in the 2007 event. We wish them all the best of luck on their upcoming journey and hope that Team USA trounces whomever they come up against abroad.

More information about the Cup and registration for next year's event can be found at Dunlop's website.

Click on through for some photos from last years event.

[Source: The Auto Channel]

Regular readers will remember the spy photos of a mystery Solstice hardtop we posted a month ago. Well, General Motors has made it official, the Solstice is going to compete in National-level Sports Car Club of America road racing. The Solstice racer will make its debut this weekend at the SCCA National event at New Hampshire International Speedway.

The upstart Pontiac will race in the Showroom Stock B class, alongside the Mazda Miata, BMW Z4, Acura RSX and Honda Civic.

You can get your own Solstice racer by ordering your Solstice with the Z0K Club Sport production order option package, which includes ABS, a limited-slip differential, improved power steering cooler and the FE3 suspension option (which will be standard on the Solstice GXP).

Racers will want a few extras before hitting the track, including the nifty racing-only hardtop, racing tires, rollcage, safety harness, etc.

[Source: GM]