There is also SCCA Solo II and Pro Solo national champion Keith Casey, 35, of Somerset, Massachusetts, victorious this year in New York, and is someone to track. Another Solo II national champion and repeat finalist is Pat Salerno, 38, of Danbury, Connecticut, who received a wild card bid to this year's National Finals by being the highest scoring non-winner. These two will also be gunning for Steve Brolliar, 46, of Melbourne, Florida, who was crowned city champ in Miami, and is a feared member of the autocross community. Brolliar sees the Mazda Rev It Up National Finals as autocross' race of champions. Amazingly, Brolliar did no tuning up in the year before this Miami victory, but still thinks he has a good shot. "I enjoyed the competition last year and I want to win this year," Brolliar says.
Rounding out the repeat competitors is Ryan Thompson, 22, of Duluth, Georgia, who was crowned city champ in Atlanta. Thompson qualified for the finals last year by claiming a wild card seat.
While the majority of competitors will be making their first trip to the National Finals, many of them are not newcomers to autocross. Leading the cagy veterans will be Terry Baker, 54, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, who used his substantial racing background to claim the high score in Philadelphia. The next senior-most driver is Steve Hazard, 47, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, who claimed victory in Boston. Sam Williamson, 42, of Garden Grove, California, will also be a formidable opponent as evidenced by the Orange County championship he claimed in the first day of competition at that event.
"I'm totally excited about being in the finals," Williamson said. "I am going to win and I am going to get that new Mazda3."
Jon Etkins, 46, of Austin, Texas, rounds out the over-forty racers who are first-time finalists. This native of Australia, who won the Dallas Mazda Rev It Up, will be challenged by another Aussie, Dylan Scott, 33, of Manhattan Beach, California, who made it to this year's National Finals by championing in San Diego.
Oddly enough, Scott is not the only Manhattan Beach victor. Derek Brauch, 31, is also from Manhattan Beach and managed a win at the first Mazda Rev It Up stop in San Francisco.
The two new young guns are John Ma, 25, of Madison, Wisconsin; and Brian Priebe, 28, of South Bend, Indiana. Both drivers showed a great deal of talent as they marched toward city championships in Minneapolis and Chicago, respectively. Ma is a mechanical engineering student at the University of Wisconsin and has spent five years piloting cars through autocross courses. Priebe is a second generation autocrosser with seven titles to his credit.
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