For more details, call Tim Winker, 218 / 348-8366 or 218 / 729-0821

Duluth area driver takes class win, sets new track record at CBIR

BRAINERD, MINNESOTA – Mark Strohm (of Saginaw, Minnesota) took his Toyota Corolla to the Colonel’s Brainerd International Raceway for the Sports Car Club of America’s “Fall 2000 Challenge” with the hope of setting a new record for the Improved Touring B category. With several improvements to the car, he knew that he stood a good chance of breaking the ITB record on the three-mile road course, where he had a class win earlier this year and came just short of the record.

Strohm took his Toyota to the ITB class victory on Saturday, over 15 seconds ahead of the VW Golf of Steve Dahl. But it took until Sunday to accomplish the primary goal, setting the new class record at 2:04.904 on lap five of the 15 lap race. Unfortunately, a carburetor problem caused his Corolla to falter in the later stages of the race and he finished fourth in the category, handing the win to Dahl’s VW.

Strohm is a member of the Duluth Area Motorsports Network - Improved Touring (DAMN-IT), a group of racers from the Duluth-Superior region that compete in the SCCA Improved Touring category on road racing courses. He is a co-owner of Foreign Affairs of Duluth, Inc., an independent import auto repair facility (on East 9th Street in Duluth).

DAMN-IT web site: http://www.arrowheadscc.org/damnit/