Sin City always has a powerful, fun vibe. That was most certainly the case March 15-17 and March 22-24, 2024, during back-to-back Tire Rack SCCA® Las Vegas ProSolo® weekends held in Nevada at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS).
The events, hosted by SCCA’s Las Vegas Region, made up Rounds 2 and 3 of the 11-stop 2024 Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Series regular season calendar. Taking advantage of the opportunity, many drivers participated in both events, leaving equipment and cars on site or with local friends between events.
Entirely different, flowing, and fast course layouts were deployed over the two weekends on the sizable asphalt lot. Marc Segal provided course designs for the March 15-17 competition, and Doug Rowse handled the March 22-24 layouts. The venue’s paddock parking added to the atmosphere, with the elevated “RV Hill” offering a spectacular view of the Las Vegas Valley, as well as the entire competition course area.
Mother Nature played a small role during the two events. Although conditions and temperatures were respectable – which is why ProSolo visits Nevada in late winter – the first event saw some rain early on Saturday before things calmed down for the rest of the competition. The second weekend saw overcast skies, cool temperatures, and some heavy winds that managed to move a few cones.
While the Vegas ProSolos were amazingly economical for many, a few drivers found them downright affordable thanks to the Howard Duncan ProSolo Greenlight Fund. That fund offers complimentary first appearances courtesy of the SCCA Foundation. Kris Wilcox, who drove in the Race Tire Index 3 class, benefited from the fund during the first weekend. Charly Theret, who competed in Ladies Class 4, and Steven Papania, who drove in Street 1, were fund recipients the second weekend. (You can help the SCCA Foundation help drivers by making a donation.)
Two drivers also benefited from the SCCA Women on Track Driver Development Program. That initiative aids one randomly selected woman at each Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour and ProSolo Series event with an opportunity for a one-on-one, 30-minute virtual coaching session with a top-tier driver from the sport. In Vegas, Ladies Class 3 competitor Laurie Matthews received helpful guidance for the opening weekend, and Ladies Class 2 driver Chelsea Tattershall received top tips the second weekend.
Perfect Points
The unique scheduling situation for Vegas turned out to be a boon for plenty of people, with many drivers rapidly amassing enough points to be well positioned for a ProSolo Points Championship at year’s end.
Perfect points going into the ProSolo Finale is always great, but being so early in the season, those drivers now have the option of participating at other ProSolo events in order to “block” fellow competitors from gaining enough points to force a tense, winner-take-all shootout at the Aug. 30-Sept. 1, 2024, ProSolo Finale in Nebraska at Lincoln Airpark.
These drivers swept their classes over two weekends in Vegas:
Super Street: Brian Peters, 2024 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
Street Touring™ Roadster: Mark Shrivastava, 2023 Mazda Miata
Street 1: Matt Ales, 2011 BMW M3
Ladies Class 3: Kim Whitener, 2015 Scion FR-S
Classic American Muscle: Dave Schotz, 2022 Chevrolet Camaro
Class Competition
Back-to-back weekends in Vegas created exciting opportunities for grudge matches to develop in a couple classes. For instance, A Street was won the first weekend by Sebastian Rios in a 2014 Porsche Cayman S, who was 0.295sec faster than runner-up Marc Segal in a 2018 Porsche 718 GTS. The second weekend saw Segal triumph by 0.195sec over Rios.
There was a swap, too, in Street Touring Xtreme. Manfred Reysser, in a 2013 Scion FR-S, won the first weekend by 0.012sec over a 2015 Scion FR-S driven by David Whitener. The second weekend had Whitener besting Reysser by 1.262sec.
The competition was tight across many classes from one weekend to the next. One of the closest battles was in Ladies 4, where Chris Peterson won by only 0.094sec over Meredith Brown during the opening weekend. That was followed by Brown again finishing in the runner-up spot by 0.035sec to Stephanie Humphries the next weekend, with all drivers piloting Scion FR-S cars.
Additional ProSolo coverage from both Vegas events can be found at the SCCA’s Solo Facebook page. A full rundown of class results from the March 15-17 Vegas ProSolo can be found here, and the March 22-24 Vegas ProSolo results are here.
Challenge Winners from Vegas
It was Eric Stoltz, in a 1992 Mazda Miata, who came out on top in the first Super Challenge after a final faceoff with Dave Schotz in a 2022 Chevrolet Camaro SS. The second Super Challenge victory went to Dennis Hubbard in a 2008 Chevrolet Corvette, with Schotz finishing in the runner-up spot once again.
Christine Grice wasn’t toying around in Vegas when it came to the Ladies Challenge, taking victories at the first and second event in a 2006 Mitsubishi Evo. Nicole Wong, in a 2019 Chevrolet Corvette, was runner-up the first weekend, and Shelly Monfort was runner-up the second weekend in a 2018 Porsche Cayman GTS.
The first Bonus Challenge was won by Michael Thuet in a 2019 Chevrolet Camaro, with Brian Haynes finishing second in a 2016 Scion FR-S. The second Bonus Challenge saw Scott Brown, in a 2017 Chevrolet Z06, win out over a 2021 Mazda MX-5 driven by Joe Goeke.
Next up?
The ProSolo show now travels east into the Great Plains for an April 5-7, 2024, rendezvous in Frederick, OK, for the Tire Rack SCCA Oklahoma ProSolo at Frederick Regional Airport. Registration is open today for that event.
Registration is also open for another West Coast ProSolo, that one being the April 19-21, 2024, Tire Rack SCCA Crows Landing ProSolo in California. After that, there’s the May 3-5, 2024, Tire Rack SCCA New Jersey ProSolo – which is also open for registration.
To learn more about ProSolo and review the entire 2024 schedule, click here.
Photos by Taylour Wargo
