On the morning of Sept. 25, I closed the house door behind me and walked toward my car. On approach, I gave it one last look over. I had spent the previous day thoroughly going over the car, making sure it was ready.  Brakes were bled, fluids checked, car nut and bolted and then packed with every tool and part I thought might be needed. As I fell into the driver’s seat, I ran through my mental checklist one last time. Confident in the collective readiness of both the car and myself, I hit the start button and aimed my 2016 SCCA® Solo® Nationals prepped C Street Mazda MX-5 toward Bowling Green, Kentucky for something completely new. I was headed to the inaugural Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials Nationals.

Time Trials Nationals is a brand-spanking-new event which aims to combine the feel and flow of a Track Night in America Driven by Tire Rack with the competition and party atmosphere of Solo Nationals. This meant that it should feel new, yet oddly familiar to anyone who has attended Solo Nationals. Longtime Solo Nationals participant David Knudson agreed, saying, “While the type of competition was completely different, the atmosphere around Time Trials Nationals kind of reminded me of a mini Solo Nationals. I saw competitors coming together to help one another out, we played four square and hung out with our fellow competitors well into the evenings, all things you would see in Lincoln.”

And as it turned out, David and I weren’t the only people there with Solo Nationals experience.  As I pulled onto the site Friday morning, it became evident that there were quite a few of us looking to take in this new experience. As I looked around NCM Motorsports Park’s paddock, I saw quite a few familiar cars and faces.  From the dark blue FRS of this year’s Solo Spec Coupe National Champion, Adam Benaway, to the unmistakable orange Super Street McLaren MP4-12C of Andy Hollis, the entry list was littered with fellow autocross veterans. And as the results came rolling in, those Solo drivers showed well, earning top honors in over half the Time Trials Nationals classes.

Benaway, driving the same SSC car he piloted to a National Championship in Solo, took home the win in the Sport 6 class, proving he is just as capable on a track as he is at autocross. When I asked him to compare his experiences, competition wise, he said, “I love the challenge that autocross brings, testing the driver’s ability with minimal outside factors.  It’s just you, a car, and the course. And while Time Trials differentiates itself with higher speeds, the bigger difference is learning how to manage gaps, and work with traffic to achieve that ultimate lap.  That is almost an art in and of itself.”

Another Solo Nationals veteran in attendance was Hollis. And while he does have a ton of experience with autocross, he has recently branched out, spending quite a bit of time at various tracks doing lapping days and other timed events, as well as helping as a coach for the Track Night in America program.  I asked him how he felt this event stacked up to those other experiences, and he replied, “When I heard about the SCCA Time Trials Nationals, it sounded like a perfect melding of all the events I have recently been involved with… and it was.  Such a great event, cool vibe, and wonderful people.”  Hollis not only took the top spot in the Sport 1 class, but also earned a trophy for Fastest Street Legal car at the event.

You can include me as one of the many people that are stoked both by how the event went and what the event is.  When Time Trials Nationals was presented at the SCCA National Convention this past January, I was extremely excited by the news. I love autocross, and I will continue to compete there for as long as I am able. However, I have also really enjoyed any opportunity I have had to get on various race tracks.  And I, much like Hollis, had a feeling that this event was going to be a great blend of all the things I love about both Solo Nationals and track days, in one super rad package. And it totally was. It is yet another awesome way to have #funwithcars. 

A full list of class winners with car make & model, and margin of victory is below:

Sport 1: Andy Hollis, McLaren MP4-12C, 11.1

Sport 2: Doug Francis, Chevrolet Corvette FRC, 11.9

Sport 3: Warren Barnes, Ford Mustang, 15.9

Sport 4: David Melton, 0.2

Sport 5: John Hunter, Mazda MX-5, 6.3

Sport 6: Adam Benaway, Scion FR-S, 3.9

Tuner 1: Chris Ingle, Dodge Viper GTS-R, 34.9

Tuner 2: Ian Stewart, Chevrolet Corvette, 14.3

Tuner 3: Dennis Barrett, Nissan 350Z, 20.7

Tuner 4: Tom O’Gorman, Honda Civic Si, 13.7

Tuner 5: Justin Tilus, Honda Civic Si, 12.7

Max 1: Barry Luterek, Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, 10.4

Max 2: Alex Artayet, Subaru WRX STi, 4.8

Max 3: Michael Neat, Scion FR-S, 7.1

Unlimited 1: Heikki Rinta-Koski, Lotus Seven, 1:47.7

Unlimited 2: JG Pasterjak, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, 8.8

The 24th annual United States RoadRally Challenge (USRRC) is at hand as SCCA members gather together for the Oct. 4–7 event in St. Louis and participate in all or part of the weekend. This year’s event is organized by the St. Louis Region with help from the Southern Illinois Region. The weekend includes two divisional rallies–Tulips by Night, a nighttime Touring rally Thursday, Oct. 4, and Monopoly Redux, a Sunday morning, Oct. 7, GTA (gimmick rally). Sandwiched between the two divisionals are a pair of national rallies: the Kaskaskia Trails National Course Rally, Friday, Oct. 5, and Le Petit Rallye du Rocher, a national Touring rally, Saturday, Oct. 6.

“This is the 24th edition of the USRRC, and we are the first SCCA Region to host it four times,” says Peter Zekert , SCCA St. Louis Region President. “We last hosted it in 2005. We were selected again for 2018 because of our central location and because teams that run the SCCA’s National RoadRally series, of which the USRRC is a part, enjoy coming to St. Louis.”

In addition to the SCCA’s regular RoadRally classes–Equipped, Limited, and Stock–this year’s USRRC also offers classes for Rookie and Historic teams that may run all four events or, through the Gateway Historic Cup and Gateway Regional Cup options, run just the Saturday and Sunday rallies.

“Our goal is to provide road-rally opportunities, not only for regular national teams, but also for novice or occasional rally teams, or teams from other SCCA disciplines that might enjoy participating in the USRRC,” says Ron Ferris, St. Louis Region rally chairman and rallymaster for the Kaskaskia Trails rally. “That’s the reason for the Rookie and Historic classes, and the Gateway Cup opportunities. We believe they’re a good addition to the weekend.”

The Hampton Inn in Columbia, Ill. (suburban St. Louis), is serving as the headquarters for the 2018 USRRC. Last year, the SCCA’s Arctic Alaska Region played host to the annual event, with Anchorage, Alaska, serving as the headquarters city. In 2016, the USRRC, under the guidance of the SCCA’s New England Region , showcased the rural roads and fall colors of Vermont. Other USRRC locations have included Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.; Santa Maria, California; La Crosse, Wisconsin.; Portland, Oregon.; and Fredericksburg, Virginia.

For more information about the 2018 USRRC, visit http://msreg.com/usrrc2018.