The 2019 SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® are right around the corner. That means it’s also time for competitors to again register for a multitude of Runoffs-specific contingency opportunities before the event’s first-ever visit to VIRginia International Raceway October 8-13, 2019.

Registration for contingencies opens Wednesday, July 17, and will be conducted through MotorsportReg.com to streamline the procedure. Competitors can simply sign up online for the appropriate contingencies. Changes can also be made up to Sunday, September 22 through MotorsportReg.com.  After that, drivers will only be able to adjust contingency selections at VIR at the Contingency Services table.

Nearly 30 companies have stepped up to support racers by offering contingency sponsorship programs. Many contingency opportunities require pre-registration. Details and instructions to register for each of these programs are available at the SCCA Contingency webpage.  U.S. Majors Tour contingency registration does NOT include the Runoffs. It is the responsibility of each competitor to make sure they are in compliance with each program for which they would like to enroll. Below is a quick glimpse at what is currently available this year.

– Hawk Performance, Official Brake Products of SCCA (Select Classes)
1st: 5 Free Axle Sets 2nd: 2 Free Axle Sets 3rd: 1 Free Axle Set
4th:  $125 Certificate 5th: $100 Certificate 6th: $90 Certificate
7th: $80 Certificate 8th: $70 Certificate 9th: $60 Certificate
10th: $50 Certificate
Track Record Breaker: $200 Certificate

– Sunoco, Official Fuel of SCCA (All Classes)
Hard Charger Award: $100

– Tire Rack, Official Tire Retailer of SCCA (All Classes)
Pole Qualifier: $500 TireRack.com Product Certificate
5th: $50 Product Certificate

– Honda Performance Development (Select Cars & Classes)
(All eligible classes except Civic/NSX below) 
1st: $1,500 2nd: $1,000 3rd: $500
(Civic Si 2016+, Civic Type R 2017+, NSX 2016+)
1st: $5,000 2nd: $3,000 3rd: $2,000
Start Championship Race (except Civic/NSX below) – $150 HPD Bucks
Start Championship Race (Civic Si 2016+, Civic Type R 2017+, NSX 2016+) – $1,000
Tow Funds — See Program requirements for details

– Summit Racing Equipment (All Classes)
1st: $150 Certificate 2nd: $100 Certificate 3rd-6th: $50 Certificate
Hard Luck – $50 Certificate

– Bell Helmets (All Classes)
Bell Helmet Users: 1st: $100 2nd: $75 3rd: $50
All Runoffs Competitors: 20% off on any Bell Helmet sold by OG Racing at the event

– BFGoodrich Tires (Select Classes)
1st: 12 Tires 2nd: 6 Tires 3rd: 4 Tires 4th: 2 Tires

– Carbotech Performance Brakes (Select Classes)
1st: Product Sponsorship (6 Axel Sets with contract)
2nd: $300 Certificate 3rd: $250 Certificate 4th: $200 Certificate
5th: $175 Certificate 6th: $150 Certificate 7th: $125 Certificate
8th: $100 Certificate 9th: $75 Certificate 10th: $50 Certificate

– DirtFish Rally School (All Classes)
Entered to win one of four DirtFish Rally School Entries

– Eibach Springs (Select Classes)
1st: 4 Eibach Springs 2nd: 3 Eibach Springs 3rd: 2 Eibach Springs

– Ford Performance (Select Cars & Classes)
Eligible Classes: 1st: $2,000 2nd: $1,000 3rd: $750
SRF3:  1st: $275 2nd: $250 3rd: $225 4th: $200 5th: $175

– Goodyear Tire (Select Classes)
1st: 3 Tire Sets 2nd: 2 Tire Sets 3rd: 1 Tire Set

– Hyperco Suspension Coils (Select Classes)
1st-2nd: 2 Free Hypercoils Certificate 3rd: 1 Free Hypercoil Certificate

– Nissan Motorsports (Select Cars & Classes)
(GT-R, 370Z 2009-2019, Sentra 2014-2019, Versa Note 2014-2019)
1st: $3,000 2nd: $1,500 3rd: $1,000
(Non-current Nissan/Datsun models)
1st: $1,000 2nd: $500 3rd: $250

– PAGID Racing (Select Classes)
1st: 1 full-car set of brake pads 2nd: 1 axle set of brake pads

– Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies (All Classes)
4th: $75 Certificate 5th: $50 Certificate 6th: $25 Certificate
Super Sweep Winner – $250 Certificate

– Penske Racing Shocks (All Classes)
1st: $150 Certificate 2nd: $75 Certificate 3rd: $50 Certificate

– Pirelli Tire (Select Classes)
1st: 2 Tires 2nd: 1 Tire

– Red Line Oil (All Classes)
1st: Helmet or $600 Product Certificate 2nd: 2 Cases/Product 3rd: 1 Case/Product

– SCCA Enterprises (Select Classes)
1st: $700 2nd: $500 3rd: $300

– SPA Technique (All Classes)
1st: $100 SPA Technique Certificate 2nd: $50 SPA Technique Certificate
3rd: $25 SPA Technique Certificate 4th: $50 SPA Technique Certificate

– Tilton Engineering (Select Classes)
1st: $200 Certificate 3rd: $100 Certificate 5th: $50 Certificate

– Toyota/TRD (Select Cars & Classes)
GT2-GT3 – 1st: $5,000 2nd: $3,000
Other Eligible Classes – 1st: $3,000 2nd: $2,000
Pole Qualifier: $1,000
Super Sweep Award: $1,000
Tow Money: $1/mile ($1,500 max)

– G-LOC Brakes (Select Classes)
1st: $500 2nd: $400 3rd: $350 4th: $250 5th: $200
6th: $150 7th: $125 8th: $100 9th: $75 10th: $50

– Hoosier Racing Tire (Select Classes)
Spec Miata – 1st: 16 Tires 2nd: 8 Tires 3rd: 6 Tires
4th-5th: 4 Tires 6th-10th: 2 Tires
All Classes (except SM): 1st – 4 Tires, plus 4 tires for each ’20 Majors Tour event

– Mazda North American Operations (Select Classes)
(GT1, GT2, GT3, GTL, EP, FP, HP, T1, T2, T3, T4, STU, STL, SM, B-Spec) –
1st: $5,000 2nd: $2,500 3rd: $1,500 4th: $1,250 5th: $1,000
(FM, FE2, FA, P1, P2) –
1st: $4,000 2nd: $2,000 3rd: $1,250 4th: $1,000
Tow Fund – Up to $750
Super Sweep – $1,000

– Winding Road Racing (All Classes)
1st: $100 WRR Store Credit 2nd: $50 WRR Store Credit 3rd: $25 WRR Store Credit

Again, it is the responsibility of each driver to make sure they are eligible to receive any contingency awards in which they are interested. Be sure to check each requirement for each program by visiting https://www.scca.com/pages/main-contingency. For additional information on the 2019 SCCA National Championship Runoffs — including schedules, registration and an entry list — visit https://www.scca.com/runoffs.

Vincent Melon attended the Tire Rack Time Trials National Tour Presented by Hagerty in Portland. Vincent didn’t grow up in a car family, he wasn’t gifted a route to motorsports — he found his way, starting with working on cars at national chains and growing into his own performance shop. We caught up with Vincent after the first competition event he’d ever run and here’s what he had to say:

I’ll be straight up… I’m a product of The Fast and The Furious.

That film came out in 2001 when I was nine years old. I saw that movie and left the theaters hooked. That was it, man. I was import tuners from there on out. Skylines, RX-7s, Civics, the whole lot. I was a kid so basically I was into cars and anything that had to do with cars. Video games, hot wheels, plastic models, you name it and I was about it.

I started working with cars officially when I was 16. I got my first job at a car wash and progressed from there. I worked at an AutoZone for a while, and then a Bridgestone for a bit. When I took my next big leap, I started working at a race shop. It was an import sport compact performance shop, so Subaru STIs, Supras, Integras, all of the real popular Super Street import cars. It was there I learned to build race engines, tunes chassis, rebuild transmissions and everything from the inside out. I did that for about 3.5 years. After a while of building some crazy machines, things sort of flat lined and I looked for the next big opportunity. At the ripe age of 22 I sold everything I had and made the 2000-plus mile trek from Kansas to Washington State to work at CorkSport Mazda Performance (a shop dedicated to late model Mazdas). I spent the next 3 years learning the in and outs of business and design before I made the biggest leap of my life.

When the new generation of Hondas came out, I noticed a big hole in the market. I quickly took everything I knew, partnered with a team of really dedicated individuals and started a business specifically for the new 2016+ Honda market. These new Hondas were ready for a fresh new start and we were going to give it to them. It was the first time all of the Civics were factory turbocharged in various trims, the first time the Type R came to the USA, and Honda made the full switch to gasoline direct injection. No one else in the Honda game was really going into that and we knew we could REDEFINE it. Seeing as how the new Civics are so good out of the box the timing was perfect to create a business and reinvigorate the aftermarket brand again. So that’s what I did with 27WON Performance, a brand new performance brand dedicated to the 2016+ and newer Hondas. While we lean toward the street side of things, we focus solely on performance parts that are fully capable of going on a race or road-going Honda or Acura. Even parts that are great for a Time Attack style of car. 

When I started 27WON (editor’s note: pronounced two-seven-won), I had just turned 25. A lot of my friends in the industry thought SCCA Road Racing was for the old dudes, whereas Time Attack was much more popular with guys my age. Most of those cars are all super crazy tuners and the cars we grew up with. From big wings, to crazy aero these cars where laden with stickers on the side that my friends could relate to. I’m young and my crowd is young so we vibe on the same level. My customers generally all fall between the mid 20s and late 30s. So the reason I was so excited with the intro of Time Trials was twofold. First is to push my parts to the limit. When my team develops a performance part we don’t only want to show that it’s great for the street, but that it can compete and win in racing. Wherever you fall in the spectrum — from just wanting to have fun, or wanting to get more competitive, our parts are tried and true. I use Time Trials as my platform to showcase just what our products can do.

My second goal is to get more young people to race. Prior to the Portland Time Trials event, I had done about eight or so HPDE events around the country. The Portland event was technically my first competition event with legit scoring and prizes. My personal goal is that I want to use SCCA Time Trials to work up to a Pro License for Time Attack. I want to develop myself as a driver and my car to build up to that Global Time Attack style level. I don’t expect my customers to go full tilt like I want to, but I want to show that they can if they so desire and this is a great way of doing so. I want to show people how easy it is. That you can just get in your car, build it to as far as you want, and go compete.

Mostly, I just want young people to stop thinking SCCA is for old people and to get out and have fun with cars.