Day One Done — The first day of competition has wrapped up at the Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® Nationals Championship in Lincoln, Nebraska. There was a little bit of a delay Tuesday afternoon as a slender line of storm clouds floated over Lincoln AirPark and dropped a little rain, as well as at least one bolt of lightning. But as usual, the Solo community soldiered on after the passing storm and we have a second set of leaders for the afternoon groups. Keith Lamming leads CAM-T, Andrea Albin leads FML, Mason Herrick leads JA, Larry MacLeod leads KM, Ben Martinez leads CM, Chris Raglin leads EP, Jennifer Bedell leads SSCL, Robert Thorne leads SSM, Katie Lacey leads CSPL, Steve OBlenes leads DSP, Win-hou Chow leads FS, Dana Gill leads KML, Matthew Ellam leads BM, Mike Johnson leads CAM-C, Shelly Monfort leads SSRL, Jadrice Toussaint leads CAM-S, Philip Mitchell leads HS, Casey Coughlin leads ESL, Devin Taylor leads ESP, Grant Reeve leads SSR, and the STRL leader is Tara Johns.
The action is scheduled to begin again in the 8 o’clock hour Wednesday morning. Follow all the action with live timing and audio at https://sololive.scca.com/, or keep track of the competition at the SoloMatters Facebook page. Event updates will also be available periodically each day at SCCA.com.
Safety First — Getting 700 or more drivers through three runs, and those same 700 or more drivers through work positions is a complicated task made all the more difficult when Zeus brings his 200-million mph , 1-billion-volt lightning bolts into play — a weather phenomenon which stops motorsports events in their tracks.
The old saying “lightning never strikes the same place twice” isn’t true, but the manic nature of where and when it does strike must be dealt with objectively and with plenty of margin of error to protect those at an autocross — especially since people are often the highest points on an otherwise flat expanse of pavement.
Much like you might find at a public pool, the guidelines involve how far away lightning is detected and how long it’s been since the most recent lightning strike. For the Tire Rack Solo Nationals, that decision rests within the Lincoln Airpark emergency plan developed specifically for SCCA Solo events. The plan covers the time and distance safety margins for lightning strikes. For the week’s event, once there has been a strike within eight miles there must be a 30-minute gap before the event can resume.
For Tuesday of the 2019 Solo Nationals, the afternoon’s first strike measured in the area was at seven miles, and luckily Zeus kept quiet thereafter and the delay was limited to 30 minutes.
Check Out the Solo Nationals Morning Show — Don’t have time to follow all the Solo Nationals action live? Want to digest the latest news from the previous day and get a peek at what to expect in the coming day? Then make sure to tune in each morning an hour before competition begins at https://www.facebook.com/sccaofficial/ for our live Solo Nationals Morning Show. Not only do we recap the previous day’s action and look forward to what’s to come, but we also have special guests such as Mike King, SCCA’s next Director of Solo and Rally. It’s only on our Facebook page, so tune in each morning! And if you miss the live morning broadcast, the show is archived on Facebook for you to go back and watch later.
The Tuesday Morning Set — Morning runs have produced our first set of leaders at the Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® Nationals Championship. Sue Eckles leads CML, Billy Davis leads CSP, Zak Kiesel leads FM, Olivia Hammac leads JB, Deana Kelley leads SSML, John Price leads FSAE, Denise Cashmore leads FSL, Adam Benaway leads SSC, Bartek Borowski leads ES, Laney Blume leads HSL, Todd Roberts leads DP, Nicole Wong leads ESPL, and STR is led by Mark Shrivastava. Follow all the action with live timing and audio at https://sololive.scca.com/, or keep track of the competition at the SoloMatters Facebook page. Event updates will also be available periodically each day at SCCA.com.
More Car, More Fun — Needless to say, you’ll find a wide range of car makes and models at the Tire Rack Solo Nationals. Of the nearly 1,300 entries anticipated this year, 18 percent are Mazdas, 17 percent GMs or Chevrolets, 11 percent Hondas and Fords, and 9 percent are Toyotas. What you don’t see a lot of are station wagons, but that’s exactly what Chris and Jack Heideman, members of SCCA’s Great Lakes Region, brought to Lincoln with them. The 1967 Ford Falcon Wagon was found in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and a lot of “go fast” parts have been added to the vehicle competing this week in the CAM-T class.
“This thing is so much fun,” Jack said about the car has he prepared to make another pass Tuesday on the Solo Nats East Course. “It’s different and it’s an animal to drive.”
Talking Courses — As usual, the competitors at the Tire Rack Solo National Championships will make runs each of two days with the best time from each day counting towards the final results. The courses are officially known as east and west, but lovingly called the plane side or the corn side to refer to the Lincoln Airport runways bordering the east of the site, and the cornfields which cradle the setting sun on the opposite side.
Jason Frank Designed the 25-input West Course made up of tricky mixed-radius sweepers with “better get it right” slaloms keeping drivers — and the rear ends of cars — on their toes. That course is paired with the busier East Course where course-designer Michael Feldpusch combined rhythm-challenging 90-degree corners, fast narrow transitions and 31 direction changes and a hang-it-out switchback finish to put an exclamation point on each run.
Roughly 350 drivers will tackle each course each day this week to crown the 2019 SCCA Tire Rack National Champions.
Only Once a Year — The annual assembly of Sports Car Club of America® Solo competitors at Lincoln AirPark in Nebraska has begun as the 47th running of the Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® Nationals Championship is underway! Right around 1,300 entries are anticipated this year with competitors coming from all four corners of the continental United States, as well as Hawaii, Alaska and several Canadian provinces. The action gets started in the 8 o’clock hour each morning Central Time on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week. Follow all the action Sept. 3-6 with live timing and audio at https://sololive.scca.com/, or keep track of the competition at the SoloMatters Facebook page. Event updates will also be available periodically each day at SCCA.com.
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome! — It is tradition for Tire Rack Solo Nationals activities to formally commence Monday night with a welcome party, AKA: Tacos & Talent presented by Lincoln Visitor’s Bureau and featuring the Grassroots Motorsports Magazine/BFGoodrich Tires Talent Show. A handful of resilient, volunteer cooks braved scorching heat produced by nearly 400 pounds of charcoal spread across four grills to prep 3,000 beef and chicken tacos. A hungry throng filled the 40’x120′ Big Fun Tent to wolf down the grub, which included plenty of rice and refried beans. To top off the feast, partygoers hovered over two large kiddie pools filled with cans and bottles of adult beverages. The revelry continued into twilight as various SCCA members presented their talents on stage. There were several interesting and energetic, but it was David Finchum who took home the grand prize — a set of BFGoodrich Tires — after two “fearless” presentations.
Now, Four Days of Competition — The Tire Rack Solo Nationals is broken up into two halves. One huge group of drivers competes across various vehicle classes on Tuesday and Wednesday, then another massive group of drivers competes in a whole different set of classes on Thursday and Friday. That means the first group of 2019 Solo Nationals Champions will be named Wednesday night, and the second group on Friday night. A list of the different classes, and the days they will be competing, can be found here. However, a couple groups to watch in the Tuesday/Wednesday field include F Street (FS), E Street (ES), Super Street R (SSR), Solo Spec Coupe (SSC) and Solo Spec Coupe Ladies (SSCL), and CAM-C is always fun to watch with its classic vehicles.
