Can you imagine what it was like to be at the first Time Trials event the Sports Car Club of America ever had? That event was part of the Club’s “Summer Meet” in July of 1945, held at Thompson Speedway.
We can’t give you a time machine, but we can invite you to be a part of the 75th anniversary celebration!
The Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials National Tour Powered by Hagerty is hosting a Time Trials event July 3-4 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, and trust us when we tell you that’s it going to be a heck of a lot better than the original.
How could coming to this event, in 2020, be better than the first Time Trials event that the SCCA ever had? Let’s compare.
Availability: Let’s start with who this event is for. The SCCA’s modern Time Trials program is one of the easiest ways to get on track. Have a car and a helmet? Congratulations, you are eligible. In 1945? You needed a sports car to even become an SCCA member. And when we say “sports car,” well, you’re looking at a Bugatti or a Rolls, most often. Cool? Well, of course. But we feel like a field full of Corvettes, Miatas, Civics, minivans and taxi cabs is much more fun.
Advantage: 2020 Time Trials
Format: The 2020 version of Time Trials is pretty much just two days of driving as fast as possible. There are practices on the full 1.7-mile full course, Time Attack sessions, and a TrackSprint-where competitors will run just a portion of the track from a standing start. The best lap from two scored Time Attack sessions plus the best TrackSprint time will be the driver’s weekend score. Back in 1945? It was a lap around the half-mile oval (the road course wasn’t finished yet), and everyone knew Weaver’s Bugatti was going to be quickest. And that was before he installed the 91.5 cubic inch blown Miller straight eight, which they all knew was going to make it even quicker. Then, they ran quarter-miles from a standing start, where Weaver wiped the floor again with the field.
Advantage: 2020 Time Trials.
Cars: In 2020, any well-maintained car is allowed. There will most certainly be a variety. In 1945, it sounds cool to mention the Bugatti, or the Rolls Royce Ghost, or the Mercer Raceabout. But put them on track together, and the 90 horsepower at 3800 rpm that Weaver’s Bugatti pulled from his 151 class Peerless marine racing engine with four-cylinder single over-head camshaft unit doesn’t sound so impressive.
Advantage: 2020 Time Trials, by far, on speed alone. We’ll give partial credit to the fact that if the 1945 cars showed up, we’d probably wander over and see what was happening.
People: This isn’t even close. The 1945 SCCA members were a stuffy bunch, with rules that make their club look nothing like our 2020 version. Only six members participated in the time sessions, and not many more were in attendance. Compare that to the fun about to be had by more than 100 at this July’s Time Trial Nationals, and the modern-day crowd wins again!
Advantage: 2020 Time Trials.
Food and Beverage: Typically during a Time Trials event, we have a large barbecue and beverages that add to the event. While we’re still trying to figure out how this can happen while we social distance, we know that even the 1945 event had some issues. From the July/August SportsCar Magazine: “After an unsuccessful attempt to obtain lunchion at the nearby “Russian Bear,” where we were very shabbily treated…” Even that group had an issue!
Advantage: 2020 Time Trials, probably. We guarantee you won’t be “very shabbily treated.”
The Club has come a long way since then. The events have taken on more of a focus; they’re a bit more refined. But at the end of the day, the Club is still about having fun with cars-though we may be a little less stuffy now than we were then.
We’re thankful for those founding members and the culture they began to organize. That spirit remains even as it has evolved and grown, and with any luck and even more passion, we’ll tell the story of this event and others like it in another 75 years. Want to be a part of it? You still can!
Click here for information on the Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials National Tour Powered by Hagerty at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, including registration details.
Words by Matt Wolfe
The first step on the path to the 2020 DirtFish SCCA RallyCross® Nationals will be taken this weekend as competitors from across the country flock to the Ross County Fairgrounds in Chillicothe, OH for the 2020 DirtFish SCCA RallyCross National Tour Great Lakes Challenge. This event should serve as a great preview for who will be the favored to win National Championships at Road America in August. Last year, washout conditions forced the event to be cut short after just one day of competition. With a full field of cars and a plethora of former national champs filling the entry list, everyone will be hoping for fairer skies.
One of the best battles to watch this weekend should be in Modified Rear Wheel Drive, where 2019 National Champion Brianne Corn will be going head to head with another former national champ, John W. England. Prepared Front Wheel Drive should be another tight battle with one of the largest entry counts and a field comprised of three former national champions. The finishing order for this class is anyone’s guess. Three-time champ Leon Drake will be representing the southern states in his Honda “C-R/X”, while five-time champion Warren Elliot will be carrying the torch for the New England region in His Mini Cooper S. 2017 Stock Front national champ Matt Wolfe is also in the field, along with a gaggle of cars from the Detroit Region.
Modified Front Wheel Drive is also an impressive field for this event. Multi-time champ and Ohio Valley Region’s own ZB Lorenc is leaving his all-wheel drive car at home and hopping in his Volkswagen GTI for this event. Also in the field is Washington D.C. Region’s resident ringer Andy Thomas, who had a decisive win in MF at this event last year. Other notables on the entry list this weekend include the 2019 Stock All Wheel Drive national champ Josh Armantrout in a Ford Focus RS and longtime Stock Front Wheel Drive frontrunner Chang Ho Kim in his trusty Acura Integra Type R.
Though Ohio’s stay-at-home order expired back in May, the hosting region is still taking plenty of precautions to help make competitors feel at ease while on site. “We have room for camping for everybody”, said event registrar John England. “We are renting a 5000 square foot open air shelter if you want to have a socially distant dinner there Friday night. There will also be a food vendor on site with breakfast, lunch and dinner options.”
The event kicks off on Friday, June 26 with tech and registration opening at 4 pm. The course will be open for walking at 6 pm followed by a run order drawing at 7 pm. Class inspection will take place the following morning at 8 am with the first car off slated for at 9:30 am. Online registration closes Wednesday, June 24, at 11:50 pm EDT.
As SCCA’s most widespread and readily accessible form of extreme motorsport, RallyCross is a scaled-down version of a rally stage laid out on a non-paved plot of land where the course is delineated by traffic cones instead of trees or rocks. Participation requirements are considerably less than those associated with other forms of performance rally, so drivers usually only need a mechanically sound, hardtop vehicle and a helmet to come play in the dirt.
The 2020 Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo® series continued this past weekend in Concord, NC for the 2020 Tire Rack SCCA Charlotte ProSolo. Over the two-day event, 198 drivers took to the mirrored Sam Strano-designed courses. While rain threatened the entire weekend, competition wasn’t halted for weather until Saturday afternoon when the Super Challenge was cancelled due to multiple lightning delays. Super Challenge awards will be distributed based on Challenge Qualification Seeding, as outlined in the SCCA ProSolo rules.
The indexed Classic American Muscle class boasted a robust class of 37 drivers. Trophy winners ranged from a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro to a 2017 Chevrolet Corvette and represented three tire manufacturers. Steve Waters took the early lead in the 2017 Corvette, but co-drivers Justin and Eric Peachey took over the top two positions, with Justin taking the win over Eric by 0.238 second. Waters finished 0.426 second back, standing on his best Friday afternoon runs. In fourth and fifth, Randy Adkins and Berry Langley took the spots respectively, separated by just 0.007 second. Keeping up the close competition, Eric Simmons was only 0.014 second behind in sixth. Matt Colley, Adam Schoonmaker, James Thomas and Keith Lamming claimed the remaining trophies in seventh through 10th, just a 0.086 second spread over the four drivers. After finishing out of the trophies in class competition, Ted Collier went on to win the CAM Challenge.
The second largest class of the weekend was Street 1, an indexed class of everything from F Street Prepared to Super Street Modified Two Wheel Drive cars. Pro racer Tom O’Gorman took a narrow lead early in a 2006 BSP-prepped Honda S2000 over Randall Wilcox in a 1996 SSM Mazda Miata. It looked like O’Gorman would hold on as both drivers found comparable time on nearly every run, but on his last run, Wilcox found the last bit of time needed and took the win by a 0.024-second margin. Despite never holding the lead throughout the weekend, Matthew Glagola claimed the third trophy position just 0.074 second behind O’Gorman. Co-drivers Geoffrey Zimmer and Steven Duckworth claimed the fourth and fifth trophies respectively in the FSP 1977 Volkswagen Rabbit. Eric Anderson claimed the sixth and final trophy position despite missing his Saturday morning runs.
Solo Spec Coupe appeared to be divided early based on those who had practice on the new Falken Azenis RT660 spec tires, with GH Sharp taking the early lead. The rest of the pack caught onto the increased grip and forgiving nature of the new tire though, and Tyler Kvetko claimed his first class win by 0.231 second over Tony Savini. Jonathan Warlof and Peter Jawarski claimed the remaining trophies in third and fourth respectively, with Sharp finishing just out of the trophies in fifth.
In the Ladies classes, both winners made comebacks to take commanding victories. In L1, it was Tamra Krystinik–fighting a fuel starve issue–who came back to win by 1.469 seconds in her DSP-prepped Mazda RX-8. In L2, Laura Marcus overcame red lights on the left side to take a 2.595-second margin of victory. Marcus then went on to claim the Ladies Challenge win in her 2020 Toyota Supra. Her husband, David, won B Street (2WD) by his own commanding margin, 1.084 seconds, earning Top Qualifier honors for the Super Challenge. Due to the cancellation of that element of the event, he was also named the Super Challenge Top Eliminator.
Just before the rain began, the eight-driver Bonus Challenge took to the course. The final matchup came down to Lisa Keyes from Street 4 and David Spratte from SSC. After breaking out in the first round, Spratte trailed Keyes after their first runs of the pairing, but a DNF by Keyes helped Spratte bring home the victory along with a free entry to a future event.
Complete results from the 2020 Tire Rack SCCA Charlotte ProSolo can be found here.
The Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo season continues this weekend, June 26–28, from Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, KS. More information about this event and the 2020 ProSolo season can be found here.
