Eagles Canyon Raceway (ECR) may not be the most famous of the Texas tracks, but the 15-turn, 2.7-mile layout is always a hit amongst the Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials National Tour Powered by Hagerty attendees — and the April 23-24, 2022, event was no exception.

As to be expected, Texas was Texas — unpredictable, windy, cold, warm, and rainy, all within 48 hours. ECR management and the facility has embraced this event, however, and with the blessing of the workers, Sunday’s schedule was adjusted so that each of the 57 competitors got one Time Attack session in the dry before Sunday’s storms rolled in.

ECR Competition Snapshot

Larry Waterman, driving a Chevrolet Corvette in Max 1, took king of the hill for the weekend’s quickest lap — but only barely. His 2:02.971 on the first day barely topped Tom Bergeron (not the television host) in a Sport 1-classed Corvette with a time of 2:02.990. Those runs boosted both to class wins in the event.

The closest battle of the weekend came in Tuner 2. Brian Matteucci held a slight advantage over Chris Weelock on the full circuit, but Weelock found nearly a half-second in the TrackSprint. At the finish, Mateucci’s Corvette was an aggregate 0.383sec ahead of Weelock’s ‘Vette to clinch the class win.

Below are the top five finishers from ECR with name, class, car, and overall time:

  1. Larry Waterman, M1, Chevrolet Corvette, 5:01.815
  2. Mark Poling, M3, Porsche 911, 5:02.587
  3. Tom Bergeron, S1, Chevrolet Corvette, 5:03.330
  4. Brian Phillips, M1, Chevrolet Corvette, 5:04.266
  5. Ryan Harness, S2, Ford Mustang, 5:08.886

Complete event results can be found here.

More Texas Achievements

Following Sunday’s KONI Podium Celebration, the traditional Time Trials Superlatives were also handed out.

Tom Harness, second in T1, took the top Novice award for his final combined time of 5:36.024 in his Ford Mustang.

Jeff Velker was Most Improved, attributing much of his whopping six-second improvement from Saturday to Sunday on the full course to the TrackSprint, which helped him find time through that particular section of the course in his Porsche Cayman.

The Spirit of Time Trials award goes to a participant who embraces the idea and themes of the Time Trials program, and while the Eagles Canyon award went to Daniel Moore, it was a team effort. Moore was ready to pack up on Saturday following a blown head gasket on his Honda Civic, but with assistance from Mat Beck and Jim Rowland, Moore was back on track to finish the event after an overnight repair, running all day Sunday.

The Time Trials Champion award is not for performance on the track, but for those who promote and make the event happen. Taylor Burnidge has been to every Time Trials event at ECR to help out, making the TrackSprint portion of the event his own and jumping over to the grid in between. His dedication to the program, both at the National level and within his own Texas Region, makes him an overall champion of the Time Trials program.

The Granddaddy of Them All

Up next for the Time Trials National Tour program is the big boy — the one that started it all — the Tire Rack Time Trials Nationals Powered by Hagerty at NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, KY. The keystone event is four days of Time Trials action, elevating the Time Trials National Tour to an event unlike any other on the tour. An impressive 174 drivers are already on the entry list for the May 12-15, 2022, event, which features more track time, more competition, and more fun than any event on the calendar.

The SCCA Solo National Tour program held its fourth event of the 2022 Tire Rack SCCA National Tour points series last weekend at the popular Crows Landing site in California. More than 180 drivers recorded runs during the April 22-24 competition, held under beautiful blue skies with temperatures into the 80s both days.

Crows Landing is known for its huge layout and incredibly grippy concrete surface, typically providing open, fast, and flowing circuits. This event was no different, and came equipped with the traditional barbecue at the welcome party hosted by San Francisco Region.

A Glimpse At The Competition

Brian Heitkotter and Teddie Alexandrova stepped into Don Lew’s Porsche Cayman GT4 and walked away with Super Street and Super Street Ladies class wins. The experience was so good, it had them both publicly wondering how many jobs it would take to purchase a Cayman of their own. Luckily for the rest of the SS class, the answer appears to be “too many — for now.”

Glen Hernandez made a big second-day move to take the lead and Street Touring™ Xtreme win away from Alex Peraskevas by 0.402sec in his Subaru BRZ. The pair had nearly identical times on the first day, with Hernandez quicker in each of his final two runs to grab that top spot.

Keeping it calm, cool, and collected, Garrett Cogburn won D Street by the book — laying down his quickest times each day on his third and final runs. His final run moved him ahead of Mark Scroggs for the class victory.

Though the class was small, Jeff Smith deserves a special recognition for his performance in Xtreme Street B. Driving in his first National Solo event, Smith took the class win in his Mazda Miata.

Points Chase Update

With four of the first 10 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tours in the books, the season-long points chase is taking shape as an individual’s three best-scoring performances count towards the season total.

Points are awarded on a performance-based scale using the following formula: 100 — (900 x ((Entrant’s Time — Class Winning Time) / (Class Winning Time)). Drivers must attend September’s Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships in Nebraska to be eligible for year-end points recognition. However, results at the Solo National Championships will not count towards the points totals. Rather, finishes at the National Championship event will be used as tiebreakers.

Learn more about the scoring system here. You can track the points race throughout the Solo National Tour season here. (Note: Points are usually updated a few days after each event.)

Back To Center

The Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour moves away from the coasts for a few events, beginning with the May 6-8 Tire Rack SCCA South Texas Solo National Tour at Naval Air Station Chase Field in Beeville, TX. That gives way to the ever-popular Solo Nationals prep event: the spring event at Lincoln Airpark on May 29-30, which annually draws a huge, talented crowd. Online registration has already begun for both of these dates, so check the Solo National Tour webpage for more information.