The 50th Tire Rack SCCA® Solo National Championships is coming fast. Let’s put that into perspective: Solo Nats starts in less than two months. Yikes! Let’s put something else into perspective: So many people want to attend this year’s Sept. 5-8 National Championship event that all 1,300 entry spots sold out in about four hours. Some may have noticed that our reminder for Solo Nats registration included a vague reference to special Solo Nats Homecoming celebrations taking place during the event. It’s time to get specific.
Before that, though, mark your calendars for when this registration will open so you’re not left on the Homecoming sidelines: July 11 at 3 p.m. CT. Because just like with Solo Nats, there’s limited availability, so this one’s bound to sell out fast, too.
Be Our Guest
The 2023 Solo National Championships takes place Sept. 5-8 in Lincoln, NE. While all of the expected parties and banquets will continue as expected, the Anniversary Committee has planned one heck of a kickoff for the opening night.
On Tuesday, Sept. 5, SCCA has organized a VIP dinner at the Fire Fighters Reception Hall, located next door to Speedway Motors and the Museum of American Speed. Scheduled to start at 6 p.m. that evening, attendees will enjoy a dinner and celebration of the 50th Solo Nationals surrounded by friends. Attendees will receive a 50th Solo Nationals commemorative polo shirt, a 50th poster, coasters, and admission to the Museum of American Speed that night — all for just $95.
Attending with a spouse, partner, or friend? Additional guest tickets can be purchased for $75, which includes dinner, that evening’s museum admission, and the polo. Or for $35, your guest can join you for dinner and that evening’s special admission to the museum.
Here’s the kicker: Only 280 tickets will be available.
Act Fast!
These tickets go on sale on July 11 at 3 p.m. CT, with only 280 tickets up for grabs. Technically, ticket sales will continue through Aug. 1, but we suspect these won’t last long, so be sure to get in while the getting’s good.
Purchase Tickets
Night at the Museum
If Tuesday doesn’t work for you, or you want a more relaxed museum experience, the Museum of American Speed will be open to all Solo Nationals participants Thursday evening at no cost. Want more flexibility? Show your SCCA membership card all week for discounted admission to the Museum.
Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee was the site of the July 1-2, 2023, Tire Rack SCCA® Bristol Solo National Tour hosted by Eastern Tennessee Region. It was a topsy-turvy two days that saw 294 drivers tackle not only rain and lightning, but also some very unusual developments.
The event kicked off with a Region-hosted Friday barbecue, with Saturday seeing two delays due to lightning and a pause to patch the pavement. Despite this, drivers were able to make all of their runs, and also enjoy hot dogs and burgers grilled up by the SCCA National Staff that evening.
Saturday afternoon, around 3:30 p.m. local time, though, a protest was filed while heats were still running. The protest concerned SCCA National Solo Rules section 4.9, which states: “No person may compete who has pre-run through all or any part of the course, in or on any wheeled vehicle … . All event officials, whether competing in the event or not, must use caution to avoid individual conflict of interest situations during the event.”
The protest was based on a belief that Saturday’s course in Bristol was identical to a layout used earlier in 2023, and that a handful of drivers entered in the Bristol National Tour had indeed traversed that similar course and thus had an unfair advantage. The extremely savvy and experienced Protest Committee on site found merit to the complaint, so all Saturday times for all competitors were disallowed.
The intention of the protest process is to allow the Protest Committee to move swiftly in rendering a decision, which indeed occurred. An appeal has been filed against the original decision, which now allows for more time and consideration on the full matter.
Nonetheless, all drivers got to carve around cones with cars both days, with the three runs on Sunday being for all the marbles. Stay tuned to SCCA.com, or the SoloMatters and Tire Rack SCCA National Solo Facebook pages, for updates on the Bristol appeal process and finalized results.
Sunday’s Provisional Rundown
The situation being what it was resulted in a handful of very close finishes. For example, the nine-entrant Super Street class margin of victory was 0.009sec with third and final runs making the difference. Laurence Casey was victorious there in a Porsche GT3, followed by a Tesla Model 3 driven by Mark McCrary. Dave Becker, driving a Chevrolet Corvette, finished third.
E Street was also decided by final runs on course. George Schmitt, in a Mazda Miata, won that 19-driver class by 0.070sec over Eric Peterson in a Toyota Spyder. Just 0.017sec back in third was Timothy Maxey in another Mazda. Robert Carpenter and Scott Bourne, both in Mazda Miatas, finished fourth and fifth. Rounding out the trophy positions in sixth was Kevin Lindley, who was co-driving with Peterson.
Keeping the “all or nothing third run” theme of the day was Street Touring® Roadster. The margin of victory there was only 0.061sec in the 17-driver class. Jacob Glover emerged victorious in a Mazda Miata. Marcus Pyne was second, Josh Luster third, Trevor Blackwell fourth, and Tim Aro fifth in a class dominated by Mazda MX-5s and Miatas.
The largest class of the weekend, also dominated by Mazda MX-5s and Miatas, was C Street with 24 drivers. Rob Clark won that class by 0.238sec over co-driver Will Teller, with both men turning their best times on final runs. Christian Kolmers was third, Will King fourth, Jack Crissey fifth, and David Prather was sixth. Andrew Aul closed out the final trophy position in seventh.
The Ladies Street Tire Bump class had a dozen entrants, and the top two finishers turned their best times on third and final drives through Sunday’s course. Hilary Anderson, in a Chevrolet Corvette Z06, came out on top by 0.757sec over Melissa Fehr in a Porsche Boxster S. Emily Brown was only 0.063sec back in third driving a Scion, and Megan Fehr was fourth co-driving with her mother, Melissa.
Provisional Results
Three More for July
The 2023 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour gets no rest as the July 7-9 stop in Packwood, WA, is this upcoming weekend. That’s followed by the July 14-16 Tire Rack SCCA Chicago Solo National Tour taking place at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL; and then the July 28-30 Tire Rack SCCA Finger Lakes Solo National Tour taking place in Romulus, NY, at the former Seneca Army Depot.
Registration is open for some of these events leading up to the 50th Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships taking place Sept. 5-8 in Nebraska at Lincoln Airpark. Check the Solo National Tour webpage for more details.
