Grissom Aeroplex in Indiana rumbled with the sound of powerful machinery on Aug. 11-13, 2023, during the Tire Rack SCCA® Peru CAM/XS Challenge. The second standalone CAM/XS Challenge event of the year saw 175 entrants participate in class competition, followed by Challenge runs Sunday to see who emerged as king just north of Kokomo.

The event was hosted by SCCA’s Indianapolis Region, which also put on a wonderful awards dinner Saturday evening. The weekend’s weather was wonderful, too, as conditions were warm and sunny for all but Saturday afternoon when some decent rain fell during the second heat. But as far as the competition was concerned, that just helped keep things interesting.

Peru Performers

With 48 entrants, CAM-C had the largest field in Peru, and produced the closest finish. Sam Strano, driving a 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1, took the win by only 0.028sec over John Ward and his 2019 Chevrolet Camaro. Third was Dave Whitworth in a 2012 Ford Mustang, who beat fourth-place finisher Evan Williams and his wife’s 2013 Ford Mustang GT by only 0.008sec.

Fifth in CAM-C was Terry Neuville in a 2021 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, and David Feighner was sixth in a 2015 Ford Mustang. Karl Riggs was seventh in a 2019 Chevrolet Camaro LT, Keith Lamming eighth in a 2011 Chevrolet Camaro, and Dustin Neuville ninth in a car shared with Terry.

Tenth in CAM-C was Jeff Cox in a 2019 Ford Mustang GT500, Patrick Risse was 11th in a 2020 Chevrolet Camaro RS, Cindy Duncan was 12th in a 2021 Ford Mustang, and Chris Jacobs rounded out the trophies in 13th driving a Chevrolet Nova.

CAM-T’s 41 drivers put on quite the show, too, in what turned out to be a showcase of Chevrolet Camaros through the years. Neil Britton won that class in an ’81 Camaro by 0.809sec over a ’69 Camaro wielded by Brian Coney. Brian Harvey was third in a 2000 Camaro SS, fourth was Jon Nwanagu in a ’99 Camaro, fifth was J.J. Mallrich in a ’99 Camaro Z28, and sixth was Nicholas Zelisko in a ’00 Camaro. James Darden finished seventh in a ’99 Camaro, Donny Freise eighth in a ’71 Camaro, and Josh McDonough was ninth in an ’81 Camaro.

Rob Tarrien cut the Camaro winning streak in CAM-T by finishing 10th in a ’93 Ford Mustang Cobra, and Aaron Oberle grabbed the last CAM-T trophy by finishing 11th in a ’65 Chevrolet Chevelle.

All nine trophies in CAM-S went to Chevrolet Corvette drivers, and the 31-entrant field produced the largest margin of victory amongst the CAM classes. Kevin Keys, in a 2000 Chevrolet Corvette, took the win after a torrential downpour. His margin of victory was 1.254sec over runner-up James Elliott in a 2002 Chevrolet Corvette ZO6.

Keys also received the weekend’s Rosco Racin’ Spirit of Solo Award. Presented at all CAM Challenge events, the Rosco Racin’ Spirit of Solo Award is based on nominations from fellow competitors (with a final decision made by SCCA officials at the event), and is presented to a person who exemplifies what Solo is all about.

Third in CAM-S was Brian Regganie in another ZO6. Fourth was Mac Coyne in a 2017 Chevrolet Corvette GS, and fifth went to a 2003 ZO6 driven by Ron McManus.

Continuing the trophy rundown in CAM-S, Les Schober took sixth in an ’02 Corvette, Bea Regganie was seventh in another ZO6, eighth went to Alek Tziortzis in an ’02 ZO6, and Jae Hun Choi completed Corvette’s dominance in ninth.

The Xtreme Street A class wasn’t a runaway as Jay Bullington, in a 2014 Audi S4, got the win by only 0.433sec over a 2004 Mazda RX-8 driven by second-place finisher David Colletti. Donour Sizemore was third in a 2011 Lotus Evora, and Brandon Porambo claimed the final trophy by driving his 2001 Honda S2000 to a fourth-place finish in the 10-entrant class.

One other tight finish during the weekend came to pass in the Street Tire Index class. George Schmitt claimed victory there in a 1999 Mazda Miata. Only 0.209sec behind Schmitt was Jeffrey Darbig in a ’22 Chevrolet Camaro. Kent Weaver finished third in a ’23 Mazda Miata, and co-driver Ben Weaver finished fourth. Mark Minge was fifth in a 2017 BMW M4, Christian Berardi sixth in a 2008 BMW M3, and Dan Steele — who was Minge’s co-driver — scooped up the final trophy in seventh.

Want to dig into those classes and times? Check out the event results below.

 Class Results

Sunday Challenge Winners

Terry Neuville, in a 2021 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, took the CAM-C Challenge win by only 0.068sec over a 2019 Chevrolet Camaro 2.0 driven by John Ward. And the CAM-S Challenge was won by James Elliott in a ’02 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, who bested fellow Z06 competitor Brian Regganie by only 0.029sec for the win. The CAM-T Challenge winner was Neil Britton in an ’81 Chevrolet Camaro, who was 0.618sec faster than Brian Coney’s ’69 Camaro.

The CAM Final Challenge ended up with Britton winning. Elliott was second, and Neuville third.

In the Xtreme Street Challenge, it was Dallas Reed, in the 2005 Lotus Elise, winning by 0.162sec over the 2014 Audi S4 of Jay Bullington.

On To Lincoln

The 2023 Tire Rack SCCA CAM/XS Invitational Shootout is next on the schedule. That event will take place Sept. 2 at Lincoln Airpark in Nebraska, and it brings together some of the very best drivers from across the country. It’s also one of the events the leads up to the 50th running of the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships taking place right afterwards at the very same venue.

The Aug. 11-13 Tire Rack SCCA® Brunswick ProSolo® in Maine was the 11th of 12 events on the 2023 ProSolo calendar, which means the only remaining event is the current and future King — the Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Finale on the eve of the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships in Lincoln, NE. To no surprise, the Brunswick event held up its end of the bargain with hotly contested action and numerous popular winners.

It was a successful ProSolo debut for both the New England Region, who despite significant on-track success from its members has never hosted a ProSolo, and for the Brunswick Executive Airport, which was also hosting its first event. The weather did its part, too, with the rain mostly overnight on Saturday (though the Super Challenge was more than a little damp).

The Howard Duncan ProSolo Greenlight Fund allows two drivers from the host Region of a ProSolo to attend their first ProSolo. This weekend, NER members Jesse Deupree and Liam King were able to join in on the ProSolo shenanigans. Deupree was piloting his beautiful Caterham HPC 7 in R1, while Liam King was behind the wheel of an XP-indexed Miata in Bump. Liam also jumped in to help work the Super Challenge after another worker had to leave.

Donations made to the SCCA Foundation, which makes the Howard Duncan ProSolo Greenlight Fund possible, can be earmarked for the Greenlight Fund here.

Class Results

The key to a successful motorsports venture in any form is often seat time, and for Katie Barrett, that “time” was apparently one day. Barrett found some major speed on Sunday to leapfrog Holly Schwedler and Tamra Krystinik for the win in L1 in her first time driving an ESP-classed BMW M2.

From last to first was the story for Ken Roller this weekend, as he cleaned up some red light and DNF troubles that left him at the bottom of the sheet on Saturday morning. Roller chipped away, and finally laid down a right side run that put him 0.042sec ahead of Mark Daddio in the deep Bump class this weekend.

Rich DiMarco put an exclamation point on his STS victory with a final right side run that helped him to a 1.318sec victory over Derek White. DiMarco also earned Super Challenge Top Qualifier honors, capping an impressive driving weekend.

Complete event results can be found by clicking the link below.

 Class Results

Challenge-ing Finish

Bonus Challenge: Brian Kuehl drew into the Bonus Challenge in his SMF-classed Honda Civic out of the Street 1 index, then took advantage of cone and red-light issues from the competition to take the Bonus Challenge, with Paul Krysiak finishing second in his EP-classed Civic in the Bump class. As Kuehl and Krysiak pulled up to the line, it was hard not to notice the 33-year difference between Kuehl’s 2018 Civic and Krysiak’s 1985 Civic.

Ladies Challenge: Sometimes a Challenge win takes a little bit of luck, and sometimes it just takes time. After 15 years of competition and multiple successes, Hilary Anderson earned her first Ladies Challenge victory after a class win in Ladies 2 driving a B Street Toyota Supra. Anderson topped Katie Barrett for the victory and the points.

Super Challenge: After earning the top qualifier through class competition, DiMarco held serve and rolled through the Super Challenge bracket for his second career victory. Already driving at the top of his game, DiMarco got another boost when François Langelier caught a red light in the finals to earn the right to spray the Mazza Sparkling Wine on the podium.

Headed To Lincoln

All autocross roads lead to Lincoln, NE, and the Sept. 1-3, 2023, Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Finale. Get the info on the event here, and keep an eye on SCCA.com for an event preview and coverage as the event takes place.

The 2023 Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials Nationals Powered by Hagerty (TTN) is four days of delicious fun as you pursue your personal best lap around NCM Motorsports Park. From load-in, tech, and a tailgate party to the timed on-track fun through TrackAttacks and TrackSprints — not to mention the Hagerty Social Dinner Party and KONI Podium Celebration — it’s a sumptuous spread for all to enjoy. But there’s more. The Oct. 12-15, 2023, TTN in Bowling Green, KY, is truly a fully baked pie of motorsports excellence that’s topped with the cherry that is the Grassroots Motorsports Ultimate Track Car Challenge (UTCC), which takes place alongside this year’s TTN.

What’s the schedule, how can you partake, and how much fun is this event?

Opening Days

The excellence we talked about? The first few days of this year’s event will be as comfortable and tasty as a slice of apple pie. It’s a familiar Wednesday TTN load-in with the same painless tech procedure followed by awesome Thursday practice sessions with the evening Expo featuring backyard style BBQ and fixin’s. The difference is, this year UTCC participants will roll into NCM, too, with those drivers also welcome to take part in TTN and celebrate the weekend’s kickoff at the TTN Expo tailgate party. Strolling the paddock Thursday evening will offer a tasty sneak peek at the on-track excitement to come, and allow you to meet all the faces that will soon be behind the wheel.

Friday brings timed lapping sessions around NCM’s 3.15-mile, 23-turn Grand Full Course for all TTN competitors, with (and get this) TTN officials giving golden tickets to TTN drivers with the quickest lap times, giving them the opportunity to also compete in GRM’s UTCC competition.

Come Saturday morning, TTN drivers will spend much of the day tackling TTN’s unique TrackSprint competition.

Then on Saturday afternoon, another new spice gets added.

Taste the Difference

Following Saturday’s TTN TrackSprint sessions, UTCC enters the mix. UTCC-only participants will jump onto the Grand Full Course for two practice sessions to prepare for Sunday’s battle. TTN entrants are encouraged to watch the afternoon’s UTCC practice sessions, or wrench on their cars, relax, and party in the paddock.

There’s an important distinction to be made here: At registration, UTCC drivers can opt to also enter TTN, at which point they will compete within the TTN groups, with their times counting toward TTN and UTCC. In addition, the lucky TTN drivers who were selected on Friday to join UTCC competition will continue to compete within their TTN group. The only drivers competing in the on-track sessions noted for UTCC competitors will be drivers choosing to only compete in UTCC.

Final Dash

Sunday will see UTCC drivers take to the Grand Full Course for three timed sessions, with TTN drivers hitting the asphalt for their own two timed sessions (note: TTN drivers who are also in UTCC competition will get a third session at the end of the day that will count toward their UTCC times).

For UTCC competitors, this is their opportunity to lay down one impressive lap, as UTCC’s competition only scores their single fastest lap on Sunday. TTN’s scoring, meanwhile, is cumulative — a unique element of National SCCA Time Trials competition that highlights consistency over the course of a weekend. For that, TTN scoring will count a driver’s fastest Friday TrackAttack lap, the quickest Saturday TrackSprint run from each TrackSprint segment, and the fastest TrackAttack lap during Sunday’s sessions.

TLDR

Are you a TTN driver with a short attention span? Us too! Here’s the notes:

Quick notes for UTCC drivers with short attention spans:

Here’s what TTN + UTCC drivers need to know:

Piece of Cake!

Thirty invited competitors plus TTN’s fastest drivers make up this year’s Grassroots Motorsports Ultimate Track Car Challenge competition — it’s kinda like an exclusive meal. Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials Nationals Powered by Hagerty, meanwhile, is the burgers-n-brew backyard block party everyone’s invited to. But regardless of which competition you’re in, everyone’s there to have fun, make friends, and lay down your personal best lap time.

Want more info on each? Click the link below!

 More Info