The good news is that this little goat rope we call the (Wild, Wild West-themed) Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® National Championships that takes place annually at Lincoln Airpark (in Nebraska’s capital city) remains the single most popular motorsport event of its kind in the world, with a crowd of 1,300 drivers returning this Sept. 3-6, 2024.

The flip side to that level of popularity is that the event sold out — once again — in just a couple of hours, like every cattle drive we’ve ever been part of. If you weren’t a part of the initial wave of signees, this article doesn’t matter to you much, other than to say you need to be faster on the draw next year.

But if this isn’t your first rodeo, the last remaining question is “when do I need to leave the homestead to tame this wilderness?” We now have that answer, as the event’s run/work order has been announced.

We also have info on several other gatherings at the Solo Nats you won’t want to miss.

When do I Run/Work?

Whether your job in between driving your personal wagon train is slingin’ slop in the timing trailer or snagging cones as a trailblazer, you can now see if you’ll be doing it early in the morning or just before the supper whistle blows.

Regardless of whether you cowboy’d up as one of the 63 D Street entries, or you branded yourself as one of the 33 drivers in the Club Spec category, it’s all here for you to see.

The link below will help you determine when you’ll be arriving on site, when you’ll lace those boots up tight, and when you’ll yarn the night away. Just follow the trail!

Solo Nats Run/Work Order

When do we Celebrate?

Now you know when you’ll be competing and working, but regardless of that, you’ll also want to pencil Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings into your calendar.

Monday’s festivities kick off at 3:30 p.m. CT on Sept. 2 with the Solo Town Hall, with the Welcome Party Opening Ceremony and Chuckwagon Challenge Block Party jumping into action on site at 4:30 p.m., both at the Tire Rack Barn — er, Tire Rack Event Center. This year we’re doing something different for the Welcome Party and you won’t want to miss it — the gathering that starts with a happy hour at the Tire Rack Event Center quickly becomes the Chuckwagon Challenge Block Party featuring seven food and beverage stops down Main Street (i.e.: the lower paddock).

Those stops include:

Those cowpokes who’ve been to Lincoln before know that Wednesday evening is the Solo awards ceremony and recognition of the first set of Solo National Champions. This celebration is held on-site at the same big, fun Tire Rack tent as the Welcome Party.

Winner celebrations for those competing on Thursday/Friday will take place at the end of the day on Friday before you ride off into the sunset.

Schedule of Activities

April 1, 2014, was no ordinary April Fool’s Day — it marked the first day of employment for Heyward Wagner as part of the Sports Car Club of America® staff. A decade later, Wagner has now been promoted to Vice President, Rally/Solo® and Experiential, recognizing his accomplishments in bringing #funwithcars to all automotive enthusiasts.

Prior to joining the national staff, Wagner was a lifetime member, a Region leader, and a member of the National Solo field staff. Once on board, and with the support of current Sr Manager of Experiential Programs, Jennifer McAbee, he led the team that launched the Track Night in America Driven by Tire Rack (TNiA) program, which has since seen more than 80,000 entries hit the racetrack. Developments through Track Night proved a new SCCA model for motorsports events with a focus on teamwork, coaching, and fun. Those elements were then instrumental in the relaunch of SCCA’s Time Trials program, where Wagner partnered with Jon Krolewicz to create the Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials National Tour Powered by Hagerty competition series.

In addition to leading the Experiential Department, Wagner also led the Marketing Department from 2017 through 2020, including the hiring of Kristen Poole. With Poole assuming leadership of the Club’s Marketing Department in 2021, Wagner returned focus to programs, accepting the role of Senior Director, Rally/Solo and Experiential Programs.

In the marketing role, Wagner pushed the ease of access and fun mindset born from Track Night to the Club’s overall image, ultimately leading to the “#funwithcars” hashtag being adopted as the primary tagline for the Club. This hashtag — which is still used by the Club today — sets the tone for enjoyment alongside competition results when it comes to entering SCCA events.

Since becoming the Club’s Senior Director, Rally/Solo and Experiential Programs, in 2020, Wagner has faced challenges head-on, including a reset of the ProSolo series and the COVID-19 forced cancellation of the 2020 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships. In addition, Wagner recruited Brian Mason to lead the National Solo Series and transitioned Rick Myers into the Director of Solo role.

“To continue to grow the Club and achieve our mission, all of us must work toward lowering barriers of entry and creating more access while delivering great experiences through SCCA programs, SCCA President and CEO Mike Cobb said. “Through efforts like TNiA, the reinvigorated Time Trials program, and many others, Heyward has demonstrated that he understands how to solve for these challenges — and importantly, the participation and experience scores from these efforts certainly back this up. At the end of the day, leadership is about making something happen with and through others that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Heyward definitely makes things happen, understands the power of Team, and the need to engage key partners in support of core initiatives. These are just three of the reasons he is being promoted to Vice President, Rally/Solo and Experiential Programs”

Wagner’s vision for the future of the programs he oversees does not prioritize sweeping changes. Rather, he feels the more important work to be done should be focused on incremental improvements.

“We have worked really hard over the last decade to build the foundations for strong programs in the Club,” Wagner said. “As we look toward the future, I’m most interested in making improvements to the overall experience for our members, both current and future. The next changes will be gradual but meaningful.”

He also plans to continue a personal trend that began this year. “I’ve been doing more driving at SCCA events than in the past,” he said. “I look forward to continuing that.”

Betty Harrison’s introduction to SCCA® came in a roundabout way that is both unique and familiar. She had a horse, and a friend of hers who also had a horse was married to an SCCA racer. Her friends and another racing couple arranged a blind date for Harrison with a fellow who was also a racer. She says, “It just snowballed from there.”

Not someone who can just sit around, Harrison was soon torquing wheels and reminding her beau to set his tire pressures — she became a crew member during the second race she attended with him, joining SCCA in 1998.

When her husband, who holds a four-digit SCCA member number, stopped racing, he began working as a Steward. Again, not someone who can just sit around, Betty also looked for ways to remain involved with the SCCA, and she found Registration. Little did she know that in 2023, she would be recognized as SCCA’s Registration Worker of the Year, presented by Mazda.

When she began working Registration, around 2000, she was working in Germantown, MD, and living in Annapolis. Germantown was about halfway between Annapolis and Summit Point, so she would go from her day job to the track on Friday evening to work registration. At a time when paddock passes were quite limited, working registration came with a paddock pass, so she could get her car into the track.

“Then I discovered that I liked Registration,” she said. “I liked working with the people, I liked seeing everyone come in. That’s kind of how it got started. I’ve really enjoyed working Registration. It allows a better interface with the drivers and all the volunteers in the other specialties. Grid sees the drivers on the grid, Tech sees them in tech, and Timing & Scoring usually doesn’t see them unless there’s an issue — neither do the Stewards. But they all have to come through Registration.”

Harrison has done a multitude of jobs within SCCA — she has a Divisional Pit & Grid license and has worked Tech. But, again, she’s not one to just sit around. Consequently, when she finishes Registration on Saturday morning, she heads to Timing & Scoring, where she spends the rest of the weekend.

“That’s where I learned how much of an impact Registration has on T&S — if a driver’s registration isn’t correct, it impacts T&S,” she said. “One of the things I’ve tried to do is to give T&S the best quality data I can give them.”

Betty does this so the tower has the complete information about who they should be seeing on track, and that attention to detail (among many other things) is what earned her SCCA’s Worker of the Year award.

Her need to stay busy has certainly been a boon to Washington DC Region and the SCCA.