The penultimate day of competition has wrapped for the 53rd running of the Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® National Championships at Lincoln Airpark. This year’s theme is “video games,” and Thursday saw players across 40 different car classes having #funwithcars around one of two courses. Drivers now get to take a break, work on cars, and develop strategies before staging at start lines again on Friday.
An event that is winners-take-all – happening Sept. 7-11, 2026, in Nebraska’s capital city of Lincoln – will have its second set of victors Friday. However, before then, there will be a lot more action as drivers swap courses for another day of intense competition that is a Far Cry better than any video game.
Keep an eye on the final day of competition with a live, real-time audio broadcast from the East Course found here, or the West Course live audio broadcast here. Current results can also be viewed at the Solo Nats Timing webpage.
Below are short recaps from some of Thursday’s happenings on both courses.
West Course Thursday Recap
The first cars on the West Course today were Club Spec Mustangs, launching the class into its journey to its very first SCCA National Championship. David Gushwa was first on course, but by the end of the heat, it was Andrew Canak earning top billing, sitting ahead of Randy Adkins, Kristo Kukk, Ben Edmiston, and Clarke LaCelle, along with 37 other drivers in this extremely popular class. Canak’s 0.276sec lead is a good one, but this story is far from over as the class faces the faaaaast East Course for Friday’s competition.
Heat 2’s C Street competition saw nearly as many drivers as in CSM, with a margin for the lead about half that of the Mustang class. Another familiar name topped this list, too, with Julian Garfield 0.133sec ahead, leading Andrew Aul, Jack Crissey, Sean Velandia, and Brett Caine for the top five. The gap from first to fifth? 0.447sec. C Street is so competitive that you have to go as far back as 16th place before you find the driver who is exactly (to the thousandth) one second behind Garfield.
A fun one in Heat 3 (a grouping that includes SSP, CPL, DM, CSML, and CAM-C) is the battle for the first National Championship title in CAM-C. Ryan Otis leads this field, but only by 0.101sec over Dave Schotz. Jeff Wong sits in third, with Jacob Crow breaking up the Camaro party with his Mustang in fourth.
C Street Ladies in Heat 4 is beginning to look like a runaway, with Fan Shen leading the all-MX-5 class with a time nobody can touch. Her 49.731 is the only sub-50sec run in the group, giving her a 0.846sec advantage over the 10-car field. Lana Portanova is in second, with 2024 Wendi Allen Scholarship recipient Ashley Weaver fourth.
The final group of the day was Heat 5, and it saw Laney Blume dominate in G Street Ladies with a 1.59sec margin over Shanna Richardson; Robert Lewis drop the hammer in C Prepared with a 0.740sec lead over Tommy Pulliam; Jackson MacLeod grab the lead over his dad Lefty in F Modified by 0.277sec; and Nicole Wong lead Lacey Otis by 0.205sec in CAM-C Ladies.
East Course Thursday Recap
Let’s start with Heat 1, because not only were they first out on Thursday morning but D Street was just about as close as it gets. Darian Taggart is one up on the field, leading AJ Whitaker by just 0.018sec. It’s not a two-man race, though. The top 15 are within a second, with Alex Piehl, Anthony Nadeau-Poulin within a half-second of the lead, and Michael Yanase just outside. The twins are all up front – a Subaru BRZ for Taggart and Toyota GR86s for Whitaker and Piehl, but Nadeau-Poulin and Yanase follow in a BMW M3 and Honda Civic, respectively.
If we’re looking for close at the top, that honor goes to E Street Touring® Ladies. Shelby Redding put down her best time in her Honda Civic CRX on run two, but Neelu Yeoh’s third run was only 0.010sec behind.
The CAM® category is a National Championship this year, and CAM-T was first out of the box on Thursday. That makes J.J. Mallrich the first official leader in the class, with his 1999 Camaro Z28 just 0.282sec ahead of Keith Lamming’s 1968 Camaro. Lamming’s best run came on his first run, and we expect this to get exciting tomorrow. CAM Sport is shaping up to be a classic on Friday as well, where Josh Peek leads the way in his 2011 Corvette. Not by much, though as Cody Hunt is just 0.183sec behind.
They’re not really spec, but the MX-5s of C Street Touring are doing what very similar MX-5s do – but the result is in the driver’s hands. After day one, it’s Vivek Goel in front of Will Teller by just 0.123sec. Kevin Wenzel and Mike Casino are within a half second of Goel’s time, and the top nine are within a second. Friday is going to cook on the West Course.
Enjoy Lincoln Airpark Solo Nats from Afar
No matter where you are on the planet, enjoy the Solo Nats experience through the Tire Rack SCCA Solo or SCCAOfficial pages on Facebook. Fun can also be discovered on the SCCAOfficial Instagram page, and even more stuff at the SCCAOfficial TikTok page.
Additional coverage will be posted to YouTube’s SCCAOfficial page. And don’t forget to check out SCCA.com for daily articles, with multiple articles posting per day during the Solo Nationals! Also sign up for the weekly SportsCar® News newsletter if you’d like those articles to end up in your email inbox.
Photo: Ryan Otis leads the 27-car CAM-C class at the halfway point of competition as the class is poised on crowning its very first SCCA National Champion.
Photo by Jay Bonvouloir
The all-time high score record for Tetris on the original Nintendo Entertainment System is 40.2 million. So, Sports Car Club of America™ has a way to go to match that number on the game we call the Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® National Championships. That’s not to say, however, that Solo Nats doesn’t already have some impressive stats after 53 years.
Want big numbers? Going into this week, there have been 44,736 entries at Solo Nationals, gunning for 13,992 trophies and 2,852 championships. That number is clearly going up as we speak this week in Nebraska at Lincoln Airpark.
If championships are the high score equivalent, then the ultimate high score goes to Karen Babb with 21 victories. In open classes, Jeff Keisel is hoping to reset the mark today. Currently, he’s tied with John Thomas with 18 wins.
It may not be a high score yet, but Nicole Wong is on a tremendous streak of her own. She’s clearly slid down a warp zone pipe, going from zero championships to 14 in just … 14 years. That’s right – Wong is on a 14-event winning streak and is aiming for 15 in CAM-Contemporary Ladies as we speak.
And while we’re going streaking, apparently Ginette Jordan and Mark Daddio picked up a health bag because they seem unstoppable. Jordan’s National Championship on Wednesday in FSPL moved her into a tie for the most trophies of all time in Ladies Classes – matching Patty Tunnell’s 26 trophies (get well soon, Patty!).
Mark Daddio has 33 consecutive trophies – and he’s done it in 33 consecutive years. Is the 34th coming in G Street? Only time will tell.
And finally – we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the leaders among total number of quarters pumped into the machine. Call them the Pong generation or 100 percenters, but four drivers have not missed a single Solo Nationals since 1973. Those four: “Donkey Kong” Dick Berger, “Legend of Zelda” Charlie Clark, Rocky “Pac Man” Entriken, and George “Pikachu” Schweikle. All of them are back in action this week.
Watching Scores Go Up
SCCA’s Solo Nats stats are always on the move this week. Track the changes over these final two days of competition with a real time East Course live audio broadcast found here, and the West Course live audio feed here. Live results can also be monitored at the Solo Nats Timing webpage.
Further enjoy the Solo Nats fun through the Tire Rack SCCA Solo or SCCAOfficial pages on Facebook. Even more content is at the SCCAOfficial Instagram page and the SCCAOfficial TikTok page.
Additional coverage will be posted to YouTube’s SCCAOfficial page. And don’t forget to check out SCCA.com for daily articles, with multiple articles posting per day during the Solo Nationals. Also sign up for the weekly SportsCar® News newsletter if you’d like those articles to end up in your email inbox.
Photo by Jay Bonvouloir
It’s the third of four Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® National Championships competition days and a second group of competitors is out on one of two courses at Lincoln Airpark attempting to carve out a victory. Nearly 40 different classes are running in this second half of the Sept. 7-11, 2026, meetup in Nebraska’s capital city of Lincoln.
Developments from the final two days of Solo Nats action can be tracked in real time with an East Course live audio broadcast found here, and the West Course live audio broadcast here. Live results can also be monitored at the Solo Nats Timing webpage.
Special Awards Announced Wednesday Night
Wednesday evening’s party in the giant Tire Rack Event Center (TREC) tent is a big draw every year. That’s because the annual Tire Rack Solo Awards Celebration occurs at that time, which is a gathering that includes great food, beverages, comradery, laughter, and a whole bunch of fun.
The celebration is where the year’s first set of Solo Nats winners are announced and lauded. The occasion is also when recipients are announced for several major Solo Program awards.
The Heart of Solo Award was given out last night for only the third time. It recognizes those from the Solo community who have had a profound impact on their class, Region, and Solo community. Recipients will have created a welcoming environment for all and lived SCCA’s core values of excellence, service, passion, team, experience, and stewardship. The recipient for 2026 was Tom Holtof SCCA’s Lone Star Region.
Holt is an unofficial pied piper of the Road Trip Racing Team, which is better known at RTRT (pronounced “rut, rut”). He is the heart and soul of the group that arrives at Solo Nats each year from Texas and constructs the compound those competitors call HQ for the week. Equally impressive is the fact that he works on many of the RTRT cars, several of which perform quite well every year.
“I can’t thank you all enough. This is certainly unexpected,” Holt said while carefully carrying his trophy. “We’ve always had the motto that if we’re good enough for you, you’re good enough us. That applies to everyone that is here. We’d love to see you in the ‘rut, rut’ beer garden any ol’ time.”
The 2026 Driver of Eminence is Ron Williams of SCCA’s Kansas City Region. This award goes to Solo competitors who consistently demonstrated excellence behind the wheel, and an exemplary degree of sportsmanship, dedication, and unselfishness. The winner is selected by the Solo Events Board (SEB) from nominations submitted by the membership at large.
A Club member since 1994, Williams is in the Solo Nats Silver Circle with more than 25 appearances at the event. He has claimed 10 wins all told, and those victories are spread across eight different classes. On top of being a fierce competitor, he is also very involved within his Region.
“The people who have won this award just amaze me,” Williams said. “To be part of this is crazy. I appreciate it.”
The Solo Cup Award has been presented annually since 1978 and honors SCCA members who have made an outstanding contribution to the Solo events program. Winners are selected by the SEB from nominations submitted by the membership at large. The 2026 recipient is James “Jamey” McDaniel of SCCA’s Kentucky Region.
McDaniel, a Club member since 2001, has been in attendance at Solo Nats for a number of years serving as Chief of Safety. He does not compete; he just wants to be on site to help the Solo community. He’s an integral part of the huge event and his dedication is very much appreciated.
After receiving his award, McDaniel was offered the microphone to say a few words to the large crowd in attendance. Struggling to control his emotions, McDaniel simply shook his head and mumbled, “I can’t. I can’t.”
One very special moment occurred during Wednesday night’s ceremony when the Club awarded a red SCCA Solo National Championship jacket posthumously to Derek Feyerherm, the former Vice President of Operations and Development at the Chamber of Commerce and Visit Lincoln. You can read more about Feyerherm’s contributions to Solo Nats here, but he recently passed away and those within the Solo community wanted everyone to know how much he meant to them.
Accepting the honor were Visit Lincoln Executive Director Jeff Maul and Visit Lincoln Director of Sports Derek Bombeck. The framed jacket will hang in the offices of Visit Lincoln for a bit before being delivered to Feyerherm’s family.
“On behalf of Derek, Derek’s family, and all his friends and co-workers, thank you very much,” Bombeck told the crowd. “Derek put his blood, sweat and tears into everything that he did for Lincoln and Visit Lincoln. This event was no exception.”
Earlier in the week, Johnson Spirit of the Sport Award and Dick Berger Perseverance Award winners for 2026 were lauded.
The Johnson Spirit of the Sport Award is presented annually by the Royal Order of the Sheep to a member of the flock who upholds the spirited virtues of fun, camaraderie, and tomfoolery. Recipients of this award are selected annually by the three previous winners; and the co-winners in 2026 are Jeff Jacobs and Tony Savini.
Finally, the Dick Berger Perseverance Award recognizes someone each year who is undaunted by limited success over many National Championship events but keeps coming back to enjoy the camaraderie and community. The recipient of that honor for 2026 was Frank Wietharn.
Read more about Jacobs, Savini and Wietharn here.
Follow the Fun from Lincoln
Whether you’re in Lincoln or not, enjoy the fun and competition of Solo Nats through the Tire Rack SCCA Solo or SCCAOfficial pages on Facebook. Discover even more content on the SCCAOfficial Instagram page and the SCCAOfficial TikTok page.
Even more coverage will be posted to YouTube’s SCCAOfficial page. And don’t forget to check out SCCA.com for daily articles, with multiple articles posting per day during the Solo Nationals. Also sign up for the weekly SportsCar® News newsletter if you’d like those articles to end up in your email inbox.
Photo: Left to right are Solo award winners Ron Williams, James “Jamey” McDaniel, and Tom Holt
Photos by Philip Royle
