GREENWOOD, Neb. (Oct. 5, 2014) – The SCCA RallyCross® National Championships concluded this weekend at the I-80 Speedway, near Greenwood, Nebraska. National Championship titles were awarded in nine classes with a record number of competitors.
A record-setting 110 drivers made the trip to the I-80 Speedway for their chance to take home top honors at the season-ending RallyCross event of 2014. The previous record was 104 entrants at the 2012 event in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Classes included are those for stock, prepared and modified cars – each of which is further grouped by front-, rear- and all-wheel drive vehicles.
The Nebraska Region SCCA, the host for this event, oversaw the creation of three courses in the large, dirt parking area owned by the speedway. The courses were designed by Kris Martison, Charles Wright and Brianne Corn. Due to extreme rainfall in the Greenwood area during the preceding three weeks, the competition site was waterlogged pushing course building procedures back. The delay meant that completion got underway latter than schedule.
Conditions during the event were chilly, with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees both days, under dry and clear conditions with a strong breeze on Saturday.
Three run groups took three runs on the Martison-designed course for Saturday’s morning runs. The exception was the Modified AWD class that had their final run thrown out due to a competitor protest. The two runs scheduled for Saturday afternoon on the Wright-designed layout ran long, and was concluded on Sunday morning. Yeomen work was done in switching to the Corn-designed course to finish the two runs, which concluded the event.
The Stock classes were the first to make their final runs of the event. In Stock FWD, Micah Nickelson (Dodge Neon), of Jackson, Missouri, took home his first RallyCross National Championship. Nickelson was not the fastest driver during his first two runs of the event, but turned it on during his remaining five runs, propelling him to the class win.
“This is just a lot of fun,” Nickelson said. “Coming out here and tearing it up like this is just a lot of fun. The competition was great. John Hardy and I were going back and forth throughout the weekend. We just kept battling and pulled off the win.”
In Stock RWD, Patryk Matecki (Bristol Brewing/Shorai Lithium Mazda Miata), of Monument, Colorado, was the quickest driver in only three of his runs, but that was all that he needed to secure his title by a 1.968-second margin.
“It’s been a long road to get here, but at the end of the day it was a pleasant experience,” Matecki said. “We had a lot of fun. We also had some struggles, but it worked out pretty well. In the trek from Colorado, we hit some bad weather. We also had to overcome some mechanical problems. But in the end, everything ended up pretty well.”
Charles Wright (teamTAC.org Mitsubishi Evolution), of Decatur, Alabama, defended his Stock AWD title from all comers, including his son Shelton – a RallyCross National Champion in his own right. Wright was not dominating on the time sheet, but made clean runs giving him the National Championship by 2.706 seconds.
“It’s always exciting to win a National Championship,” Wright said. “This is my second win, which is really cool. My son was leading until the last run, and had some issues. Our Evo was able to soak up the bumps pretty well, allowing me to turn some good times.”
Brian DeFrees (Honda Civic Si), of Austin, Texas, captured the win in Prepared FWD. While not flying out of the gates in his first run, DeFrees stepped it up for his remaining six runs winning by 4.626 seconds.
“I was convinced by my co-driver, Seth Lemke, to come to this event,” DeFrees said. “The deal was that if he bought snow tires that he could use my car at the National Championships. I wasn’t planning on running this event, but we made it happen. It ended up really well for us, snow tires for the win.”
In Prepared RWD, Sam Henry (Springfield Dyno/SafeRacer Mazda Miata), of Republic, Missouri, was the fastest driver in all but two of his seven runs. When the dust settled Henry scored the National Championship by a margin of 4.754 seconds.
“This is my fourth RallyCross National Championship in a row,” Henry said. “It was really exciting to get this win. This site was quite a bit different than what we’re used to in Oklahoma. The dirt was a little loamy, resulting in more grip. The car worked well and we were able to put together a strong finish. Also, I want to be sure to thank Mazda and SCCA for their support of this event.”
Jake Blevins, of Englewood, Colorado, took home the Prepared AWD win in his Subaru Impreza. He made a statement in his opening run by setting a quick time in his early run. From there on he did enough to secure his title by 1.160 seconds.
“This is a huge win for me,” Blevins said. “Folks kept telling me I couldn’t win in a non-turbo car, but we were able to prove them wrong. I feel like we have the best region, back in Colorado, which has allowed me to become a better driver since we have such strong competition. My dad has also been very supportive by coming out and racing with me and making sure we get to all the races, together.”
In Modified FWD, Kent Hamilton (EMC Engineering Honda Civic), of Anchorage, Alaska, threw down two blazing laps early in the event. From there, it became all about sustaining his momentum, which he was able to ride to a National Championship by a narrow 0.360-second gap.
“It’s been two years since I have competed at Nationals,” Hamilton said. “It’s been great to come back and see all my friends again. RallyCross is really like a family. We had to replace axles when we got here, but we were able to come away with the win. This was really and awesome class with some great competition.”
Evan Arthur, of Columbus, Ohio, drove his MAZDASPEED/ORI Mazda Miata to a 0.022-second win in Modified RWD. In a give-and-take battle with Will McDonald, Arthur won his first RallyCross National Championship.
“Last year, I was in first until the last day and then got bumped to second,” Arthur said. “This year I wanted it really badly and just kept pushing hard and it was a great result. I had to really push myself while also making clean runs. Sometimes when I am pushing like that it gets a little hairy, but I was able to put it together.”
Warren Elliott (Hale Motorsports Mitsubishi Evo IX), of East Haddam, Connecticut, sealed the deal in Modified AWD. From his opening run, Elliott was the class leader but needed to battle hard in order to secure his fourth consecutive National Championship.
“I come here to win and work really hard at this,” Elliott said. “The competition is incredibly difficult. I wasn’t able to lead through the entire event. I was up and down throughout the whole competition. I was behind by 0.1-second heading into the final two runs, and was able to put down a couple good runs to come away with the win.”
Additional information on the SCCA RallyCross National Championship, an entry list and full results, can be found by clicking here.
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2014 RallyCross National Championship
