2021 Tire Rack National Solo Schedule Takes Shape

The year 2021 is not far off, which means it’s time to start thinking about YOUR plans to compete in Tire Rack SCCA National Solo events! So, let’s get those calendars out and start marking the dates and locations that are known at this time where you’ll be back with friends and having #funwithcars at various events held across the country.

Highlights for the coming National Solo season — comprised of Tire Rack ProSolo, Tire Rack Championship Tour and Tire Rack CAM Challenge events — include ProSolo’s return to four sites that have produced very successful events in recent years. And for Champ Tour, contestants will open the season for the 15th time at the Dixie Tour in Georgia and again visit Hitchcock, Texas for a unique weekend of competition conduct on a portion of the GrandSport Speedway circuit.

There’s no better way to spend a holiday weekend than autocrossing, and the SCCA Solo program has both ProSolo and Champ Tour covered on that front. The two series will share two holiday weekends for back-to-back events — Memorial Day in Lincoln, Nebraska and Independence Day in Bristol, Tennessee. As has become tradition, the regular season will wrap up with a standalone August CAM event in Peru, Indiana.

Because the allowances for events in many areas are still in question, what follows is a partial schedule.

“The full National Solo calendar is not yet 100 percent finalized,” Howard Duncan, Senior Manager of National Solo Field Operations, added. “More events and dates will likely join the schedule in the coming weeks as some details are hammered out. Once an event date is announced, we fully believe that event will move forward as planned. If modifications are required due to localized COVID guidelines, updates will be communicated quickly to the Solo community.”

Competitors should monitor the SCCA Solo homepage for announcements of additional events. If you don’t yet follow @SoloMatters on Facebook, now is a great time to click that like button and get the news even sooner.

 

At traditional ProSolo events, drivers face off, side-by-side, at a “Christmas Tree” start before launching down a straightaway and into mirror image autocross courses. Three heats of class competition give drivers 12 total runs, six on each course. Like other Solo competitions, runs are timed to 1/1000th of a second and knocking a cone down means a two-second penalty added to a time.

Opening runs determine class rankings and set the qualifying order for the second part of the event which determines the overall winner. Top qualifiers enter single-elimination brackets and conduct runoffs until only one driver remains: The Top Eliminator.  The Ladies Challenge pits top female qualifiers against one another, while the Super Challenge features the top 32 Open Class competitors in a winner-take-all battle. There is even a Bonus Challenge where randomly selected, non-qualifying drivers can compete for prizes and bragging rights.

Competitors’ performance and level of participation can earn them the chance to enter the September ProSolo Finale event in Lincoln, NE where class and Challenge Championships will be determined. Details of the eligibility requirements will be announced in January..

Championship Tour events typically offer tougher competition than Regional autocross events and take place over two days with a different course each day, just like Solo Nationals. Drivers get three runs on each course with their best time from each added together for the final class standings. Runs are timed to 1/1000th of a second, and knocking a cone down means a penalty of two seconds added to that time. All classes at Championship Tours are the standard Solo classes found at Solo Nationals and in the SCCA Solo Rulebook.

The Tire Rack CAM Challenge Powered by SCCA has three different classes for muscle cars. The CAM-T class is for car and truck body styles originating from 1948-2000 with a minimum weight without driver being 3000 pounds. The CAM-C class houses car and truck body styles from 2001 and newer, all of which must have a minimum weight without driver of 3300 pounds. The CAM-S class is for two-seater cars.

For additional information on Tire Rack SCCA Solo, visit www.scca.com/solo.

 

Photo Credit: Ido Waksman