Think of it as an entire racing season packed into a solitary weekend. That might sound like hyperbole, but with three races taking place on three different course configurations in three days for just one entry fee, the SCCA® San Francisco Region Western Shootout at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, CA, during the May 5-7, 2023, Hoosier Racing Tire Super Tour weekend is exactly that. Each of the three race days will see drivers battling through different course configurations, with each finish earning precious points used in the crowning of that weekend’s Western Shootout class champions. If you want bragging rights – as well as a shot at earning a bundle of trophies – this is the race weekend for you.
The single entry fee, which was recently adjusted to $695, includes a Friday and Saturday Hoosier Super Tour (with all of the Super Tour points and contingency offerings that come with it) doubled with a wild Sunday bonus race taking place on the longest racing circuit SCCA has at its disposal. Combined, this is one of the best racing values of the season.
But wait, there's more! All three race days will be broadcast live onto SCCA’s YouTube and Facebook pages, with up to 12 cameras covering the racing circuit and professional broadcasters calling the action as it happens.
“We’ve wanted to add a third Hoosier Super Tour event on the West Coast to give more drivers an opportunity to contend for a Hoosier Super Tour Class Championship,” said SCCA’s Director of Road Racing Deanna Flanagan. “Thunderhill Raceway Park offers a middle stop in the Western Conference between the southern Buttonwillow event and the northern Portland event. San Francisco Region had a vision to create a unique event utilizing their multi-configurations that would bring drivers together in this challenging, one-of-a-kind SCCA road race weekend. We think the enhanced elements of the Hoosier Super Tour together with the Western Shootout brings an interesting twist to the event and an opportunity for drivers to test their abilities on different tracks.”
Breaking the Mold
John MacIntyre, who’s helping head up San Francisco Region’s Western Shootout weekend, is not one to mince words. “Why do the same old thing?” he laughed when asked why San Francisco Region was hosting a triple race weekend that featured a standalone points series and championship.
The May 5-7 event kicks off with a Hoosier Super Tour similar to the others in the 10-weekend nationwide series, only this one takes the green on a Friday. Come May 5, drivers will hit the track at 8 a.m. for qualifying, with the first races that afternoon. Thunderhill Raceway Park offers multiple configurations, so this one will take place on the traditional three-mile circuit that utilizes the Crow’s Nest at Turn 5. Saturday’s Hoosier Super Tour will see qualifying and racing, but this time utilizing the bypass at Turn 5, a configuration most recognized as the one used during the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. Come Sunday, Thunderhill’s main circuit will combine with the West Course to challenge drivers with the full five-mile configuration.
“We run this five-mile configuration only once a year, and we only run it after the SCCA National Championship Runoffs as our Region finale – why not give it to everybody?” MacIntyre asked. “I think everybody would like to have a very long track run. You’re not getting a lot of laps, but you are getting a significant amount of time on track – and it’s challenging.”
Keep in mind, no turn at Thunderhill – regardless of the configuration – is easy.
“There are elevation changes, and the back course is adventurous,” MacIntyre, a Prototype 2 racer, explained. “There’s real pucker factor in Turn 8 if you haven’t done it enough, and Turn 1 is similar if you have any hesitation. And then there’s Turn 9 where you go up and over the hill.”
How the Western Shootout Works
The Western Shootout is not one race – it’s three, with point totals from each race determining the overall winners in each class. “It’s a shootout,” MacIntyre said. “The idea is that you qualify on Friday for the race on Friday, you qualify on Saturday for the race on Saturday, and then your results from Saturday will grid you for the finale on Sunday. The Western Shootout class winners are then determined by totaling up the points from all three races.”
Theoretically, you could win the race on Sunday and not get the Western Shootout trophy because you didn’t place high enough during the Friday or Saturday races, making consistency extraordinarily vital.
Each race will feature its own trophies, with special trophies for the Western Shootout champions. “There’s an 18-inch tall Western Shootout trophy that’s very much like a Runoffs trophy,” MacIntyre added. “It’s really quite spectacular.”
This is the first year for San Francisco Region’s Western Shootout, and MacIntyre said the plan is to build it into something big. “I’m trying to put this on par with the June Sprints or the Runoffs,” he said. “In coming years, we might be able to integrate into a trifecta, possibly expanding to include more races on the West Coast.”
Beyond great racing, all Western Shootout entrants receive a T-shirt and Western Shootout sticker. Winners receive a Western Shootout championship trophy, a cap, celebratory bubbly, a winner sticker, and a flag. Also, as we hinted at earlier, all three race days will be streamed live via SCCA’s YouTube and Facebook pages, with race broadcasters Brian Bielanski and Gregg Ginsberg calling the action while viewers witness the racing as it happens courtesy of up to 12 cameras placed around the circuit.
Bridging Weekends
The Hoosier Super Tour at Thunderhill Raceway Park takes place May 5-7, with the Portland International Raceway Hoosier Super Tour occurring one weekend later on May 13-14 in Oregon – it’s the only extended West Coast swing during the Hoosier Super Tour, and one racers should take advantage of. These back-to-back weekends are far from coincidental, as they allow racers to come from the middle of America – or even the East Coast – to compete without having to tow across the country twice. Furthermore, San Francisco Region and Thunderhill are offering a helping hand.
“For any racers in need of storage space between the Thunderhill and Portland Super Tours, we’re offering free trailer parking,” said MacIntyre. “Those drivers can go off to San Francisco or Yosemite or wherever they want to go, then come back, hook up, and head to Portland. The back-to-back weekends are purposeful.”
There’s also an East-Coast-meets-West-Coast metaphor. “The whole thing is symbolic of the Sunday race, where Thunderhill’s East Course track meets the West Course,” he said.
Find Out More
“More track time, extreme challenges, the longest course in SCCA, and a winner-take-all format where it’s a season packed into a weekend,” MacIntyre said when asked for the elevator pitch on the Western Shootout at Thunderhill Raceway Park – and it’s a great pitch.
Remember, that one entry fee gets you three days of racing, a T-shirt, stickers, the shot at numerous trophies, and one heck of a story to tell of your Western Shootout adventure. Regardless of where you live in America, come take the challenge – for the thrills alone, it’s money well spent.
Photo by Blake Tatum
