Unique and exciting things happen May 5-7, 2023, in Willows, CA, when the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour (HST) makes its first-ever visit to Thunderhill Raceway Park. The hybrid event hosted by SCCA’s San Francisco Region includes three different track layouts, and top performers across all three races will earn a Western Shootout Championship in each class.
Friday, Saturday, Sunday – watch it all live, online and for free thanks to the Hoosier Super Tour enhanced video and audio presentation new this year. The familiar voices of motorsport commentators Brian Bielanski and Larry “Lefty” MacLeod provide play-by-play commentary, and DriversEye Live will present the video broadcast featuring up to 12 cameras – plus in-car video where possible.
Coverage is streamed via the SCCA Official YouTube channel and SCCA Inc. Facebook page. Post-race video interviews with select Friday winners, as well as Saturday and Sunday victory podium celebrations can be viewed at the SCCA Road Racing Facebook page. Live Timing and Scoring will also be available throughout the weekend at www.scca.com/live. On-demand viewing of races from Thunderhill will then be available after the event and found at SCCA’s Official YouTube channel.
For race fans who can make it out to Thunderhill for the weekend, spectator entry and parking are both free for all three days of competition.
Live Timing/Scoring and Broadcast
3 Days, 3 Tracks, 1 Venue
The seventh of 10 events on HST’s 2023 schedule, Friday and Saturday at Thunderhill will see qualifying, racing and Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points awarded just like any other two-day event. Each of HST’s 27 car classes will be included within one of seven run groups for 20-minute qualifying sessions, followed by 25-minute races starting around 12:20 p.m. local time.
The course layout that opening day will be Thunderhill’s three‐mile circuit with the Turn 5 Crow’s Nest included. Then everything is new Saturday as drivers head out at 8 a.m. Pacific Time for 20-minute qualifying sessions around Thunderhill’s three‐mile circuit sans the Crow’s Nest this go-round, followed by 35-minute or 18-lap contests starting around 11:30 a.m. for each race group.
Sunday competition caps the weekend, and it’s where dominant drivers will earn a Western Shootout Championship. No Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points are awarded for Sunday results around Thunderhill’s magnificent five-mile circuit – one of the longest available to SCCA competitors. Still, it’s a value-added day of racing and will define inaugural Western Shootout Championship winners, which are decided by performance across the entire weekend. Three strong finishes earn racers a tall, colorful, magnificent trophy for each car class.
Read more about how the Western Shootout came to be by clicking here.
Sunday’s on-track action begins at 8 a.m. Pacific Time with 20-minute practice sessions across all seven run groups. There will then be 30-minute races for each group starting at 11:30 a.m. local time, followed by victory podium celebrations where Western Shootout Championship winners are crowned.
Thunderhill Talent
The Willows, CA, visit is actually the second of three HST stops west of the Rockies this year. The first was in February at Southern California’s Buttonwillow Raceway Park (BRP), an event that perhaps helps identify West Coast racers in the mix for victories at Thunderhill.
For instance, Prototype 1 (P1) in the third run group should be interesting. Jim Devenport swept the weekend in P1 at BRP. But reigning P1 Runoffs winner Chip Romer is scheduled to be at Thunderhill, too. Both are fantastic drivers backed by phenomenal crews, and they’ve done battle many times before. Three races to decide a Western Shootout Championship victor, however, creates an interesting ‘grudge match’ not to be missed.
Also within the third run group is Formula Continental® (FC), sporting seven entrants, with the West Coast FC squad always keeping things interesting. Tom Hope and Troy Shooter, both on the entry list for Thunderhill, split FC victories at BRP earlier this year. With a third race added to the weekend, it’s something to monitor as far as Western Shootout Championship honors.
The Group 4 race will also be something to check out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That contains Touring 4 (T4), featuring Scotty B. White. He’s on a Hoosier Super Tour travel adventure this year, and has been gobbling up lots of victories, points, trophies, and stories along the way. At Thunderhill, he’ll again face Izzy Sanchez – who he split T4 victories with at BRP. A third, tiebreaker race in T4 on Sunday for the Western Shootout Championship could be fuego.
With no hyperbole, anything can happen over three days of racing that can result in a Western Shootout Championship for some drivers. And don’t forget, Friday and Saturday count toward the Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points totals.
For an updated list of entries and other information, check out the Thunderhill Hoosier Super Tour event webpage.
Photo by Philip Royle / Staff
