Grissom Aeroplex and Indianapolis Region played host to the seventh Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour points event of the season, with 236 drivers running in a chamber of commerce weather weekend.
The Air Force Reserve base in Peru, IN – located just 80 miles north of Indianapolis and 60 miles southwest of Fort Wayne – is a popular facility with autocrossers thanks to its wide, World War II-era concrete runways that Alex Jones took full advantage of when designing the fun, flowing courses used during the competition weekend. The venue’s popularity was proven once more with competitors coming from states as far away as Pennsylvania, New York, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, and Alabama in their attempts to lay claim to Solo National Tour trophies – or simply to have fun with cars and friends.
Class Battles
The Fastest Time of Day (FTD) on Sunday went to Brad Smith in F Modified, and he needed every bit of it. Smith and his SMW Doofwagon overcame an opening day deficit of four tenths with that blazing run, topping Clint Griest by just 0.148sec in the final margin.
It was a good day to be named Robert, as Robert Pendergest (Street Touring® Ultra) and Rob Clark (C Street) each took wins at Grissom, both by less than a tenth. Clark edged William Keese by 0.097sec in his Mazda Miata. Pendergest drove his Subaru STI to a 0.090sec win over Brent Schneekloth’s Mitsubishi Evo. Robert Gosda took the CAM-C win, but by a slightly larger margin, besting the class by 0.706sec.
Street Touring Hatch was a battle between multiple front-wheel-drive turbo cars. As the dust settled, it was Joel Zeller in a HART Honda Civic Si with the win, followed by Andrew Nienhuis in a Volkswagen GTI and Chris Jamula in a Ford Focus ST.
Was there more intense action? Yes indeed. For that, complete event results can be found by clicking the button below.
Match Point
Grissom Aeroplex, like all Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour events, awarded points towards the season-long 2023 Solo National Tour point chase. Competitors score points for a specific class during each Solo National Tour from March to November, with the opportunity to also earn points at the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships in September. An individual’s three best-scoring performances in the same class during the year count toward the season total.
Points at Solo National Tour events are awarded on a performance-based scale using a specific formula. That points formula is: 100 - (900 x ((Entrant’s Time - Class Winning Time) / (Class Winning Time)).
Participation in the same class at the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships is required in order to qualify for the season-long points title. To resolve a points tie, finishing position at the Solo National Championships will be used to decide the winner.
Click here to learn more about the scoring system and check out the current point leaders.
Joy In July
Take a breath – but make it fast – because the action in the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour is heating up. July is loaded, with Solo National Tour events at Bristol (July 1-2), out west at Packwood (July 7-9), and in the middle of the country at Route 66 Raceway in Chicagoland (July 14-16), before ending the month in the Finger Lakes at the Seneca Army Depot (July 28-30).
Get more info on all of those events on the Solo National Tour webpage.
Photos by Kevin Gu
