Grissom Aeroplex in Indiana rumbled with the sound of powerful machinery on Aug. 11-13, 2023, during the Tire Rack SCCA® Peru CAM/XS Challenge. The second standalone CAM/XS Challenge event of the year saw 175 entrants participate in class competition, followed by Challenge runs Sunday to see who emerged as king just north of Kokomo.
The event was hosted by SCCA’s Indianapolis Region, which also put on a wonderful awards dinner Saturday evening. The weekend’s weather was wonderful, too, as conditions were warm and sunny for all but Saturday afternoon when some decent rain fell during the second heat. But as far as the competition was concerned, that just helped keep things interesting.
Peru Performers
With 48 entrants, CAM-C had the largest field in Peru, and produced the closest finish. Sam Strano, driving a 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1, took the win by only 0.028sec over John Ward and his 2019 Chevrolet Camaro. Third was Dave Whitworth in a 2012 Ford Mustang, who beat fourth-place finisher Evan Williams and his wife's 2013 Ford Mustang GT by only 0.008sec.
Fifth in CAM-C was Terry Neuville in a 2021 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, and David Feighner was sixth in a 2015 Ford Mustang. Karl Riggs was seventh in a 2019 Chevrolet Camaro LT, Keith Lamming eighth in a 2011 Chevrolet Camaro, and Dustin Neuville ninth in a car shared with Terry.
Tenth in CAM-C was Jeff Cox in a 2019 Ford Mustang GT500, Patrick Risse was 11th in a 2020 Chevrolet Camaro RS, Cindy Duncan was 12th in a 2021 Ford Mustang, and Chris Jacobs rounded out the trophies in 13th driving a Chevrolet Nova.
CAM-T’s 41 drivers put on quite the show, too, in what turned out to be a showcase of Chevrolet Camaros through the years. Neil Britton won that class in an ‘81 Camaro by 0.809sec over a ‘69 Camaro wielded by Brian Coney. Brian Harvey was third in a 2000 Camaro SS, fourth was Jon Nwanagu in a ‘99 Camaro, fifth was J.J. Mallrich in a ‘99 Camaro Z28, and sixth was Nicholas Zelisko in a ‘00 Camaro. James Darden finished seventh in a ‘99 Camaro, Donny Freise eighth in a ‘71 Camaro, and Josh McDonough was ninth in an ’81 Camaro.
Rob Tarrien cut the Camaro winning streak in CAM-T by finishing 10th in a ‘93 Ford Mustang Cobra, and Aaron Oberle grabbed the last CAM-T trophy by finishing 11th in a ’65 Chevrolet Chevelle.
All nine trophies in CAM-S went to Chevrolet Corvette drivers, and the 31-entrant field produced the largest margin of victory amongst the CAM classes. Kevin Keys, in a 2000 Chevrolet Corvette, took the win after a torrential downpour. His margin of victory was 1.254sec over runner-up James Elliott in a 2002 Chevrolet Corvette ZO6.
Keys also received the weekend’s Rosco Racin' Spirit of Solo Award. Presented at all CAM Challenge events, the Rosco Racin’ Spirit of Solo Award is based on nominations from fellow competitors (with a final decision made by SCCA officials at the event), and is presented to a person who exemplifies what Solo is all about.
Third in CAM-S was Brian Regganie in another ZO6. Fourth was Mac Coyne in a 2017 Chevrolet Corvette GS, and fifth went to a 2003 ZO6 driven by Ron McManus.
Continuing the trophy rundown in CAM-S, Les Schober took sixth in an ’02 Corvette, Bea Regganie was seventh in another ZO6, eighth went to Alek Tziortzis in an ’02 ZO6, and Jae Hun Choi completed Corvette’s dominance in ninth.
The Xtreme Street A class wasn’t a runaway as Jay Bullington, in a 2014 Audi S4, got the win by only 0.433sec over a 2004 Mazda RX-8 driven by second-place finisher David Colletti. Donour Sizemore was third in a 2011 Lotus Evora, and Brandon Porambo claimed the final trophy by driving his 2001 Honda S2000 to a fourth-place finish in the 10-entrant class.
One other tight finish during the weekend came to pass in the Street Tire Index class. George Schmitt claimed victory there in a 1999 Mazda Miata. Only 0.209sec behind Schmitt was Jeffrey Darbig in a ’22 Chevrolet Camaro. Kent Weaver finished third in a ’23 Mazda Miata, and co-driver Ben Weaver finished fourth. Mark Minge was fifth in a 2017 BMW M4, Christian Berardi sixth in a 2008 BMW M3, and Dan Steele – who was Minge’s co-driver – scooped up the final trophy in seventh.
Want to dig into those classes and times? Check out the event results below.
Sunday Challenge Winners
Terry Neuville, in a 2021 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, took the CAM-C Challenge win by only 0.068sec over a 2019 Chevrolet Camaro 2.0 driven by John Ward. And the CAM-S Challenge was won by James Elliott in a ’02 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, who bested fellow Z06 competitor Brian Regganie by only 0.029sec for the win. The CAM-T Challenge winner was Neil Britton in an ’81 Chevrolet Camaro, who was 0.618sec faster than Brian Coney’s ’69 Camaro.
The CAM Final Challenge ended up with Britton winning. Elliott was second, and Neuville third.
In the Xtreme Street Challenge, it was Dallas Reed, in the 2005 Lotus Elise, winning by 0.162sec over the 2014 Audi S4 of Jay Bullington.
On To Lincoln
The 2023 Tire Rack SCCA CAM/XS Invitational Shootout is next on the schedule. That event will take place Sept. 2 at Lincoln Airpark in Nebraska, and it brings together some of the very best drivers from across the country. It’s also one of the events the leads up to the 50th running of the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships taking place right afterwards at the very same venue.
Photo by Jacob Meuth
