It’s the opening day of competition at the 50th running of the Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® National Championships. This Homecoming event for 2023 takes place Sept. 5-8 at Lincoln Airpark in Nebraska’s capital city. Upwards of 1,300 entrants from all around the country will traverse the two different Solo Nationals courses over four days, with the first set of National Champions decided from 44 eligible car classes competing Tuesday and Wednesday.
There are plenty of ways to keep track of everything going on at Solo Nats. Online at sololive.scca.com is where you’ll find live timing/scoring, as well as audio coverage during each day. Also monitor @SoloMatters and @sccaofficial on social media for updates and photos. And don’t forget to check back to SCCA.com for additional stories and updates from one of the biggest events SCCA conducts each year.
Weather or Not
Like any other outdoor activity, Mother Nature always plays a role – and that has certainly been the case over five decades of Solo Nats competition. Previous conditions have been windy, or ridiculously wet. Skies could be completely clear, or electrified with lightning. Sometimes things change a lot day to day, or even hour to hour.
The good news for the upcoming week in Lincoln is the chance of rain is very minimal, and temperatures look to dip into the upper 60-degree range each night. That will be nice because temperatures are expected to max out in the upper 80s each day, which means things will be even warmer on Lincoln Airpark’s cement.
Winds around 12 mph may help things feel a bit cooler, but everyone on site should remember that hats and sunscreen will certainly be required. Obviously, don’t forget to drink lots (and lots) of water. Spending some time in an air-conditioned vehicle is probably a solid idea, too.
Monday Night Party Recap
Before competition courses went “hot” Tuesday morning, the Solo community chilled out Monday evening at the Homecoming Welcome Party and Opening Ceremony held beneath the giant Tire Rack Event Center (TREC) tent.
As tradition now dictates, a splendid taco “bufé” was served up with plenty of seasoned ground meat, refried beans, and all the fixings. Attendees did an amazing job finishing off the food, guaranteeing there’d be no “gas” shortage overnight at Lincoln Airpark. Plenty of soft drinks and adult beverages were on hand, too, to help guests wash down their meals.
As the 50th running of the Tire Rack SCCA® Solo National Championships is being treated as a Homecoming for the Solo community, the evening was also spent recognizing the people who make Solo Nats what it is today. A shoutout was given to “100 Percenters” in attendance, who are those people that have participated in every Solo Nats to date. Those in the “Solo Nats Silver Circle” were also acknowledged for taking part in at least 25 Solo Nationals engagements.
To honor five decades of Solo Nats, presenter Larry "Lefty" MacLeod noted those in the Solo community who worked to make the sport what it is today, and who have earned a spot in SCCA’s Hall of Fame for their contributions. Read more about Solo-specific Hall of Fame inductees over the years by clicking on the names below.
Vern Jaques Art Trier
Grant Reynolds Marc Gerstein
Roger E. Johnson Bill Johnson
Karen Babb Kathy Barnes
Roger H. Johnson Randy Pobst
Dave Stremming & Loren Pearson Peter Cunningham
Bill & Jane Goodale Bob & Patty Tunnell
Lloyd Loring Charlie Clark
Robert "Rocky" Entriken Jr. Howard Duncan
50th Grand Marshal from Afar
It’s not every year that Solo Nationals has a Grand Marshal. But the 50th running is something special, so a Grand Marshal was officially announced during Monday night’s gathering. That person is Howard Duncan, who was inducted into SCCA’s Hall of Fame in 2022. He joined the Hall of Fame because of his immense impact on the sport of Solo. For youngsters, what SCCA National Solo activities look like today has a lot to do with Duncan’s work.
Back in October 2021, the semi-retirement of Duncan was announced. He’d been the backbone of SCCA’s Solo Department for more than 30 years, but agreed to “consult” through the 50th running of SCCA’s Solo National Championships. This week, his last order of business is to serve as Grand Marshal – albeit from a distance.
Howard and his wife, Linda, unfortunately couldn’t be at this year’s Solo Nats. They live along Florida’s Gulf Coast, and they’ve got just a little bit of cleanup to do after last week’s storm. But they’ll surely be keeping track of things in Nebraska from afar, and it literally took a hurricane to keep them away.
Charity Car Show Comes to the 50th
Solo Nats is a pretty awesome car show all by itself. But late Monday afternoons for several years now, Lincoln’s own Rebels Auto Club and Midwest Rollers have brought out some additional machinery to wow the crowd, and this year was no different.
The visit to Solo Nationals was actually the day’s final stop for the two clubs. Organizer Jim McNeil said the groups actually got underway before noon, making a couple stops around Lincoln, and parading down major thoroughfares.
And what a parade it was, with way too much eye candy to recount. There was a 1912 Ford Model T, a gorgeous 1957 Ford Fairlane 500, a 1964 Ford Mustang, and a pristine 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS that has been owned by only one family. And when the rolling car show parked at Lincoln Airpark, several Solo Nats competition cars joined the gathering.
But this was more than just a fantastic way to spend Labor Day, according to McNeil. Throughout the experience, members of the two clubs were raising money for their charity partner, Chariots4Hope. That organization helps low-income families and individuals maintain self-sufficiency through reliable transportation and RIDE programs.
That charity actually presented a used Mazda Protégé and Chrysler Grand Voyager to two deserving women just prior to the Homecoming Welcome Party and Opening Ceremony. On top of that, the two car clubs managed to raise an additional $2,300 for the charity throughout the day’s activities. So, it was certainly an honor for the SCCA Solo community to share a meal Monday night with the Rebels Auto Club and Midwest Rollers.
Photo: A Datsun 240Z, driven at the very first Solo Nats by Tony Giordano, was the colorful buffet centerpiece Monday night during the Homecoming Welcome Party and Opening Ceremony at the 50th running of the Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® National Championships.
Photo by SCCA Staff
