The Aug. 8-10, 2025, weekend featured just one last National-level Solo® event before the field moves over to Lincoln, NE, for the autocross extravaganza that is the Tire Rack SCCA® ProSolo® Championship Finale, Tire Rack SCCA Lincoln Invitational, and Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships. The end to the regular season wasn’t a traditional Solo National Tour or ProSolo, though – it was a Tire Rack SCCA Shootout at Grissom Aeroplex in Bunker Hill, IN – And what an event it was.
For those who haven’t been paying attention, the Shootout is a featured event for CAM, XS, Spec, and Street Touring® categories, though everyone else is also invited. It’s a bunch of traditional class runs (actually, more than “traditional”), followed by Challenge Rounds for specific categories – really, the best of both autocross worlds.
During the Aug. 8-10 weekend, drivers faced six runs on Saturday and three more on Sunday, with the best each day determining class winners and qualifiers for the Challenge Rounds.
As far as we can tell, while no stranger to hosting events at the Grissom site, this is the first time Ft. Wayne Region had hosted a National-level Solo event – and the Region delivered! The team showed up on Thursday to mow and prep the site, led by event chairs John Clyne and Kip Mitchell.
In addition to course designer and the CAM category’s unofficial biggest cheerleader, Raleigh Boreen also hosted the Saturday night welcome party, complete with a taco bar and chips, while Jay Bullington/JXB Performance-provided Dilly Bars. After dinner, Boreen dished out donated items as door prizes to the full-capacity 170-entry crowd (sorry, Velma, if they accidentally gave away some of your stuff!).
The Ft. Wayne Region welcomed the GM Performance Team members once again, adding an additional layer of competition across the weekend. Wilwood Brakes donated a $500 product certificate for a prize, which went to Jon Nwanagu.
The weather? Oh, that was sunny and mostly clear all weekend, making for a spectacular event.
Class Competition
The CAM-Traditional field was a huge 44-car effort, leading the way in an 80-car CAM category. Three cars were within two tenths of a second at the finish, and they were far from spec. Matthew Braun led the way in his 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle, while Jon Nwanagu was just 0.022sec back in a 1999 Chevrolet Camaro. In third, Nicholas Zelisko cracked the 21st century with his 2000 Chevrolet Camaro and was 0.161sec behind Braun. Elsewhere in the category, Alek Tziortzis won CAM-Sport in his 2002 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, and John Ward led the way in CAM-Contemporary with a 2019 Chevy Camaro.
In Club Spec, Steven Burkett deserves a shoutout for his Shootout appearance in Club Spec MX-5, but the Club Spec Mustang crowd rolled out strong at Grissom. Chip Manuel led the way, just 0.058sec ahead of Chris Harvey for the class title. Street Touring winners were Raymond Dsouza (AST, Mazda Miata), Myke Dziengel (BST, Subaru WRX), Cody Mills (CST, Toyota GR86) and Kevin Berba (DST, Toyota 86).
As the name suggests, Xtreme Street has cars that might not always be a part of the same class, and yet it works. In Xtreme Street A, Kyle Gottschalk led the way in an Eagle Talon TSi, topping Danny Popp’s 2004 Chevrolet Corvette and Brandon Sewell’s 2018 Subaru WRX. The cars in that class ranged from those at the top through the Corvette E-Ray, a Volkswagen GTI, and a Mazda RX-7, among others.
Xtreme Street B is a bit more traditional, as Grissom featured Mazdas and Hondas. Christian Patrick led the way in class with his Mazda Miata to take victory.
All the action can be found in the class results.
Challenge Rounds
With the stage set, Challenge Rounds took to the course – and similar to how the competition went, we’ll do this quick-fire:
- CAM competition saw many shooting for the top spot, but it was Jon Nwanagu who rose to the top in the Challenge in a Chevy Camaro.
- In Street Touring/Street, Dustin Neuville took the top Challenge spot in his Corvette.
- In Xtreme Street, Christian Patrick topped the Challenge competition in a Mazda Miata.
- The Ladies Challenge competition was a battle, with Carla Russo topping the field in a Ford Mustang.
- In the Race/CP Challenge, it was Joshua Pertzsch claiming victory in a KBS.
What’s Next
Next up is the trio everyone is waiting for at Lincoln: The Tire Rack Solo National Championships, Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Championship Finale, and Tire Rack SCCA Lincoln Shootout Invitational.
The Shootout Invitational registration is set to open Aug. 13, at 3 p.m. CT for those who attended any of the 2025 Shootout events.
Remember, the Invitational is capped at 100 entries, so you’ll want to enter as soon as registration begins.
Photo by Langlee King Clark
(Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect the correct winner in the CAM Challenge.)
