The April 24-26, 2026, Tire Rack SCCA® Beeville Solo® National Tour at Naval Air Station Chase Field in Beeville, TX, got off to an appropriate start on Friday as a colony of bees made a temporary home on the antenna atop the timing trailer.
They don’t call it Beeville for nothing.
While more interesting than annoying, the bees mostly kept to themselves. Word on the street is that they were there for the F Modified class, but with none on the entry list, they moved along by Saturday afternoon.
That didn’t stop the slow-moving rattlesnake on Saturday evening during the course changeover, or the small plane that needed to take off through the course on Sunday morning (it was not a surprise – there was a heads-up), but Texas lived up to its billing this weekend.
And all of that was before we talk about cars on course.
But Before That…
Once again, a handful of “Buddy Passes” were offered in the leadup to the event. Buddy Passes help current participants invite someone who has never attended a National Solo event by offering them a free entry. There were 10 new Solo National Tour participants who came from near and far, with some of them even earning hardware. D Prepared Ladies made an effort to invite drivers into the class for this event and it showed, as well, with eight drivers duking it out in four different, well-prepared Miatas. It was tied for second as the most popular class at Beeville, behind the 12 in D Prepared.
Speaking of Ladies, SCCA Women on Track’s mentor program saw Ladies Street Tire Bump driver Sue Anne Rische being coached by Casey Coughlin. The assist paid off, too, as Sue improved on every run during the weekend, with her fastest run on Sunday being her final run even while carrying a cone.
All of this is to say that SCCA’s Houston Region, with support from Lone Star Region, did a fantastic job. Course designer Jeff Vinyard did a stellar job with the open space. The courses were longer than most Tour events, amplifying the need for both precision and pace. Blending the two and staying clean was a rewarding experience for those who managed the feat, and kept the challenge up for those chasing thrills.
As the courses proved, everything is bigger in Texas, and the Friday evening welcome party was top notch thanks to the effort of the two Regions, Spokes, and the Road Trip Racing Team.
Now on to the Competition
Believe it or not, there was actual competition at Beeville, too.
Matt Morhardt’s win in G Street Touring doubled as the top index score from the weekend. His Audi TT was 3.689sec ahead of co-driver Justin Harbour. Morhardt edged out CAM-Contemporary winner Ryan Otis for the top index spot.
When the dust settled at the finish, E Street was the closest battle of the weekend. Drew Caughlin’s final run in his Mazda Miata moved him 0.180sec in front of Darryl Paul for victory.
The weekend’s workhorse was the SCCA staff’s Club Spec MX-5, which proved the durability of the machine during the weekend. Six different drivers used the CSX car after mechanical issues prevented some field staff from using their own equipment. The car trophied (and won) in Club Spec MX-5 in the hands of Justin Barbry and in Ladies Street Touring with Tracy Lewis, while David Rock grabbed a trophy in Xtreme Street B with the car.
That’s just a taste of the action. For the rest, check out the results:
Up Next
Coming around the bend for the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour is a big one: the Tire Rack Lincoln Solo National Tour at Lincoln Airpark in Lincoln, NE, on May 23-25. The Lincoln Tour is part of Spring Nationals during the Memorial Day weekend, beginning with two days of Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo® action on May 21-23, also at Lincoln Airpark.
Spring Nationals is a gem of a weekend, not only because it’s on the same concrete runway that hosts the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships in September, but because of the long weekend vibes and double-header comradery.
More information on the Spring Nationals events can be found here:
Spring Nats: Solo Nat Tour
Photos by Christopher Dunn
