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Steve Nickless

More articles by Steve Nickless

SCCA Academy

From Oregon Region Volunteer to Formula 1 Flagger: Cierra da Corte’s Amazing Adventure

Few professional racing drivers — let alone amateurs — ever get closer to a Formula 1 starting grid than a simulator, but for a growing number of licensed SCCA® volunteers, the F1 paddock is not only accessible, but beckoning, as in: North American Grand Prix Racing Wants You! Oregon Region’s Cierra da Corte is one […]

SCCA Academy

Paul Soriano’s Path to Becoming an IMSA Marshal Put Him Trackside, and You Can Be Next

Are you an SCCA® volunteer who wants to volunteer at an IMSA race? The tale that follows ultimately directs you to scca.com/trackside where you can begin your professional marshaling adventure, and it does so through the eyes of long-time SCCA member and Florida resident Paul Soriano. Paul’s happy to tell you exactly how (and he’s […]

Road Racing

For the 2024 GT, SGT, and XGT Trans Am Champs, There Were No Easy Wins

While it’s easy to see the SCCA Pro Racing®-sanctioned Trans Am® Presented by Pirelli series as tube-frame cars sporting loud V-8s, there’s way more to the series. In there, three classes (GT, SGT, and XGT) battle at some of the nation’s best tracks. Thanks to these GT classes, fans witness slick production-based race cars driven […]

Road Racing

It was a Season of Redemption for 2024 Trans Am TA2 Champ Rafa Matos. But in 2025, Things Are Going to Change

Every title win is special, of course, but for Rafa Matos, the 2024 SCCA Pro Racing®-sanctioned Trans Am® Series presented by Pirelli CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series championship was especially sweet. For one, it completed a TA2 title “hat trick” for the 2018 and 2021 champ who quickly rose to prominence stateside after emigrating from […]

Road Racing

How NASCAR Driver Paul Menard Pulled off the 2024 Trans Am TA Championship

NASCAR veteran and SCCA® Central Carolinas Region member Paul Menard’s last-minute decision to compete full time in the 11-race 2024 SCCA Pro Racing®-sanctioned Trans Am® Presented by Pirelli season was huge news at the Sebring International Raceway season-opener. The Wisconsin-bred, North Carolina-resident driver joined forces with 3GT Racing — Trans Am stalwart Paul Gentilozzi and […]

Runoffs

2024 Runoffs: Who Will Win Formula F, Formula Vee, and Formula 600?

Formula classes always bring some of the most intense racing at the SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® presented by Sunoco, and we expect that to be no different during the Sept. 28-Oct. 6 Runoffs at Road America. Dig deeper into those Formula classes, and you’ll discover Formula F, Formula Vee®, and Formula 600 consistently bring intense […]

Trackside

Bill Skibbe Won the 2023 John McGill Award, and He Has a 1962 Mini Station Wagon to Thank for It

The late John McGill, self-titled “General Overall Director” (GOD) at the Nelson Ledges Road Course for nearly 30 years, was a tireless worker and relentless encourager whose focus helped make a primitive and out-of-the way Ohio racetrack an SCCA® Central Division mainstay. Since its inauguration in 1975, the prestigious SCCA award named in McGill’s honor […]

Autocross

Persistence & Determination: How Steve O’Blenes Became SCCA’s 2023 Solo Driver of the Year

A third consecutive SCCA® Solo® National Championship title — the eighth of his career — enhanced by his winning the prestigious 2023 SCCA Solo Driver of the Year award, promised great things ahead for 2024 for Californian Steve O’Blenes. But this year’s Tire Rack National Solo season has opened for him with frustration. After notching […]

RallyCross

Ed Trudeau’s Muddy Path to the 2023 RallyCross Dirty Cup

It’s a great moniker for the premier award in SCCA® RallyCross®: The Dirty Cup. This honor is presented annually to recognize an individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to the sport. Since 2010, this award has been handed out to a cadre of members who’ve truly gotten down and dirty, ensuring the success of […]

Autocross

Khai Duplantis: From Full-Throttle Community Spirit to 2023 Solo Rookie of the Year

Khai Duplantis. Remember the name. This impressive 30-year-old Louisianan caught the eye of many at the 2023 Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® National Championships when he finished sixth out of 67 in the challenging Solo Spec Coupe (SSC) class — that was, after all, his first time at the event. Wheeling a black Scion FR-S owned […]