2005 SportsCar article by Rocky Entriken
Over 500 participants have already registered for the 2015 Tire Rack Solo National Championships Presented by Garmin VIRB. As we gear up for the event, we also look back on events of the past. Ten years ago, the 2005 Tire Rack Solo National Championships were held at Forbes Field in Topeka, Kansas for the last time before the event moved down the road to Heartland Park, then to the Lincoln Airpark in Lincoln, Nebraska.
That event at Forbes Field was marked by horrendous weather, like only the Land of Oz can provide. For two days, thunderstorms plagued the event. Putting workers out on a concrete slab in that weather seemed like a poor choice to officials, so the event was delayed for much of the first day. After a two-and-a-half hour weather delay, the North course was torn up and any attempts to repair it were thwarted by the water running across the pavement. The course was altered to accommodate the location, and runs resumed, with a full heat of competition moved to the next day.
By the end of the event, it was unmistakable that a chapter was closing. “By Friday afternoon the scenes that have become so familiar to Solo drivers over the past decade were fading into memory. One by one the once-crowded paddock emptied through the airport gate. In Solo City, where the campers and motor home crowd stayed, the sign read for one last time, ‘No tornadoes in 6 days.’ Cones were stacked, leaving behind chalk lines and pylon boxes in multiple colors from the past few years. One last time, Forbes Field was given back to the airplanes.”
Share your favorite memory from Solo Nationals at Forbes Field in the comments as we prepare for our return to Lincoln.
Photo: Lightning strikes over Forbes Field