ICYMI, our Tom Suddard is co-driving a Club Spec Mustang with Eric Sienkiewicz at the Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nats. (And yes, we still have stickers.) Since we’re at the Lincoln Airpark, and that crew includes contributor Rupert Berrington, we’re going to share some of the scenes during the…
Good morning from Nationals! We've each completed one run so far--I picked up cones and Eric had a DNF, but the car is a blast and I'm staying optimistic. Run two in a few minutes.
Go that way, really fast....
Success! We both put down clean second runs, with me landing mid-pack in the class and Eric in 4th. Our car is down about 30 horsepower (no tune), so we're content.
And done! After day 1, Eric's in 4th and I'm 13th. Now we park the car in grid for impound, giving competitors the chance to scrutinize things. 
Link to SCCA’s live timing: 2024 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships.
And, wow, 56 cars in XA. Happy to see people throwing their hats into the ring, so to speak. Huge variety of makes and models, too.
While competitors inspect each others cars, there's the persistent hum of cordless multi-tools. Everybody is cleaning other people's rubber off their tires.
When you walk the course tonight, be prepared to get OPR on your shoes. :)
David S. Wallens said:When you walk the course tonight, be prepared to get OPR on your shoes. :)
Actually Tu/We won't be so bad. It's cool and a lot of the big car Hoosier classes run Th/Fr. If it warms up anyone walking Thursday afternoon needs to say goodbye to whatever they're wearing.
Thanks for the updates, keep them coming! And congrats on the strong outing so far.
And I had no idea OPR was that bad at Lincoln, wow.
If you feel willing/able to take pics of FSP cars, that's my request. Love the cars in that class. :)
And overall observations so far:
CSM only about 2.5s off of FS, which is pretty impressive considering CSM is on a less sticky tire and is giving up a lot of power and a real rear suspension.
The Bridgestone/Yokohama 200tw battle seems to be class-dependent. Very few defectors in most classes. XA seems to have about the most tire-diverse trophy list so far with 9 Bridgestone, 5 Yok and a lone Falken.
Hats off to the seven-year old Elantra Sport on the podium in HS.
Wow, Elantra on the podium, hats off indeed.
Is there really a Mazda RX3 in XB this year? (Based on what I am seeing on sololive?) because that's cool to see.
In reply to aw614 :
That’s the Ellam family RX-3. Lotta Solo history there.
After 1.5 runs we have three generations of Miata (sorry NC) in the trophies in CSP.
In reply to JG Pasterjak :
That’s pretty cool.
And we have some Solo Nationals photos from Tom.
This year’s Solo Nats has a Western theme.
Although there’s nothing wrong with classic googly eyes on your golf kart.
Tom already noted that Solo Nats takes up a lot of concrete. Yep, a lot. I believe it’s nearly the size of Rhode Island.
How to get around? You could walk, but you’d still be walking by the time the event ended.
So you could also bring a bike or scooter.
Or a hobby horse scooter.
Some EVs on the grid:
We have 10 cars in the new EVX class with Daniil Manaenkov (No. 1) leading in the Model 3.
Sam Mayorga currently fifth in XA in the Tesla Plaid.
Looks like we have 10 cars in B Mod this year with Anthony Porta (No. 52) leading in the 1997 VanDiemen RF97.
To get an idea of just how big this event is, I drove to the far end of the paddock. Here's a photo:
And if you zoom in to 240mm, you can barely see a flag.
That flag is still on the near side of all three courses courses/five grids/vendor row/event center/food/a normal giant paddock/etc etc etc.
This is a massive, massive spectacle.
David S. Wallens said:Looks like we have 10 cars in B Mod this year with Anthony Porta (No. 52) leading in the 1997 VanDiemen RF97.
But check out 2nd place in BM. Justin Peachey, who blew up yet another engine in his C6Z, is helping Hilary Anderson deliver a BMod car to its new owner. Their compensation was that they could run it in the event, and Justin is currently sitting .343 out in 2nd place. Not bad for a Corvette guy.
In reply to JG Pasterjak :
I saw his name in second. Nice! (I’m also totally multitasking at the moment. :) )
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