The many pointed crown of amateur motorsports

As shocking as this may sound, I've just about given up hope on my winning the Monaco GP or the Indy 500.  LeMans, I'll hang onto for a few more years... who knows what the lottery might bring.

That said, it got me thinking about what is the equivalent for us mere mortals with cars.  As we are mere mortals, I think the winning of the event isn't as important.  So what events would you think should be listed as crowning events for regular folks to actually participate(winning is a bonus)?

(Editing with the suggestions)

Here's what I've got so far:

• $2000 Challenge (gotta support the content daddy)
• One Lap of America
• Lemons 24 / Chumpcar event
• National Solo Event
• Tail of the Dragon
• SCCA Runoffs
• 25 Hours of Thunderhill
• Hot Rod Drag Week
• Bonneville
• A lap of the Nurburgring (preferably passing a tourist bus)
• Silver State Classic / Sand Hills / Big Bend Open Road Race
• Targa Newfoundland

I don't think it actually has to be a competition, it just happens that most are because we always seem to want to know who can go the fastest.  What would you add to this list?

SCCA Runoffs

NASA 25 hours of Thunderhill

Hot Rod Drag Week should definitely be on the list, too.  

Bonneville? 

I would say:

RunOffs

Solo Nationals

Bonneville......cuz you can bring almost anything.

 Deux Mille Challenge  ............cuz it has magazine coverage.

Vintage races at Indy........cuz it's Indy silly.

Nurburgring and maybe Silver State Classic.

Driven5 said:

Nurburgring and maybe Silver State Classic.

... or any of the Open Road Racing events such as Sand Hills or Big Bend. 

I think Silver State is better known because of its proximity to California and the car press there.  

Oh, and I'll add the Hot Rod Power Tour.  Not much competition, but it's a heck of an event, and can be a challenge to complete in a "special interest" car.

In reply to BradLTL :

Vintage racing.  .  They allow prewar cars and really special "valuable" cars to run without all the safety stuff. Yet it's actual real racing.   
      So there must be some formula where really intrusive stuff like cages etc. won't be required.  
      Look I understand poseurs.  The people who just want to look cool.   But really don't have the skill, mechanical ability, or courage to honestly compete in wheel to wheel racing events. 
     They can use excuses, or whatever  to just trundle along.   Maybe a speed limit?   Allowing kinda sorta appearance of racing without the commitment of real racing.  Say a 75 mph limit?   That way even my 54 horsepower MG  can participate.   The Guys with the seriously fast cars can go out and have pictures taken.  Etc. 

Some sort of hillclimb.

Targa Newfoundland

ProDarwin said:

Some sort of hillclimb.

Specifically?  I know Pike's Peak is the most well known, but are mortals even allowed to climb that hill these days?

Driven5 said:

Nurburgring and maybe Silver State Classic.

I've worked the Silver State Challenge in the early years. While it is accessible, and a really cool event, it's a pass for me. I find the unlimited classes are way to risky (friend killed and two severely injured) and the slower classes aren't that interesting to me.  I've also driven the course multiple times and there aren't really a lot of corners (there are like 6 of them in the narrows).

Now with that  said the 3-4 years I worked it there were some cool sights & stories; 

The father son duo who ran a 70s F100 pick up truck that averaged 120 mph

The Pacer that sounded like a Mercedes 300SLR

The guy who drove his Vette from back east, won his class and drove back home the next day.

Seeing Big Red cross the finish at 200mph.

In reply to BradLTL :

Would you believe I'm the first person to ever complete One Lap of America and Hot Rod Drag Week in the same car in the same year?

If you clarify Tail of the Dragon to the Chasing the Dragon hillclimb, then not only are you including a hillclimb, but you aren't advocating a public and dangerous road as a driving achievement.   It's a fun road to drive on, but there are many others in the area that are just as fun and not overpopulated with people whose equipment far exceeds their skill level...

In reply to ProDarwin :

Much as I'd like to drive a hillclimb  The long, really long waits for the few moments of time are a hard pass. Then wait while everyone at the top goes back down and any stalled or crashed cars are towed back down before the next wait?   
      Then there is safety.  Oops he didn't show up?  Where is he?   Did he go off or breakdown?   Sometimes trees are very close to the track or places to fall a long way.  
  At least with a race track those are all well back and guarded by rails  etc. Typically a corner worker has a line of sight to the next corner so events are reacted to much faster.  
     
  

camopaint0707 said:

In reply to BradLTL :

Would you believe I'm the first person to ever complete One Lap of America and Hot Rod Drag Week in the same car in the same year?

That's pretty impressive.  I'm about to do OLOA, and was thinking about which other events I could do in the same car.

travellering said:

you aren't advocating a public and dangerous road as a driving achievement

100%  Street racing is stupid and dangerous!

I was just trying to list events that weren't a "race".  I know lots of car clubs do driving tours on and around the dragon all the time.  It's gained a lot of fame because of it. For example: https://www.minisonthedragon.com/

Don't forget the Ultimate Track Car Challenge

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

Don't forget the Ultimate Track Car Challenge

Only a select few get to do that right?  Almost invitation only.

Driven5 said:

Nurburgring 

*cough cough* more affordable than you think!

https://rsrnurburg.com/

I'm all on the Champcar/Lemons/Luckydog/and dare I say the new WRL. Not sure if AER is still a thing. 

Anyways, point being, it's a great way to go W2W racing at some of the best tracks in this country. Most teams have arrive and drive programs too, which makes the financial entry barrier even cheaper; however, we would all prefer your skills be somewhat refined. You may even get to run into IMSA or Le Man regulars during the course of some of those weekends. Great places to network and as they say "Your net worth is your network." 

In 12 Months the LMP360 will have:

Gotten Not Last at SCCA Solo Nationals in AM

Won the $2000 Challenge

Run the UTCC

I am happy with this being my Amateur Lifetime Triple Crown, or at least the GRM Triple Crown?

In reply to BradLTL :

It's hard to be competitive in both, and it's expensive.  And it's brutal, but I did it.  Best advice is keep your car simple.  The more mods, the more to go wrong.

Oval racing wise the single biggest amateur oval race is the imca super nationals in Boone iowa.The main 5 classes usually get over 200 cars in each class.

On various weekdays throughout the year, I can go race my Spec Miata with SCCA or NASA locally. You don't need some nationals race or 25 hour race that happens once a year to have fun and have some good races with new and old friends.