LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Jan. 19, 2018) -- Unveiled today during the 2018 SCCA® National Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Sports Car Club of America® announced creation of a new Time Trial Nationals event that joins the ranks of the National Championship Runoffs®, Solo Nationals, RallyCross National Championship and Unites States Road Rally Challenge.
Scheduled to take place Sept. 28-30 at NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the Time Trial (TT) Nationals will open with a full day of track lapping sessions for testing and practice, or can be used for participants to earn their TT novice license permit.
Heyward Wagner, SCCA’s Director of Marketing and Experiential Programs, said, “If you’ve never participated in a TT event before, people can come out Friday and earn a TT novice permit. That will let them compete the rest of the weekend and, if everything goes well, receive an SCCA TT license by the end of the weekend.”
The second day of TT Nationals will open with 20-minute seeding sessions used to determine run groups and orders, followed by a traditional time attack in the afternoon where drivers get one warm-up lap, then have a single lap to post their best time.
For the final day of TT Nationals, NCM Motorsports Park will be divided into sections for point-to-point runs. Each competitor will have multiple chances to put down their best time on the shortened segments of track.
Wagner said a committee consisting of SCCA members and national staff is currently constructing a rules set for TT Nationals, as well as addressing car classes for the event. Fourteen classes are being considered and include slots for vintage cars and electric vehicles.
“This year we aim to establish SCCA as the leader in amateur Time Trials competition in the United States,” Wagner said. “Additionally, we will look to generate an event format for the TT Nationals that can be adopted in whole or parts by regions for their TT events. We want to help regions see how TT can be a useful tool for drawing automotive enthusiasts to the Club to have fun with cars.”
Mike Cobb, SCCA President & CEO, said partnering with the SCCA for the TT Nationals will be Mobil 1, Koni, Hawk and the NCM Motorsports Park.
“With the help of partners and an experienced group of SCCA members, I’m sure the TT Nationals will grow to be another gem in our Club’s championship crown,” Cobb said. “To some degree, TT Nationals combines the Runoffs with Solo Nationals. There will be competition, there will be comradery, and there will be plenty extracurricular social activities.”
Announcement of the TT Nationals comes on the heels of the recent rebranding of a group of activities existing between autocross and road racing, activities that occur on closed courses but do not involve door-to-door competition. This group of activities, which were once all bundled under the Time Trials banner, now each have a separate identity within the SCCA. Moving forward, all on-track, competitive, timed events will be branded as Time Trials (TT). Non-competitive events will be branded as Track Events (TE), and Hillclimbs remain unchanged. This rebranding, however, does not impact how divisions or regions run programs.
