Water Won’t Stop Tire Rack Solo Nats! -- Yeah, it’s raining at the Tire Rack SCCA® Solo Nationals Championship in Lincoln, Nebraska. And yes, it rained a lot during the morning and afternoon hours and there’s plenty of standing water out on the two courses. So what? It certainly hasn’t stopped the action. In fact, the rain has made things pretty interesting. Competitors are sliding their way through long bends and tight turns, and there’s that wonderful, watery sound cars make when pushing through pools of liquid. Visually, it’s astounding. Plenty of tail-happy vehicles twitching their way around orange cones, lots of splashing about, and fantastic rooster tails make the event a spectacle for onlookers. If you can’t be here in person to enjoy the scene, follow the competition online with live timing and audio at http://sololive.scca.com/. And check for frequent updates at https://www.facebook.com/sccaofficial/ and https://www.facebook.com/solomatters/.
It’s All About the Shoes -- As the steady buzz of pouring rain graced grids Saturday, the big conversation is all about competitors maximizing contact with the ground, and the critical choices to make. Nope, not tires -- footwear. The two main philosophies were either to do your best to keep your feet dry or embrace the inevitable and deal with how wet you’re going to get. Rubber boots and hiking gear were the choice of the stay-dry crowd, and open-toed shoes which “drain well” or living with wet feet seemed to be the option.
“These are light running shoes,” said one candid C Street competitor, “so they get wet, but at least they dry fast.”
With the forecast this week, we’re just waiting on contingency programs from Nike and North Face. We also assume there will be a “run” on the dry, branded SCCA socks available onsite in the SCCA merchandise tent.
The Great Equalizer -- You know what they say about rain … it can equalize the performance of cars. One example from Saturday competition at the Solo Nationals is Marcus and Jennifer Merideth, of Detroit Region, who brought their Ford Mustang GT350 to Lincoln to compete in A Street. While the weight of the car puts it at a disadvantage to the Chevrolet Corvette Z06s it competes against in the dry, the wet weather has equalized the playing field. Marcus sits in the seventh trophy position after day one, with Jennifer close behind in the tenth trophy spot. Depending on the conditions tomorrow morning, the odds are looking pretty good for the husband and wife team. Co-drivers John Wolf and Bill Bostic lead the class in their Corvette Z06.
Photo: One C Street competitor goes splish-splash through a Solo Nationals course
