Only Once a Year -- The annual assembly of Sports Car Club of America® Solo competitors at Lincoln AirPark in Nebraska has begun as the 47th running of the Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® Nationals Championship is underway! Right around 1,300 entries are anticipated this year with competitors coming from all four corners of the continental United States, as well as Hawaii, Alaska and several Canadian provinces. The action gets started in the 8 o’clock hour each morning Central Time on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week. Follow all the action Sept. 3-6 with live timing and audio at http://sololive.scca.com/, or keep track of the competition at the SoloMatters Facebook page. Event updates will also be available periodically each day at SCCA.com.

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome! -- It is tradition for Tire Rack Solo Nationals activities to formally commence Monday night with a welcome party, AKA: Tacos & Talent presented by Lincoln Visitor's Bureau and featuring the Grassroots Motorsports Magazine/BFGoodrich Tires Talent Show. A handful of resilient, volunteer cooks braved scorching heat produced by nearly 400 pounds of charcoal spread across four grills to prep 3,000 beef and chicken tacos. A hungry throng filled the 40’x120’ Big Fun Tent to wolf down the grub, which included plenty of rice and refried beans. To top off the feast, partygoers hovered over two large kiddie pools filled with cans and bottles of adult beverages. The revelry continued into twilight as various SCCA members presented their talents on stage. There were several interesting and energetic, but it was David Finchum who took home the grand prize -- a set of BFGoodrich Tires -- after two “fearless” presentations.

Now, Four Days of Competition -- The Tire Rack Solo Nationals is broken up into two halves. One huge group of drivers competes across various vehicle classes on Tuesday and Wednesday, then another massive group of drivers competes in a whole different set of classes on Thursday and Friday.  That means the first group of 2019 Solo Nationals Champions will be named Wednesday night, and the second group on Friday night. A list of the different classes, and the days they will be competing, can be found here. However, a couple groups to watch in the Tuesday/Wednesday field include F Street (FS), E Street (ES), Super Street R (SSR), Solo Spec Coupe (SSC) and Solo Spec Coupe Ladies (SSCL), and CAM-C is always fun to watch with its classic vehicles.

Photo: Big Fun Tent filled with SCCA members during the 2019 Tacos & Talent presented by Lincoln Visitor's Bureau and featuring the Grassroots Motorsports Magazine/BFGoodrich Tires Talent Show.