Beeville, TX, was the place to be April 12-14, 2024, for the Tire Rack SCCA® South Texas Solo® National Tour co-hosted by SCCA’s Lone Star and Houston Regions at Naval Air Station Chase Field.
Weather conditions were just “bee-autiful” for SCCA competitors to blast around courses designed by Jeff Vineyard. He took full advantage of the venue’s great layout that offers a mixture of grippy concrete and asphalt – plus seemingly endless room to have #funwithcars.
But before things got started on course, the Road Trip Racing Team hosted a Friday night welcome party in the paddock. That gathering alone makes the trip to Beeville worthwhile. The rest of the weekend saw food trucks on site doling out plenty of Texas-style food to the 155 people who made runs at the event.
One of those competitors was Rachael Acosta, who received additional tutelage from Ricky Crow thanks to the SCCA Women on Track Driver Development Program. That initiative aids one randomly selected woman at each Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour and ProSolo Series event with an opportunity for a one-on-one, 30-minute virtual coaching session with a top-tier driver from the sport.
This level of coaching is aimed at helping drivers meet their performance driving goals, and it seemed to have an impact on Acosta. She drove a 2005 Acura RSX to a fifth-place finish in the hotly contested Ladies Street Tire Bump class.
Landing Wins at Chase Field
Nine drivers made up the Ladies Street Tire Bump class in South Texas. That field was led Saturday by Stephanie Reynoso, in a 1989 Honda Civic Si, who was 0.320sec faster than Casey Coughlin in a 2020 Mazda Miata. Coughlin turned things around on Sunday by executing a flyer lap under pressure to ultimately earn a 0.466sec victory over Reynoso. Kasey Gintner finished third in a 2017 Ford Focus RS.
The 10-driver Street Touring™ Roadster battle was a nailbiter. Saturday was led by Corey Phillips in a 2020 Mazda Miata, and 0.731sec behind was a 2019 Mazda MX-5 driven by Daniel McCelvey. But Sunday saw McCelvey come flying back to beat Phillips by a scant 0.034sec. Vivek Goel was third in another 2019 Mazda MX-5, and Christopher Dunn finished fourth codriving with Phillips.
D Prepared was another class that saw a swap at the top of the six-driver class from Saturday to Sunday. Todd Roberts, in a 1990 Mazda Miata, had the advantage Saturday with 2.076sec on a 1993 Mazda Miata driven by Jeff Warden. Roberts, however, suffered car issues on Sunday, which allowed Warden to make up time and ultimately take the win by 3.920sec over a hamstrung Roberts.
Honors for having the largest class at Beeville went to D Street (DS) with 14 entrants. Zbigniew Szymanski, in a 2023 Subaru BRZ, led the class all weekend and came out the victor. Only 0.788sec behind in the runner-up spot was Tyler Kvetko in a 2023 Toyota GR86. Eric Jones, co-driving with Kvetko, was third, and Osvaldo Ibarra claimed fourth in a 2023 GR86. The fifth spot went to Ken Brewer, who made it a BRZ sandwich for the five trophy positions.
Additional coverage from Beeville can be found at the Tire Rack SCCA National Solo Facebook page. A full rundown of results from the event can be accessed by clicking the red button below.
Two More Solo Nat Tour Events to Come in April
That’s one down and two more Solo National Tour stops to go in April, with three weekends of action going back to back to back.
Next up is a trip to zMAX Dragway in Concord, NC, for the April 19-21, 2024, Tire Rack SCCA Charlotte Solo National Tour. That will be immediately followed by an April 26-28, 2024, engagement out west in California for the Tire Rack SCCA Crows Landing Solo National Tour.
Click here to learn more about the 2024 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour schedule.
Photos by Laura Harbour
(Editor's note: This article was updated to correct the results in D Street.)
