If the Tire Rack SCCA® Lincoln Solo® National Tour at Lincoln Airpark is designed to give a taste of the upcoming Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships experience, then buckle in, because this year is going to be a doozy.
The extra special Memorial Day showdown, taking place May 25-27, 2024, saw 336 drivers take runs on the famed concrete surface in Lincon, NE, with ample sunshine bouncing down on the surface. Long story short, this was a fantastic weekend.
The Solo National Tour at Lincoln Airpark was also the second of back-to-back events on the surface during the extended holiday weekend, both expertly hosted by Nebraska Region. Preceding this event on the Friday and Saturday was the Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo®, which saw amazing action in and of itself. Combined, they form what has become known as the Spring Nationals – and yes, the action was every bit as intense as the name implies.
Getting Grippy
With more than 300 drivers on site, great weather to boot, and unique courses designed by Daniel McCelvey (West Course) and Charles Krampert (East Course), everyone was expecting a ton of motorsports fun, and they weren’t disappointed.
Let’s start with the closest battles of the weekend, which was actually a tie with Street Touring® Roadster (STR) and Club Spec Mustang (CSM).
In STR, Vivek Goel and Billy Davis were essentially neck-and-neck for two straight days. Sunday’s runs left them just 0.005sec apart, with Davis in front (and Daniel McCelvey lurking just behind in third). That led to a Monday showdown where all three posted their best runs on their third attempts. This time, Goel’s MX-5 was quickest, and he escaped with a 0.064sec win over Davis, with McCelvey just 0.226sec behind after going fastest on the day.
Though young, the class seems to be pretty equal – no surprise for something called Club Spec Mustang. Spec it was, with Joshua Holsworth and Martin Montagno up front. Holsworth opened with a day-one lead of just over three tenths, holding on by the blink of an eye as Montagno picked up the pace. At the end, there was a 0.064sec margin of victory, with the advantage going to Holsworth.
Like narrow margins of victory? F Mod had this one covered. With just 0.0430sec separating Michael Feeney and Jason Hobbs after Sunday’s runs, it was going to be a tight contest on Monday. Hobbs fired back, going 0.133sec quicker on Monday to make up the narrowest of margins and finishing on top by 0.090sec.
Marcia Haynes got a boost this weekend, thanks to the SCCA Women on Track program that provides one female driver at every Solo National Tour and ProSolo event additional coaching from a respected driver in the program.
Cindy Duncan took the top spot in F Street Ladies by 2.764sec in her Ford Mustang Dark Horse, then put her attention into Haynes’s Solo Spec Coupe Ladies ride. It worked well, as Haynes finished seventh in the class, closing her time to the leaders by a noticeable margin from the first run to the final run of the weekend.
Want more details, measured down to the thousandth of a second? The link below has it all. Meanwhile, the Tire Rack SCCA National Solo Facebook page will also fill you in on the action.
A Summer of Fun
The Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour moves on to the summer portion of the schedule following the Spring Nationals doubleheader in Lincoln. Check out the event schedule now, then plan your next adventure soon, being sure to register for the events early to ensure your spot in the fun.
Photos by Kelsey Karanges
