A season of cone dodging and point collecting comes down to this: the Aug. 30-Sept. 1, 2024, Tire Rack SCCA® ProSolo® Championship Finale in Lincoln, NE. This is the season’s conclusion of the ProSolo Series and the opener of the weeklong celebration of autocross at Lincoln Airpark that is the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships. For ProSolo competitors, though, this weekend is the big time. It’s the one that counts. And it’s going to be awesome.
Following 11 events that began in March, the points have been tallied and the diehard competitors are in it to win it. Two heats on Saturday and one heat on Sunday will set the stage for the final bracket-elimination Challenges of the season – and a couple of people will take home the ultimate prizes in ProSolo
Those leaders are gunning for the Johnson-Clark Johnson Cup, awarded to the top Super Challenge point scorer for the season, and the Fletcher Cup – the equivalent in the Ladies Classes.
And it’s a battle at the top.
Johnson-Clark Johnson Cup Contenders
With a maximum of 57 points available, there are 31 drivers who are technically eligible to claim the prize, though some have an admittedly easier path to follow than others.
For the JCJ Cup, everyone’s chasing Eric Stoltz, whose win at Las Vegas and third place in Packwood were his two scores that counted. That 94 points gives him the lead heading into the Finale, but it’s a tight race.
That’s because Dave Schotz pulled a pair of aces in Vegas, finishing second to Stoltz in the first week and to Dennis Hubbard in the second of the back-to-back appearances in Sin City. He’s just five behind Stoltz in the tally.
With the best-of-the-best in Lincoln for the Finale, it’s not even a lock that the top contenders will make the Challenge – let alone win it. That gives anyone in the top 10, and even beyond, a genuine shot, but the qualifying rounds will become even more important.
Stoltz, Schotz, Rich DiMarco, Mark Madarash, Duston Grubbs, Daniel McCelvey, Mason Herrick, Taylour Wargo, Dennis Hubbart, and Todd Roberts are the top 10 drivers heading into this week, all within 31 points of Stoltz.
We’ve got our eye on Madarash, however. The CAM driver won the spring event at Lincoln. If he comes back with another strong performance, he could leapfrog his way to the title. It’ll all be determined by Sunday afternoon – so stay tuned!
Fletcher Cup
There aren’t very many people who handle a ProSolo Challenge better than Kim Whitener, who enters the Finale with the Fletcher Cup lead on the basis of wins at Oklahoma and Brunswick.
Unfortunately for her, the three immediately behind her in the standings are also damn good, as are the remainder of the 13 eligible title chasers.
Whitener has 112 points, just five ahead of Christine Grice. Grice hit the jackpot with wins at both Vegas rounds, their point total separated only by qualifying positions. Just five points back of Grice is Nicole Wong, who finished second to Grice at Vegas 1 (but was the top qualifier) and won at Crow’s Landing. And then it’s only two more points to Cleveland winner and Jersey runner-up Shelley Monfort, who is no stranger to the Finale, either.
Focusing there is a great place to start, but it ignores the springtime Lincoln winner Kelsey Karanges, who is currently fifth. She’s got some work to do, but she has the skills to make up the deficit.
Tune In From Home
At home, or finishing up the drive to Lincoln for Solo Nationals? Then that’s the perfect opportunity to tune in to stay aware of the action as it happens.
Live timing and audio will be available beginning Saturday morning on the home page of scca.com, and will carry on through Sunday afternoon’s Challenges. Event coverage will also appear on scca.com, with plenty of updates also happening on SCCA's National Solo Facebook page.
Photo by Nikki Edwards
