Cinch tight your 10-gallon brain buckets and don your finest driving duds, the rustlin’ of red Championship jackets is about to begin at the 51st running of the Wild West-themed Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® National Championships, taking place Sept. 3-6, 2024, in Nebraska’s capital city at Lincoln Airpark.
A voracious herd of driving enthusiasts from around the country have ridden in for the Solo Nationals, and the showdown begins Tuesday at 8:15 a.m. Central Time according to the ’24 schedule.
This year’s roundup welcomes around 1,300 cowpokes lookin’ to spur on ponies (er, cars) over four days, with as many as 52 classes running Tuesday/Wednesday to decide a first set of Champions, followed by upwards of 40 different classes competing Thursday/Friday to lasso a second set of Championships before the dust settles.
One last thing, Solo Town visitors. SCCA Sheriffs remind everyone there are rules in these here parts. First and foremost, varmints sure can’t miss Run/Work Order assignments. Be prompt with worker check-in so this ranch runs without a hitch and on schedule over four days. Lots of riders gotta run the trails, so don’t slow up the stampede.
Trail Knowledge
Two paths lead to victory at the 51st Solo Nationals, and those who traverse them trails fastest get crowned champ of their particular rodeo class (we warned you of the Wild West theme for this year’s event, right?). But winnin’ ain’t everything in Solo Town. Having a good ride goes far, too, and delivers a great experience faster than the Pony Express.
This year’s East Course/Plane Side was designed by Mike Faucett, a member of SCCA’s Colorado Region. The West Course/Corn Side was devised by SCCA East Tennessee Region’s Jeff Cox. Combined, what we got here is a hootenanny of #funwithcars.
The East Course/Plane Side – nicknamed Heading out West because SCCA is nothing if not confusing – includes features such as Beware of Snakes, Quickdraw, The Badlands, and Shootout at OK Corral. Course designer Faucett has been autocrossing since 2006, made more than a dozen visits to Solo Nats, and has been plotting courses for about seven years. And while this is his first Solo Nats creative effort, he has previous experience helping former Solo Nats layout artist Michael Feldpusch.
“I like my courses to be flowy and fast,” Faucett said. “I think people enjoy driving cars fast and at the limit. You get a little bit more adrenaline from that, so I look for features that are challenging but quicker. I don’t like 180-degree hairpins … and you won’t see a course I designed have anything like that.”
Saddle Up is the West Course/Corn Side nickname, and that’s where features such as Welcome to Tombstone, Say When, and Unforgiven can be found as designed by Cox.
Joining SCCA in 2011, Cox admittedly succumbed to an autocross addiction very quickly. He has been involved in Solo Nats competition since 2013, messin’ about in E Street Prepared and CAM-C. Additionally, he helped out the last five years as a Solo Nats Co-Chair making this huge event happen before designing his very first Championship course this year.
“My courses … you’re gonna brake going into a slalom,” Cox advised. “You’re gonna make some type of mistake if you don’t.”
Cox warns those starting through Welcome to Tombstone “better be ready and better be on your horse. There’s a few key cones and it’s kind of like a graveyard. If you hit ‘em, you’re dead.”
Say When challenges drivers to contemplate and explore throttle vs. brake, and Unforgiven will haunt time and time again like a 49er contemplating missed motherloads.
“I hope everyone thinks it’s a good, balanced course,” Cox conceded. “I want it to be a good, flowing course; not a power course or momentum course. I wanted something a fair balance between power and momentum, and I think this course does it.”
Trail maps weren’t very reliable back in olden days, but links below to ’24 Solo Nats course maps should serve folks nicely.
East Course Map West Course Map
Monday Night Vittles and Weeklong Extracurricular Shenanigans
“The Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships is all about winning” is what a know-nuthin’ idjut would proclaim. This once-a-year gathering of car-hoofers is more akin to a four-day tailgate experience as opposed to some sort of pressure-filled Parisian Olympic conquest.
The ‘24 party starts at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 3, with beverage dissemination and a Solo Town Hall conducted within the giant Tire Rack Event Center tent, further known as the TREC Tavern. After that, cowboys and cowgirls should roam Solo Town Main Street to gobble vittles served up during the Chuckwagon Challenge. A variety of fine fares will be doled out by San Francisco Region/Canada, Rust Belt Super Region, JXB Performance/Chiwaukee Region, Road Trip Racing Team, Saginaw Valley Region/2-Stroke Paddock, Eastern Tennessee Region, and Southeast Division (SEDiv).
Monday night’s grub is free, thanks to SCCA fans Visit Lincoln and the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce. Still, bring along a half-sawbuck or more for those raising funds on behalf of various charities. Also, don’t go all Hoss Cartwright on Monday because there’s lots more planned for the week.
A complete rundown of all “official” activities can be scoped at the ’24 Solo Nats schedule link below. As far as annual, unofficial activities – they’re easy to find at night within Solo Town. Just listen for laughter and fun.
Two other official, can’t-miss experiences include the Tire Rack Solo Awards Celebration starting at 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 4, within the TREC Tavern. Grub will be served, as well as adulation for the yet unannounced 2024 Driver of Eminence, Solo Cup, and Heart of Solo honorees. Then on Friday, Sept. 6 at 4 p.m., there’s the final Tire Rack Solo Awards Celebration in the TREC Tavern.
Partners Make the Ranch Run
SCCA would be downright remiss if we didn’t tip our Stetsons to some valued partners who help make the Solo Nats pony show possible. For starters, there’s Tire Rack, the longtime Official Tire Retailer of SCCA. Tire Rack has supported SCCA since 1995, which technically makes them a member of the Solo Nationals Silver Circle.
Solo Town can be hazardous, which is why Hagerty has been the Official Insurance Partner of SCCA since 2019. Hawk Performance, the Official Brake Products of SCCA since 2003, brings the ‘whoa’ to ponies; and fueling the fun is Sunoco, the Official Fuel of SCCA since 2001.
Mazda Motorsports is part of this roundup, and will be supporting Mazda competitors in many ways, along with sponsoring Monday’s SCCA Women on Track Brunch.
We can’t forget about Solo Performance Specialties, who will be on site in partnership with R&S Racing Hoosier support and tire service. Falken Tires will be around as well to help out with the Club Spec Demo Day.
SCCA would also like to welcome new partner Malco Products, which will have a large trailer display on site all week showing off the company’s professional quality automotive detailing products and supplies. Be sure to stop by for some helpful how-to demonstrations, or to just say “howdy, partner.”
Follow Action from the 51st Solo Nats Rodeo
Be you in Solo Town or not, there are a couple ways to track the herd during the 51st running of the Solo Nationals. Online at sololive.scca.com is where to find live timing/scoring, as well as audio coverage during each day. Be sure to monitor the Tire Rack SCCA National Solo and SCCA Official Facebook pages, too, for updates and photos over the next 96 hours.
Also, don’t sleep on the Solo Nationals Morning Show, a daily video broadcast at the SCCA Official Facebook page that starts about an hour before cars head out on course. That’s where you’ll find knowledgeable hosts interviewing special guests to bring everyone up to speed on the experience.
Need more Solo coverage? Well, you got journalist Brian Bielanski who will be chatting with participants around the paddock to uncover Solo Nats slice-of-life stories for special Inside the SCCA segments posting to The Racing Network YouTube page. And at SCCA.com, additional stories and updates will roll across like tumbleweed during one of the biggest events SCCA conducts each year.
Lastly, if you’re at Solo Nationals, be sure to tag your social media posts with #SoloNatsHasStarted and #funwithcars so others can enjoy the event from afar no matter where they’re bunked around the world.
(And stay tuned to SCCA.com to see if we can keep up this hootin’ and hollerin’ cowboy speak for every Wild West-themed Solo Nats article posted here. We’re figurin’ we’ll get plumb tuckered in no time flat.)
Photo: Cars heading through Tech in preparation for the 2024 Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® National Championships
Photo by SCCA Staff
