The Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® National Tour made a beeline for a popular autocross hot spot in the Tire Rack South Texas Solo National Tour event at Naval Air Station Chase Field – otherwise simply called “Beeville.”
Course designers Chris Levitz and Andy Neilson laid out two wonderfully fun and challenging courses on the Beeville tarmac that transitions from WWII-era concrete to asphalt. The weather was typical South Texas beautiful with highs in the 80s and a stiff breeze as the afternoon progressed.
Michele Brown earned the SCCA Women on Track Driver Development scholarship for the weekend, and with that came coaching from autocross powerhouse couple Laurie and Daniel McCelvey. It paid off, too, as Brown landed third in the D Street Ladies class during the event (one place behind Laurie McCelvey). Kasey Gintner, in the same class, earned the SCCA Women on Track Pay It Forward award for top finish by a female at the event, and now has the opportunity to invite a local driver along to a National Solo event later in the year.
Now on to the weekend’s action...
Digging Deep
Zbigniew Szymansnki set the bar in D Street on the opening day, then watched Chase Gintner try to claw back the lead come Sunday. Szymanski’s Subaru BRZ built nearly a second on the opening day before Gintner closed that gap with a strong run of his own on Sunday in his Ford Focus RS. At the end, Szymanski’s total was 0.191sec quicker than Gintner’s for the class win.
E Street’s NB Miatas were neck and neck, as expected, at Beeville. Michael Grosenheider was quickest each day, but only slightly so, as his total run was a scant 0.267sec ahead of Darryl Paul.
Andy Neilson’s Chevrolet Camaro SS was tops in the CAM-Contemporary class, marching his way to a 0.502sec win over co-driver Chris Levitz. The On The Ledge Racing teammates were another 0.906sec ahead of Khai Duplantis in third place.
The action continued to get tighter in other classes. In Club Spec Mustang, Chris Fletcher was best in South Texas, using his second-day run to stretch his final margin to 0.257sec over James Curtis Clem. Gustavo Garcia was only 0.414sec back in third, with Crissy Hedderick just behind in fourth.
It’s hard for it to get more competitive than in Ladies Race Tire Bump after the index adjustments had been made. Casey Coughlin in her CSP-prepped Mazda Miata was just 0.019sec ahead of Laura Harbour’s FSP-classed Toyota Celica GTS for the win.
For complete event results, click the link.
Now What?
April is far from over for the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour, as the team aims the trucks for the Tire Rack Oklahoma Solo National Tour at Frederick Regional Airport.
New for a Solo National Tour, the site has captured rave reviews from locals and will have the pavement to match for competitive runs. Register for the April 25-27, 2025, event by clicking here.
Also, check out the complete 2025 Tire Rack Solo National Tour schedule!
Photos by Laura Harbour
