2025 TireRack SCCA Solo National Championship Write-up
A review of 8+ days in Lincoln Nebraska.
Here we area, almost a week after the 2025 TireRack SCCA Solo National Championships and I am finally getting around to writing up my review.
I drove out to Lincoln with all my supplied for the week in the FRS, 4 tires, clothing, cameras, a chair, a jack, etc. Not the most comfortable ride but a necessary packing list (next year I need to buy a car trailer). I arrived onsite sometime before 3pm after making a stop at the River Relief office in Columbia to drop off a canvas print.
Because I was running the shootout on Saturday, I didn’t need to check in or go through tech on Friday, so I unloaded the car in my paddock spot with other St. Louis region folks and checked out the Solo Performance Specialties trailer to pick up my event magnets. Friday evening I stopped at WalMart to pick up supplied for the week and went on to the AirBNB that I would be staying in for the week.
Saturday morning I was up early, 1 to beat my roomates to the shower (430am wakeup) and then to head out to the carwash and get onsite to get tires changed on the car. Final prep (cleanout) of the car and I headed over to the test & tune course which was the site of the shootout. I got one course walk in just to be safe and then went through tech/registration.
The Shootout itself went great, though I didn’t drive as well as I needed to move on to the afternoon sessions. I ended up second in Solo Spec Coupe. Here’s a video of my best run.
The weather changed after the morning sessions and the sky opened up for the next ~48 hours! Be sure to check out the photos I was able to take of the shootout afternoon rounds.
ProSolo Finale
Once I was done shooting the Shootout, I moved on to try to get photos of the ProSolo Finale. My intention this year was to take photos primarily of the people who purchased my pre-nationals photo package. I managed to do that this year, though I still ended up taking something near 25k photos for the week, similar to last year, but last year I attempted to get photos of nearly ever car. This year I got hundreds of photos of those people who pre-ordered and only a handful from other drivers.
I managed to shoot for a bit Saturday afternoon before heading off to the Shootout dinner at the Museum of American Speed, and then quite a bit more during the Sunday competition and bracket runs in the finale. Lots of photos from the Finale can be found here.
Monday
Monday at Solo Nats is typically a day for course walking. This year it was wet and raining most of the day. I went on site for an announcers team meeting at 1130am, then headed east afterwards. I spent the early part of the afternoon walking around the SAC Air and Space Museum. A must see if you have time to spend and are near Omaha!
Tuesday and Wednesday Photos
Tuesday and Wednesday for me consisted of one action, taking photos. I made sure to get lots of photos of everyone who had pre-ordered my package, plus additional photos of friends and St. Louis locals who were competing.
Conewood Derby
Wednesday night was the pinewood derby competition put on by the fine folks at JXB. I was excited to see where my derby car could finish, it was one I built with my son back in 2020, pre-covid, and had been stored in a box since then. I managed to find where it was buried in the basement the day before I left home and brought it, along with some powdered graphite along with me to Lincoln. the car managed to do pretty well, though there were two cars that ended up being faster, I ended up taking 3rd overall in the run what you brung class, out of ~30+ cars.
Competition Days
Thursday and Friday were my most stressful days. I was working first heat (announcing, which brings its own level of homework and commitment with it) and running fifth heat in SSC. In between I did my best to get photos of everyone who pre-ordered. I definitely didn’t take as many photos as I did on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I still managed to get hundreds of each of the drivers who paid up front.
So how about the most important part of the week, my driving? Well, I ended up 15th, again? Finished in the same place back in 2019, my last time running in SSC in Lincoln. My first run on Thursday was pretty good, within the top 10 of all first runs in the class, the problem was I couldn’t improve over that. I did manage to go a little faster on my third run, but picked up a cone on the south side of the course that negated that improvement. After Day 1 I was pretty unhappy, sitting in 16th. Overnight I realized that if I could move up one spot I would get myself into the Falken contingency money, so that became my new goal. Day 2 I was able to do just that, move up one spot and ultimate collect $100. I was happy to improve on my second run, and then on my third run decided to give it a go and see what I could get down too. Early on the run I clobbered a cone (caution if watching the video, you’ll hear when I did it), so I really started pushing at that point. I was able to get down another couple of tenths over my best run, though the cone obviously negated that improvement. Overall much happier at the end of the day!
What comes next?
I had hoped to make a few more local St. Louis events this year, but it looks like I might only have the ability to make the final event in October. Kid’s hockey is back in full swing and taking up most weekend time going forward. My daughter should be getting her permit in October, so the plan is to get her out in the SSC car learning to drive so that she can do some local events next year. I’ll be back in SSC for at least one more year, I have no plans of changing cars just yet.
Solo Spec Coupe Autocross Settings setup page:
- Front Swaybar: Soft setting
- Rear Swaybar: Stiff Setting
- Front Konis: 0.5 turn from soft
- Rear Konis: 1 turns from soft
- Front Tire Pressure: 31 psi
- Rear Tire Pressure: 30 psi
- Gas level: 1/4 Tank
- Total Runs on Tires: 10 (shootout + nationals)
