First Female Since 2005
Solo Nats kicked off over the Labor Day weekend with the culmination of the ProSolo Season championship, the Super Challenge and the Ladies Challenge, before heading directly into the class National Championships for the remainder of the week.
And this year, Tamra Hunt Krystinik became the first female in 17 years to win a ProSolo championship in an Open class, doing so in S1. With her National Championship title in DSP in 2019, this makes Tamra the ONLY female to claim an Open title in both!
“Fun fact, I’ve competed in Ladies 4 times at the finale, and yesterday was my first finale win, and it was in open! Ladies class competition is tough,” Tamra noted. “I’m a big supporter of ladies classes and would not be where I am today without them.”
Taking her ProSolo class win into the Challenge round was going to be tough. But Tamra finished 16th in the overall indexed results, giving her the highest placing by a woman.
Female Open Champions
Stacy Reitmeir – 1996 AS ProSolo Champion
Lynne Rothney-Kozlak – 1997 and 2003 FS ProSolo Champion
Shauna Marinus – 1998 ASP National Champion
Kyung Wootton – 2005 CS ProSolo Champion
Rita Wilsey – 2005 BSP National Champion
Brianne Corn – 2011 BM National Champion
Tamra Hunt Krystinik – 2019 DSP National Champion and 2022 S1 ProSolo Champion
ProSolo/Challenge Explained
The Super Challenge and Ladies Challenge championships, as well as the individual ProSolo class championships, aren’t winner-take-all battles, as is the case with the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships that starts today in Lincoln. Instead, they’re season-long awards, with the overall Challenge titles being the most difficult to obtain.
Why so tough? The format. ProSolo’s opening day of the weekend looks similar to any other traditional autocross, albeit on dueling courses with drag-race starts. There are single runs within your class, doing what autocrossers do and trying to go as quickly as possible through the cones. The energy builds throughout the weekend as points championships are decided in each class – then come Sunday afternoon, the event reaches its peak.
Those early runs weren’t just for a class title – they also served as qualifying for the Super Challenge and Ladies Challenge. In the Super Challenge, the top 32 drivers in Open classes, as sorted by SCCA’s Index designed to equal classes, make the field. The process repeats for the Ladies Challenge, with the top eight making that field.
This is when the fun kicks into overdrive.
Each driver in the Challenges line up in the drag-race style starts on the mirrored courses as they have done all weekend, but now it’s a heads-up race to the finish. That same Index gives one driver a slight advantage, if necessary, but the first driver home advances until only one remains.
The best two Challenge finishes, plus the Finale, count for the season-long points and the championships.
You can see how difficult it is to take home a season-long Challenge title, or even just a single win. That’s what makes the Johnson-Clark Johnson Cup Super Challenge and Fletcher Cup Ladies Challenge Championships, and their accompanying Keisel Guitars custom trophies, so valuable.
At one of her first events in Billy Davis’ CSP
The Thank Yous
While “Solo” and “Autocross” imply doing it all on your own, that’s far from the case. It’s always a team effort, and NER is known for its strong support of its members. Welcoming new drivers, guiding and advising them is the norm.
“I’d like to thank the Davis family for taking me under their wing when I first started auto crossing, and the opportunity to drive their CSP car and learn from them,” Tamra explained. “Also, my husband, Andrew, for being the best teammate ever. I hope the momentum carries into the tour, but if it doesn’t, I will keep trying!”
What’s Next
Today is the start of the National Championship winner-take-all rounds. Tamra will be up in Group 4 on the East Course today, and the West Course tomorrow (Wednesday.) Follow her, and all the NER drivers this week online at SCCA.com/live, or on any of the SCCA social media pages.
Live action from Lincoln Airpark online at sololive.scca.com. That’s where you’ll find current timing/scoring and audio coverage from the event. And monitor @SoloMatters and @sccaofficial on social media for updates and photos. The SCCA Inc. Facebook page is also where you’ll find the Solo Nationals Morning Show, a daily video presentation where hosts keep everyone up to speed on the competition and interview special guests.
NER Driver Schedule
