TOPEKA, Kan. (October 9, 2018) – Following the momentum of the Tire Rack SCCA® Time Trials Nationals at NCM Motorsports Park, SCCA has announced a 2019 launch of the Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials National Tour. The series will be a coast-to-coast National Level Time Trials program with stops at 10 of America’s best and most challenging tracks.
Jon Krolewicz, the SCCA Time Trials program manager, sees this as a chance to take the energy and buzz from the NCM event on the road. “We want to capture the positive social and competitive experiences shared by the participants of Time Trials Nationals and bring that same overall vibe to various tracks across the nation.” Krolewicz continued, “By expanding across the country with the series and with the support of Tire Rack, we can bring a best of motorsports experience to a much larger audience while also providing SCCA Regions resources to help them grow their own Time Trials and Track Events.”
Matt Edmonds, Executive Vice President at Tire Rack, shares in the excitement of the concept and sees this as a natural step in the SCCA and Tire Rack relationship. “Tire Rack has long supported SCCA Solo® events and has been on board with Track Night in America Driven by Tire Rack since day one,” Edmonds noted. “We see Time Trials as a way to bring these worlds together, as well as engage driving enthusiast and introduce them to Tire Rack and SCCA.”
Time Trials National events will not be a points series, but one-off events based on the Tire Rack Solo Championship Tour model, with collaboration between host Regions and National staff leading up to the 2019 Time Trial Nationals, which will be held once again at NCM Motorsports Park.
The desire is for the Tire Rack Time Trials National Tour to have at least eight stops, with events currently being planned at Pittsburgh International Race Complex, High Plains Raceway, Carolina Motorsports Park, Portland International Raceway, GingerMan Raceway, Heartland Motorsports Park, Thunderhill Raceway and Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
Heyward Wagner, Director of Marketing and Experiential Programs at SCCA, is excited about the potential of this series for both participants and SCCA Regions. “The feedback we received has been overwhelmingly positive; participants have been very vocal about the amazing experience they had, both on and off the track. Our goal now is to take what we have learned to Regions and equip them to be able to build Time Trials and Track Events that can produce the same results.” For Wagner, this means much more than competition. “We want to bring that same level of camaraderie and social interaction everyone enjoyed to other parts of the country, and work with the Regions in an effort to continue to develop this new vision of what Time Trials events can be.”
Stay tuned for additional Time Trials news at SCCA.com.