I was negligent and didn’t get a solo report out last month. A lot has happened over the last two months and a there is a lot yet to happen before the 2021 season wraps up. I could write a book, but will just try to hit the high points.
2021 TireRack SCCA Solo National Championships
First and foremost, we sent nineteen (19!) Cincy members to the SCCA National Championships and had our own Cincy paddock area!
If you haven’t ever gone, you should go and make a week of it so you can take in all aspects of it, the parties, paddock games/events, cookouts, banquets, restaurants with friends, meeting new friends, heck even the trip there an back, etc. Ask Mike Wolf, Ben Weaver, or Tact Takagi since they experienced it for their first time this year. (Okay, Ben was there 12 years ago as a toddler, but this was his first time as a competitor.) Congrats to all the trophy winners and everyone who represented Cincy Region, as this is some of the toughest competition you will find on some of the biggest grippy concrete courses, along with all the other fun! Here is how we fared out of the 1099 drivers:
| Rob Clark | 6T | SS | 35 drivers, highest Corvette, 1st Nat’ls trophy |
| Robert Pendergest | 19 | SS | 35 drivers |
| Kent Weaver | 17 | AS | 41 drivers |
| Tim Sholar | 18 | AS | 41 drivers |
| Ben Weaver | 31 | AS | 41 drivers, first Nationals |
| Tact Takagi | 17 | CS | 35 drivers, first Nationals |
| Langlee King | 2T | CSL | 5 drivers, led day 1 |
| Myke Dziengel | 11T | DS | 43 drivers, 1st Nationals trophy |
| Jo Dziengel | 2T | DSL | 15 drivers, 3rd after day 1, 2nd Nationals trophy |
| Jack Burns | 18 | GS | 32 drivers |
| Scott Bourne | 22 | HS | 42 drivers |
| Keith Koegler | 26 | HS | 42 drivers |
| Kia Gharib | 32 | HS | 42 drivers |
| Tina Coil | 3 | HSL | 3 drivers |
| Dave Montgomery | 6T | XP | 24 drivers |
| Christian Moist | 6 | DM | 13 drivers |
| Mike Wolf | 13 | DM | 13 drivers, first Nationals |
| Robert Armstrong | 6T | CAMS | 27 drivers |
| Krzysztof Zielinski | 30 | CAMC | 44 drivers |
SS 35 SSC 58 SSP 13 XP 24 FSAE 6
SSL 6 SSCL 16 ASP 16 XPL 2 KM 16
AS 41 SSR 12 BSP 12 CP 39
BS 40 CSP 7 CPL 5 CAMS 27
BSL 3 STU 37 CSPL 2 DP 11 CAMC 44
CS 35 STUL 5 DSP 16 EP 8 CAMT 15
CSL 5 STR 34 ESP 4 FP 16
DS 43 STRL 4 FSP 13
DSL 15 STX 46 FSPL 7 AM 11
ES 54 STXL 4 BM 7
ESL 7 STS 52 SSM 7 CM 11
FS 18 STSL 3 SM 18 DM 13
FSL 4 STH 22 SML 6 DML 4
GS 32 STHL 2 SMF 16 EM 12
GSL 1 SMFL 3 EML 3
HS 42 FM 22
HSL 3 FML 3
August Events
Novice 101 – Aug 21 – We held our second Novice 101 event of the year and just like the first, it was very successful. We had 20 instructors/helpers come out to help 41 students improve their driving skills as well as learning how to work course and other key positions to help improve their enjoyment. If you are a novice and interested in running one of our events, you are welcome to enter any event even if you haven’t taken a Novice 101 school, these are just to help you do better and have more fun. Remember, you are eligible to run as a novice for your first full year of autocross competition, but it is not mandatory, you can also run in one of our other classes.
Points Event #5 – Aug 22 – We had 176 entrants for this event, which was one of the hottest events of the year, if not for several years. I was told there were pyrometer readings in grid in the 130 F to 140 F range. Over the weekend, we went through over 30 cases of bottled water! Glad everyone stayed hydrated. Even with the extreme heat and over 170 entrants, we were able to give everyone six runs and still finish running before 4:00. The closest margin of victory went to Keith Koegler over the car owner, Jack Burns in Street Open, by 0.020 secs. Fastest Time of Day and Fastest on PAX both went to Rob Clark in his C8 Corvette with a 43.428 sec run.
September Events
Great Lakes Solo Series (GLSS) Event #9 – Cincy served as the site for the capstone events of the 2021 GLSS series. I’m proud to say once again we put on what most people felt were stellar events even with what felt like temperatures in the 100s (although officially only in the 80s.) We were able to give seven runs to the 95 drivers on Saturday, present trophies, and have over an hour of fun runs completed all by 4:00 pm. The closest battle was in XA where Brandon Mihal in his STi edged Scott Baker in his RX8 by 0.101 secs on his fifth run. Fastest Raw Time went to Neva Hoover in her KM Honda CRG Kart with a 40.818 sec run and top PAX went to Rob Clark in his C8 Corvette with a raw time of 40.859 secs
Great Lakes Solo Series (GLSS) Event #10/Cincy Points Event #6 – On Sunday, we were able to give the 168 drivers six runs, present trophies at 3:30, pack up, and be off-site by 4:36 after a very warm, yet successful weekend. Whereas both Saturday’s and Sunday’s courses were fun and fairly fast, Sunday’s was changed substantially from Saturday’s, and most liked the mix of Sunday’s better. The closest battle of this event and of the year goes to Jason Rector who edged out Adam Austin both in Fiesta STs by 0.002 secs and both improving by roughly 0.3 secs on their last runs! It was a fun battle to watch as the lead swapped between the two. Fastest Raw went to Christian Moist in his DM Birkin 7 with a time of 37.590 secs and fastest PAX went to Rob Clark in his C8 Corvette with a raw time of 37.817 secs.
The GLSS has asked us to host events again next year, which I am glad to report we intent to do. Lastly, I want to thank everyone for making this event so successful and helping raise $5000 for the American Stroke Association!
Upcoming Events
Points Event #7 – Oct 3 – Our next event is this coming Sunday. The points battles are in full swing as many of the class standings and trophies are hotly contested. Come out and fight to earn that trophy and just have fun!
Challenge Event – Oct 23 – We are planning to hold a Challenge event again this year even though timing errors killed the event last year. This event will be run similar to the CAM Challenge events where everyone will get 4 or more runs in the morning (# of runs tbd based on # of entrants) to determine who gets into the challenge brackets. Current plan is for the top eight (8) competitors per each of the four heats by PAX to get into the challenge! Of course all of this is subject to adjustments based on number of entrants. Should be a great time!
Points Event #8 – Oct 24 – Our last points event of 2021 will follow the Challenge Event. Time to finalize the trophy competitions!
Fall Fun Event – Nov 7 – Alas, the last event of the season. A chance to come out and play one last time before winter hibernation takes over.
If you are interested in helping organize and make the events even better, please contact me or one of the current solo committee members. We welcome the help and new perspectives to keep improving our program.
Kent Weaver
Cincy SCCA Solo Chair
