SCCA’s Chicago Region knows how to host an event, and the Tire Rack SCCA® Chicago Solo® National Tour at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL, was no exception.
Event chair Andrew Stein and his team arranged a Friday welcome party with afternoon pizza, followed by ice cream and pie at the JXB Performance compound. The best part? There was so much grub that it reappeared in Saturday’s grid area after completion of runs.
For those who think the autocrossing, rather than the ice cream, is the best part, there was plenty of that as well.
The Pete Maloy-designed course was flowing with technical elements leading to many drivers pushing hard enough to collect their fair share of cones and the ensuing two-second penalty. The challenge cost more than one driver their day-one leads, rewarding both speed and precision – as a good autocross course should.
Besides chasing handling, setup, and the correct lines, everyone was also battling a constantly changing weather forecast. Heat and humidity, and the accompanying summer storm, were absolute issues in Joliet. Despite predictions of rain throughout Saturday, the big storm was a miss until Saturday evening when it dropped two to three inches of rain. Volunteers took to the course with brooms in an attempt to sweep large, deep puddles off the driving line, and the course even had to be changed due to mud washing in from the Route 66 Dirt Oval next door.
While there were several puddles remaining and other water features still on course, the conditions improved throughout the day.
Despite the water-related challenges, the event ran smoothly and ended early enough for competitors to make it home to some much-deserved air conditioning and dry socks.
The SCCA Women on Track Driver Development program continued its great work at Joliet. Yazmin Crisostomo and her D Street Ladies Toyota GR86 received coaching from local autocross legend Bartek Borowski to help her through the Solo National Tour event. Meanwhile, Meghan Lapeta’s efforts to win the Ladies Street Tire Bump class in a B Street Toyota Supra earned her the Pay It Forward certificate for the event and the right to invite a local female driver to a future National Solo event, where she’ll receive a free entry.
Class Comps
Those cones reared their ugly head in many classes, including F Street. Mike Leeder’s second run in his Chevrolet Camaro was a blazer on Sunday, which was a good thing because his final run saw cone carnage to the tune of four orange pylons. His time bested Doug Rowse, who came in 2.657sec back in second place, thanks in part to none of his Sunday runs being clean.
G Street Touring was a great battle between good drivers in separate Subaru WRXs. In the end, Nate Chester put down one clean run each day, giving him a 0.646sec advantage over Kyle Hemp at the finish.
There’s no reason to even leave Joliet to see the highs and lows of competitive autocross. Kate Regganie led the opening day in Kart Modified, only to see Ian Berman come storming back to take victory on Sunday. But a winner’s trophy still heads back to the house, as dad Brian Regganie scored the top spot in Classic American Muscle-Sport during the weekend.
For more of the action, check out the event results.
Up Next
It’s a quick turnaround for the cast and crew of SCCA’s National Solo program.
The on-site staff loaded the truck quickly on Sunday afternoon and pointed it east, where the Tire Rack SCCA Finger Lakes Solo National Tour at Seneca Army Depot in Romulus, NY, is up later this week, Aug. 1-3.
If that weekend’s good for you, but you’re in need of something more centrally located in the U.S., check out the final Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo® Series event of the season prior to the ProSolo Finale – this one’s even taking place at Lincoln Airpark in Lincoln, NE – the exact same location as the ProSolo Finale!
If the Aug. 8-10 weekend is better for you, then there’s the Tire Rack SCCA Shootout at Grisson Aeroplex in Bunker Hill, IN, to consider.
Photos by David Finchum
