By Pat Griffith

Now is the time of year autocrossers around the country start thinking about going to the Solo National Championships at Forbes Field Heartland Park Nebraska’s Lincoln Airpark.  For many, it has become a can’t-miss annual ritual to attend the world’s largest amateur motorsports event.

This year’s event will return again to Lincoln Airpark Labor Day week, Sept. 7 to 10.

If you have never been but are curious about attending, I caught up with a few of the locals who have made the trek for six minutes of seat time in the middle of the country.

Danny Kao
Danny admits he doesn’t really have a shot at a National Championship, but that hasn’t stopped him from making the trip to the heartland for the past three years.

“If you go thinking you’re going to win, you’re crazy,” he said.  “The people there are so much faster.”

The advantage for Danny comes when he returns home to compete in local events.

“I enjoy the local event a lot more, because I’m no longer tense to try and finish first or second or third,” he said.  “I know there are just much bigger fish out there. You just concentrate on improving, and that’s all I do.  As long as I drive faster than expected, that’s all I care about.”

It’s hard to believe, but Danny was the introverted kid on his first day of kindergarten the first year he went out with Mike Neary to drive Danny’s Mitsubishi Evo in STU. 

“I didn’t know anybody, so I tagged along with Neary the whole time,” he recalled.  “The second year, I started knowing everybody.  Now the complexion changes – it becomes a big party.”

Adding, “It’s the funnest time ever.  You see a whole bunch of people you haven’t seen in months.”

Danny is going to drive F125 this year in Lincoln.

Josh Luster
Josh’s first Solo Nationals was last year when he drove his Subaru Impreza in Street Touring Unlimted (STU).

“If you haven’t been out before, you have to go and get it over with,” he said.  “Quite honestly, it’s a lot to take in.  If you want to go in the future, you need to go to learn to get used to everything going on.”

For Josh, he went “to see how I compared against the best.  I thought I had a chance to compete.”

Unfortunately, he finished 23^rd out of 46 drivers and was disappointed with the result and left with a feeling that the whole experience had overwhelmed him to a point that it affected his driving.

“I think what happens is that when you go out there, being such a big event, you have the tendency to put too much pressure on yourself,” he said.  “Really, it would have been better just to go out and have fun.”

Even if you don’t think you are going to compete for a trophy, it’s worth it, Josh said.

“It’s one of the most fun times I’ve ever had,” he said.  “Yeah it’s a long trip, it’s a long drive, but you know what?  If you love autocrossing on the weekends, where can you go to autocross with twelve hundred of your closest friends?  Especially if you stay the whole four days.  There’s so much entertainment to watch, there’s so much to be involved in.  It’s an absolute blast.”

Josh is going to compete in Lincoln again this year in STU.

Eric Kriemelmeyer
Eric first attended the Solo Nationals in 1999 when people encouraged him after seeing him drive in his G Stock Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS. 

“People told me I should go because I was fast around here, and I should go out there and see how I compare to everybody.  I wasn’t dead last, but I was pretty far back.”

That first trip opened his eyes to not only the level of competition but how much people put into their cars to maximize the rules, and he was in awe of how much people were into it.

“Everything was at a level I had never seen before,” he recalled.  “People take things to the next level, and out there, there were people a dozen or maybe 15 levels beyond where I was.  Bob Endicott won G Stock that year, and he was getting ready to go run World Challenge races.  I was like, ‘I just started this in May!’”

Since then, he has been every year but two, but those lessons from the first year still ring true.

“That’s when I first realized you had to have the right tire, and you can’t get by doing a couple things,” he said.  “You have to do everything you can to win a National Championship.  Any modification you can make, you have to make, and of course you have to drive really well, too.”

But like Danny and Josh said, there’s more to the Solo Nationals experience than just competition.

“It’s a race, but it is also a social time where you meet friends from all over the country that you don’t see too often,” he said.  “If you’re new, you make new bonds.  If you run midpack in the D.C. Region against good competition, that’s about where you can expect to finish at Nationals.  You shouldn’t have to feel like you got to go out there only if you have a shot to win.”

The courses are also very different than what’s seen at FedEx Field or Blue Crabs Stadium where the WDCR and Autocrossers, Inc., holds events.  The site at Lincoln Airpark is concrete, so it has more grip than the asphalt lots around here, and it is flat with no elevation changes at all.

“It’s a different surface, it’s a different feel,” Eric said.

Eric is going again this year to drive his Solstice in B Stock.

Steve and Evanthe Salisbury
The Steaks have only been to one Solo Nationals, 2006 the first year at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan., competing in A Stock and AS Ladies, but would have attended more if not for the birth of their two children.  Still, the decision to make that first trip was an easy one.

“All of our friends were going.  A large contingency of WDCR and Autocrossers, Inc., was going to be out there,” she said.  “We were going to be surrounded by family.”

They were in awe at the level of preparation of the cars, such as real Modified and Prepared cars.

“The line of F Mod cars!” Evanthe said.  “There were lines and lines of cars, exotic and fully prepped.  It was cool to see all the different kinds of truly prepared cars.”

Even the level of competition in A Stock was impressive.

“Somebody showed up with two S2000s, the first generation and the second generation to see which would be better on the surface,” Steve said.

They ran their Subaru WRX STi then, and after surviving each other for 20 hours in the car, Evanthe barely survived her first day.  She heard a “clunk” on her first run, and overdrove and/or underdrove and was DFL (an acronym that we can’t spell out here) after the three runs. 

“The disappointment was suffocating. I broke down into a sobbing mess,” Evanthe wrote on her blog then. “Eventually I dried my tears, but I was silently inconsolable because I was going to be DFL of the class no matter what happened during the next day’s runs.”

It turned out a bolt on one of the front swaybar end links broke, but they didn’t discover it until changing back to street tires after competition was over.  Evanthe somehow managed to overcome this and drive within a second of the leaders on the second day.

“If you have the time and the disposable income and even the slightest inclination, you should go,” Evanthe said.  “It really is fun, and the fact of the matter is, you’re out there with people who are so experienced, there’s no way you can’t have a good time.  If you even think you might want to go, you need to go at least once.  Unlike the Runoffs and Club Racing, you can go!  You don’t have to qualify.”

When both of the kids are old enough for Formula Junior, which was added to the Solo Nationals three years ago, they might be there again.  Steve has already figured the date at 2016.

What now?

So now you’re convinced to head out to Lincoln and give it a try, so what’s next?  First you need to figure out what you are going to drive.  Of course you can drive your car.  If you’re worried about its competiveness, as others said here, the first trip to Nationals might not be just about being competitive.  Get the first one out of the way then worry about taking home trophies.

If you’re worried about driving by yourself halfway across the country, find somebody to co-drive with you and share expenses for the trip out, possibly sharing a hotel room as well.  Or ask around to see who’s already going and if they want a co-driver.

Many people who have arranged to drive another car also fly out if they can’t work a 20-hour drive into their schedule.  Lincoln Airpark is an active airport, and Omaha’s airport is about an hour up the road.  Rent a car for the week or find somebody to pick you up.

The SCCA has also posted which classes run on which days so you can figure out when you will be driving.  The courses are set up for walking that Monday, so keep that in mind if you are driving Tuesday-Wednesday.  Even if you’re driving later in the week, you might consider showing up early to take in the whole Nationals experience.

Once you figure out what you’re driving, you have to register on the SCCA’s Web site.  The cost is $150 until 4 p.m. Aug. 11, then that rate will go up to $300, so needless to say, it’s a good idea to figure out your plans early.

Also, there will be a short test course set up starting on Friday Sept. 3 and running until Wednesday.  The cost is $45 for an hour session and you can register on the SCCA’s Web site as well.  The Evolution Performance Driving School will also be running on the same course from noon to 2 p.m. from Sunday to Wednesday for $50 per session, and registration is available on the school’s Web site.  Evolution School instructors will be on hand to give tips and ride along to get you ready for the big show. 

Other activities scheduled include a welcome party at the Museum of American Speed Monday night (which I didn’t go to last year and immediately regretted the next morning after hearing everybody rave about the museum), and awards ceremonies Wednesday and Friday nights after competition.

Don’t forget a hotel room and what you want to do for food and drink for the week.  Right by the entrance to event site was a grocery store and a couple of restaurants.

The Steaks’ tips for surviving Solo Nationals:

• Find out your work assignment and what it entails.  Although the job title might be the same as what you might find in the DC Region, duties might be slightly different.
• Don’t drive straight through after work.
• Find a hotel room.

Also, check out Heyward Wagner’s “8 Tried and True Tips for a $500 Nationals Budget” from the SCCA’s Solo Matters newsletter.

For a taste of last year’s Solo Nationals, check out the WDCR’s (very unofficial) blog.