2018 Solo Nationals

Over the past few weeks you might have overheard people talking about or seen an endless number of social media posts about the Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nationals and wondered what it is all about.  To put it simply, and accordingly to Donour Sizemore, it is “THE autocross” in which cone avoiders from near and far converge on Lincoln AirPark in Nebraska to compete at the year-end Championships.  It is truly an impressive event that overshadows any of our local events at MetLife Stadium with its 1375 entries and four days of competition.

It is a little murky when it comes to counting how many NNJR members participated in this year’s event, so let’s just say there were a lot of familiar faces from Lot E.

All competitors were met with challenging conditions no matter which days they competed.  They were either affected by torrential downpours or changing conditions.  For a few unlucky ones, they even had to deal with car problems and an off-site accident that totally hampered their first Nationals experience.  I even witnessed a car self-disassemble while it was being trailered to Nebraska.  It was that wild!

Onto the good news, this was the year of many “firsts” for NNJR.  We had 11 first-time Nationals competitors (out of 23 officially registered under NNJR), 5 first-time trophy winners, and 2 first-time National Champions.

We would like to congratulate the following individuals on their achievements in the 2018 Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nationals:

2018 National Champions

Evan Schickel - D Street Prepared

This was Evan’s fourth trip to compete at Solo Nationals.  From 2015 to 2017, he competed in B Street and Super Street R driving Corvettes and finished in the trophies all three times.  This year, he picked up a ride in a 2002 BMW 330Ci that had just won the class in 2017.  Evan adapted to the car quickly, with only two events in the car, and was able to drop 1.4 seconds on his last run on Day 2 to clinch the title, beating the car’s owner in the process.  

Evan Schickel 2018 Solo Nationals West Winning Run

James Vincent Tatad - Street Touring Xtreme

This was James’s third trip to Lincoln.  His first trip to Nationals in 2016 was a last-minute decision, registering as a walk-up and hopping into an unfamiliar car.  In 2017, he finished at the 9th trophy spot, narrowly missing the win by only 0.9 seconds.  This year on Day 2, James took advantage of the tighter East Course to make up time, beating the second place RX-8 by 0.193 seconds.  Congratulations to the Tatad family, who have been by James’s side at every major event, most notably his father and crew chief Jose.  

James winning run

Trophy Winners

Austin Don (F Street 7^th Place)

Austin was on fire in 2018.  Having won both the NJ ProSolo and the Finger Lakes Champ Tour, he was on track to do some damage in his E92 M3 against the pony cars of F Street.  His 7^th Place finish is quite the accomplishment for his first Nationals appearance in a deep class.

Talha Sadhik (Street Touring Ultra 3^rd Place)

Talha bought a bunch of parts off another Evo X and built his daily driver in a short period of time at the beginning of the season.  He took the class FTD on Day 2 and sling-shotted himself up from 8th Place to the podium.  A very impressive performance indeed.

Gary Tsui (Super Street 4^th Place)

Gary piloted his GTR through torrential rains to a 2^nd Place position on Day 1 against a field of Porsches and a lone McLaren.  The drier conditions on Day 2 gave the advantage to the Porsches, but his 4^th Place finish less than 0.6 seconds behind the leader is quite the accomplishment.

Elias Roman (G Street 3^rd Place)

Elias made a last minute class change puts himself in a somewhat familiar car in G Street (the class of hot hatches). He led the class after Day 1 and was able to finish in the last podium spot.

Rich Wayne (E Street 15^th Place)

Rich was forced to find a ride in a hurry due to car issue.  Thanks to the generosity of fellow autocrossers, he found a seat in a Miata and finished 15th out of 60 drivers in a car that he has never driven before.

We do not wish to offend other regions by claiming the following trophy winners as NNJR members, but they have been attending our events long enough that NNJR has adopted them (or they have adopted NNJR).  Regardless of their region of record, we want to extend our recognition to the following people for their performances:

G.J. Dixon - SS 2nd

Amy Dilks - FP 2nd

Rich DiMarco - STS 8th

Elisabeth Flannagan - HSL 3rd

Ken Houseal - STS 10th

Joshua Lipman - SSR 7th

Jake Namer - SSM 6th

Randy Petschauer - SSP 6th

Pat Salerno - SS 5th

Eric Simmons - STX 7th

Daniel Stainback - SM 3rd

Tamra Hunt - DSP 2nd

Andrew Krystinik - DSP 5th

Samuel Krauss - STH National Champion

Regardless of the results, we hope everyone had a great time and commend you for making the trip to represent NNJR or your region.  If you did not attend this year, we hope to see you in 2019.

Joe DeLuca and Linda Gronlund

September 11, 2001

Our region mourns the loss of two of our most active members in the tragic terrorist actions on September 11th. Linda Gronlund and Joseph DeLuca were traveling to San Francisco on United Airlines flight 93 when it was hijacked and subsequently crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all on board.

Linda was our region's Flag Marshal. She had joined the Sports Car Club of America in June of 1980 while living in Sag Harbor, New York. She quickly became active in SCCA activities at the Bridgehampton Road Race Circuit near her hometown and at other tracks all over the northeast. Linda earned a law degree and worked for several automotive companies over the years. She was on a business trip to the west coast for her employer, BMW North America, when she was killed. Linda and Joe planned to travel and sightsee in northern California after Linda's business purpose had been accomplished.

Joe DeLuca joined our club in January, 1980. He was most recently our region's Board Secretary. Previously, and at various times over the years, Joe had been a Trustee, Assistant Regional Executive, Regional Executive, and newsletter editor. Initially a rallyist, Joe later was also an active participant in Solo II and road racing. He enjoyed driving his Morgan and was the current president of the local Morgan club in New Jersey. Joe was the creator of "The Adventures of Raymond the Cat," a monthly cartoon feature in the Northern New Jersey Region's newsletter, "Pole Position." The cartoon is syndicated in many regional publications across the nation. Joe's cartooning was a spotlighted article in the July 2001 issue of SCCA's national publication, "SportsCar." Joe was on vacation from Pfizer Corporation where he was a systems analyst.

Active members in SCCA know what these two wonderful individuals knew: SCCA membership brings a friendship, a camaraderie, which borders on being family. The Northern New Jersey Region has lost two very special members of our family. The entire SCCA organization feels this loss.

September 11, 2001

Joe DeLuca and Linda Gronlund were taken from us on September 11, 2001 on board Flight 93.

Never forget!