It's official: '09 Solo Nats moving to Lincoln, Nebraska
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TOPEKA, Kan. (Nov. 11, 2008) – After calling Topeka, Kan. home for the last 14 years, the Tire Rack® Solo National Championships will move to Lincoln, Nebraska’s Lincoln Airpark in 2009.
The Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships have experienced tremendous growth, welcoming nearly 1,200 drivers, making it the largest motorsport competition in the world. The success of the event has been linked strongly to the central location, hospitality of the Topeka community and excellent facilities offered by both Forbes Field and Heartland Park Topeka. For 2009 however, it was clear that the continued expansion would require a new venue.
“The Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships has had a great home in Topeka for 14 years, with the community providing its trademark hospitality to our members and sponsors,” SCCA Vice President of Rally/Solo and Special Programs Howard Duncan said. “This has allowed us to grow the event to the point where we need a new location to accommodate the ever increasing interest in Nationals. The Lincoln Airpark is the best Solo site in the country and will provide us the new home we need to make the Championships more accessible to the growing number of SCCA Solo members.”
As is traditionally the case, the Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Finale will precede the National Championship event at the same site.
“The move of the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships is another step in the continuing growth of the world’s largest motorsports championship,” Tire Rack Vice President Matt Edmonds said. “The diligence that the SCCA staff has shown in selecting this site truly demonstrates their commitment to maintain the great level of competition that every participant has come to expect, even as this program grows to the next level.”
The Lincoln Airpark offers 35.6 acres of concrete for course layouts, 5.7 acres of grid space and 16.9 acres of paddock space. In all, the site more than doubles in size. Moving to the Lincoln Airpark marks a return to concrete for the both events, after three years on Heartland Park’s asphalt Solo pad.
“The Airport Authority is very pleased that our facilities and the needs of the Sports Car Club of America for its annual Tire Rack Solo National Championships look to be a good fit,” Lincoln Airport Authority Executive Director John Wood said. “We know this will have a major, positive impact on Lincoln and look forward to working with the SCCA for many years to come.”
Located less than 200 miles north of Topeka, Lincoln maintains a central location and friendly Midwest atmosphere. The capital city of Nebraska is a popular destination for conventions and sporting events, offering more than enough lodging, dining and entertainment opportunities, as well as a commercial airport.
“Lincoln has fast become a national destination for automotive events such as Americruise, which already calls Lincoln home, and we are happy to include the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships in the mix,” Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Jeff Maul said. “We hope to make Lincoln the permanent home of the Solo Nationals in years to come and look forward to a long-lasting relationship with Sports Car Club of America. Motorsports has a great following and we are very excited once again that our efforts in attracting these events has succeeded!"
The 2009 SCCA Tire Rack Pro Solo Finale will take place Sept. 5 – 6, followed by the SCCA Tire Rack Solo National Championships Sept. 8 – 11.
Get used to Pennington next season. Everyone will want seat time there because Nats is moving back to concrete.
