New 2011 SCCA Solo Racing Contingency Program

The SCCA released the 2011 contingency sponsorship programs for Solo & ProSolo racing last week. The roster includes the usual suspects, including some of our personal favorites including Mazdaspeed, Hawk Performance, AST Suspension & Hoosier Tire. Hamfist Racing would like to thank each and every sponsor. You are all in good form and understand what it takes to successfully market and promote your products!

SCCA Official Release Statement Feb. 18th 2011:

"With the season-opening event for the 2011 Tire Rack SCCA National Solo season just a few weeks away, participants should register now to be eligible for the thousands of dollars in contingency payouts.






Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo National Series

As part of its across-the-board Platinum SCCA contingency program, Volkswagen offers both event and year-end prizes for drivers finishing in the top three in either class or Gumout Super Challenge competition. Drivers taking a class win in one of 16 eligible classes earn $400. Should they take the Gumout Super Challenge, they win $800. Year-end class winners can also garner another $1,000 for doing it in a Volkswagen, with the year-end Challenge winner grabbing a $5,000 prize.

Honda, also a Platinum contingency sponsor, will pay $500 for a Super or Ladies Challenge win in each event, and $150 for a class win. Year-end class and challenge champions could take home $500 from Honda.

Longtime SCCA supporter Hawk Performance offers up $100 in product credit to any class or Gumout Super Challenge winner displaying Hawk Performance decals.

Bridgestone will post $500 for a Challenge win, as well as cash for a top three finish in any Street Touring class. Win a season-long class or Challenge title, and take home another $1,000.

Toyo Tires matches Bridgestone’s posting for Tire Rack ProSolo Street Touring® participants with its Silver level Contingency program.

Hoosier, Kumho, Mazdaspeed and TRD each post Bronze level programs, meaning registration and redemption are handled through those companies directly.

Kumho offers product credit for class and Challenge wins at events, including a $600 credit for a win in the Street Touring category. Hoosier offers two tires for a class win and one for a second-place finish. Event Gumout Super Challenge, year-end point Champions and Finale class winners each take four tires with a win.

Mazdaspeed will again pay out class, Challenge and year-end awards ranging from $200 for a class event win to $800 for a point championship. Likewise, TRD will pay class and year-end awards ranging from $200 to $1,000 for competitors in Toyota vehicles.








Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour

In Tire Rack Solo National Tour competition, Volkswagen will pay up to $500 for a class win and $300 for second place for VW drivers in any of 34 eligible classes.

Bridgestone, Toyo and Yokohama will each pay out top three finishes in the Street Touring Category, with $300 going to the winner.

AST Suspension continues as a contingency sponsor, offering the top-three finishers in eligible classes product certificates, with a $500 award going to class winners.

Like AST, Hoosier and Mazdaspeed also offer Bronze packages. Winners on Hoosier tires win a pair of tires, with a single tire going to second-place finishers. Mazda will pay a National Tour class winner $200 for a win and $100 for a second place finish.

Kumho Tires offers product credits to top-three in class finishers, rewarding the Street Touring Category with $600 in credit to champions, and $400 and $300 for second and third. All other classes receive $300, $200, and $150 in credit for a top three finish.

In addition to the National program contingencies, Bridgestone and Toyo Tires have also posted programs for the Tire Rack SCCA Divisional Solo Championships that matches their National Tour payouts.

For complete details on all of these contingency programs, visit www.scca.com/solo and click the “contingencies” link. A link for online registration is available there as well.

The 2011 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour begins March 12, with the Dixie National Tour in Adel, Ga. The Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo National Series begins with the Mineral Wells Pro Solo, March 26, in Mineral Wells, Texas."

2011 SCCA Solo contingency registration forms and additional info available HERE

PREPARATION-H.amfist

By: Jake

SCCA DC ProSolo is in less than two weeks and Finger Lakes National Tour is this week. For many, Team Hamfist included, preparation is in full swing – preparation of equipment and preparation of drivers. Aside from making sure we get seat time every chance we get, including this weekend's NNJR SCCA autocross on the Raceway Park road course and last weekends 2-day Holbert Memorial, we have all begun working on some minor tweaks to get the cars closer to the maximum performance potential of each of our classes.

I am not about to let those STU boys get the best of me. For me personally, that meant spending a little time wrenching and a little time running erands. Neither of which was uneventful.

The STU Competition

A week or so ago myself and a couple other Hamfists decided to pull the trigger on new rubber. Between all of us we ended up buying twelve new tires; including, 4 Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs, 4 Toyo R888s, and 4 Hoosier A6s… drool. The Hoosier A6’s are 275/35/15 and are set to be run on the La Rosa’s 1993 Mazda RX7 R1 – an ex-Super-Stock car now nicely prepared for ASP competition.

Awaiting fresh stickies (Top Right: La Rosa Rx-7; Top Left: Jake Rx-7; Bottom: Jake STi)

The R888 rubber, while sticky and technically and R compound tire, is more of a compromise between street and race. This rubber has been mounted to an A-Stock 2008 Honda S2000 Club Racing Edition owned by Hamfist co-founder, Dave Corsaro. (There will be much more on both of these autox beasts-drivers and cars-in future posts here so be sure to check back.)

Holbert Memorial Autox (Top Left: Jake STi; Top Right: Corsaro S2000)

Co-founder Dave performing the official Hamfist salute

The Dunlop’s are for the Subaru STi. Dunlop Direzzas are one of the fastest tires available for ST* competition in SCCA solo racing. Despite the Bridgestone RE11R being the tire of choice for most of my divisional and regional competition I decided to stick with a tried and true tire. This decision unfortunately eliminates me from contingency sponsor prize eligibility with Bridgestone, obviously. However, the upfront cost was a couple hundred dollars less buying the Dunlops than buying the Bridgestones.

Our Hamfist fieldtrip to Wal-Mart for a low buck race tire mount ($3.50/tire) yielded some funny pictures. One of which is the Bronco full of wheels and tires, sixteen to be exact.

And a business was born... Acme Tire Transport Co.

I guess that old hunk of steel serves a purpose after all. The other interesting thing to note was the car-nage that occurred right before our eyes upon pulling into the Wal-Mart parking lot. A Honda Accord came barreling out if its parking spot over a mulch median and plowed into the side of a shiny Civic parked 30 feet away. I thought that the throttle might have gotten stuck on the Accord, that was until the Accord backed up 10 feet and threw the car back in drive for another crunch session. Repeat. This guy was obviously nuts!

Wal-Mart carnage aftermath

We hamfisted the Bronco out of there in fear of being the next target on this guy’s rampage. Once the heat died down we check back with the scene of the crime and snapped pictures of some of the aftermath. Apparently the driver had a stroke and was clueless as to the carnage he was causing. He ended up in a telephone poll separating the parking lot from the major road. Lucky he didn’t cross over.

Back at Wal-Mart the tire mounting grease monkey decided to hook me up with a custom "polished lip" on one of my Rota DPT bronze wheels. What do you expect for $3.50 per tire? Team Hamfist is sitting on fresh rubber, now.

(Picture soon to come)

After the Holbert weekend and NNJR autox passed I started looking around at some parts I have accumulated over many months that I have yet to install due to a severe case of procrastination.

More Holbert Memorial Photo's by Perry @ Autox4u.com (2nd Place in class trophy: Bottom; Running: Top)

These parts include NGK iridium spark plugs, COBB shifter bushing, and a COBB post-MAF intake hose, and a custom Meineke axle-back-delete dump pipe.

Custom Meineke Dump Pipe

Additionally I have been piecing together some stock parts that have broken or fallen off, possibly as a result of rallyx, including a turbo heat shield bracket and a front passenger side fender liner. Most of this gear went in without a problem. However, while swapping the spark plugs I needed to remove the airbox; at which time I discovered that my K&N panel air filter was 95% caked in rally mud. When I say caked I mean CAKED. It looked like I baked a cake out of mud on the dirty side of the filter.

Source of the mud pie - Poughkeepsie Sports Car Club Rallycross '08 (Photo By: Robert Plafta)

They only part of the filter that looked to be allowing air to pass through must have been no bigger than a Ritz cracker. I have been autoxing like this all season! I proceeded to wack the panel against the ground ten or so times and it was all clean... relatively speaking. In my last effort to shave every tenth off my time and every ounce off my car I removed my rally armor mudflaps and rear aero-skirts. Not only does all this cosmetic hardware weight critical ounces but I imagine that they protruded off the car sufficient enough to clip unnecessary cones.

Next on the agenda is a stop at Sunoco for 5 gallons of my favorite automotive beverage, GT100 octane, and then I am off to Finger Lakes. Team Hamfist, I'll see you there. In the meantime don't forgot the secret Hamfist mantra... "Balls To The Wall."