SCCA Time Trials

“This is our Daytona 500, our Indianapolis 500 – while we don’t call it a championship, this is the one that everybody wants to come to.” Those words, spoken by SCCA’s National Time Trials Manager John Hunter, open the video that relives this year’s Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials Nationals Powered by Hagerty, setting the scene for the three-minute-long recap.

This year’s Time Trials Nationals took place May 12-15, 2022, at NCM Motorsports Park, with more than 150 competitors making the trek to the winding circuit in Bowling Green, KY, to put down their personal best times in this pinnacle event. Over the course of the weekend, competitors battled in four timed competitions, putting their abilities to the test every step of the way.

“Time Trials is all about that ultimate lap,” Hunter explains in the video about how the event’s competition begins on the Friday. “ a lot like a qualifying lap for a race where you’re trying to get that ultimate lap – get that thing nailed down. And then we transition over to TrackSprints, where it’s a section of the track done a lot like a hill climb, where you get a standing start and a flying finish. You get three cracks at that [on] two different sections of the track on Saturday.”

Sunday sees competitors tackle two more TrackAttack sessions for another logged fast time. Those four times add together to determine winners in each of the event’s 18 classes.

“We just secured an overall win in this perfectly street-legal, street-driven – with a trailer hitch on it and taped numbers – Corvette,” professional racer and multi-time SCCA National Champion Tom O’Gorman says in the video after stepping out of the car. “I’m super, super excited about that. And it’s by far the fastest I’ve ever gone here.”

“The really cool thing about NCM is, in my opinion, [it’s] one of the best, if not the best, Time Trials tracks in the country,” Hunter explains of why NCM is the track of choice for this keystone event. “You have an amazing mix of straightaways, technical sections, long sweepers. It really does not discriminate by car. You have an opportunity whether you have a Corvette or a Miata to get a really good time and have a really good challenge. That’s why I love this track.”

The 2022 Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials Nationals Powered by Hagerty event recap video can be viewed below, by clicking here, or by heading to SCCA’s YouTube channel. You can find out more about the SCCA National Time Trials program, which includes the Time Trials Nationals and Time Trials National Tour, by clicking here.