What is a national tour?

What’s a National Tour?

The Tire Rack SCCA National Tour, at its core, is an autocross event very similar in format and operation to the local events you already know and love. There are courses made of cones with timers, just like you’re used to. It’s intended to be a way for folks to experience the competition, intensity, and fun atmosphere of the National Championships without having to travel halfway across the country.

What’s different?

Before we get into the differences, everyone should know that there’s a Starting Line program that kindly helps folks through their first Tour experience. It offers guidance to make the changes easier to understand and ensures that you don’t miss out on anything. It’s free, and it’s super helpful at alleviating those first-event jitters that we all remember.

So, the differences: there’s really only three. First, the Tour is a two-day combined-time autocross with two different courses: one on Saturday and one on Sunday. For scoring, you take your fastest time on Saturday’s course and add it to your fastest run on Sunday’s course. The lowest combined time from the two days wins. The course designs are more fun and usually longer since they’re created by highly experienced folks who have been designing Nationals courses for years.

Next, grids work slightly differently. You’ll have assigned grid spots, and you’ll grid (and run) with your class all together. This fosters competition and lets you get to know your competitors, who may have traveled fairly long distances to compete. They might even have nearly the exact same car as you, and you could find some new best friends in your class. There’s also an impound time after the runs for competitors to talk and look over each other’s modifications or setup changes.

Lastly, Friday’s Evolution School and Test-and-Tune (TNT) is a key difference that really adds value to the experience. The Evo School introduces participants to the longer, full-day Evo schools with a national champion in the passenger seat, giving their best tips for speed for the upcoming Tour days. Once the school is complete, our Region will host a TNT with as many runs as you can (or want to) fit in. Just don’t burn the goodness off your tires before you compete the next day!

Why do it?

Want to have 10 times more fun than our usual monthly autocross? Want to be faster and beat your local competition? If you said yes to either (or both), a Tour is for you.

The Tour is a ton of fun—a weekend-long celebration of autocross. There’s a welcome party with BBQ included in the price of admission, post-race beverages with your new and old friends after Saturday’s races, and then you get to race again on Sunday. What could be better?

Besides the fun of it, running a two-day competition + School/TNT format will make you faster. The seat time you get over the three days can be more than most folks get in two to three months. Making friends and learning from your competitors can unlock different driving skills and car setups that make you faster, too.

Oh, I almost forgot the bragging rights! A trophy at a National Tour is a big deal. Folks try for years to get one. What better place to earn your first than on a surface you already know better than anyone? You’re starting out with an advantage!

Why not do it?

Maybe you don’t like having fun with cars. Maybe you like sucking at driving. 😆 Maybe you don’t like good food and fun times with friends. If that’s the case, maybe it’s not for you.

BUT, for the rest of you who love driving and can’t get enough of it—get out there and sign up!