Mazdas sweep each rear-wheel drive category at the SCCA RallyCross National Championships.
A record-setting 110 drivers made the trip to the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb., for the SCCA RallyCross National Championships and their chance to take home top honors at the season-ending RallyCross event of 2014. The previous record was 104 entrants at the 2012 event in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Classes for RallyCross, which is essentially an autocross on soft or mixed surfaces (dirt, grass, gravel or snow) scored on cumulative times rather than best times, include Stock, Prepared and Modified for front-wheel drive, all-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive cars. Mazdas swept each rear-wheel drive category as the NA and NB Miatas have proven to be rather popular cars for RallyCross.
The Nebraska Region SCCA, the host for this event, oversaw the creation of three courses in the large, dirt parking area owned by the speedway. The courses were designed by Kris Martison, Charles Wright and Brianne Corn. Due to extreme rainfall in the Greenwood area during the preceding three weeks, the competition site was waterlogged, pushing course building procedures back. The delay meant that completion got underway later than scheduled.
Conditions during the event were chilly, with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees both days, under dry and clear conditions with a strong breeze on Saturday.
Three run groups took three runs on the Martison-designed course for Saturday’s morning runs. In Stock RWD, Patryk Matecki (Bristol Brewing/Shorai Lithium Mazda Miata), of Monument, Colo., was the quickest driver in only three of his runs, but that was all that he needed to secure his title by a 1.968-second margin.
In Prepared RWD, Sam Henry (Springfield Dyno/SafeRacer Mazda Miata), of Republic, Mo., was the fastest driver in all but two of his seven runs. When the dust settled, Henry scored the National Championship by a margin of 4.754 seconds.
Evan Arthur, of Columbus, Ohio, drove his MAZDASPEED/ORI Mazda Miata to a 0.022-second win in Modified RWD. In a give-and-take battle with RX-7 driver Will McDonald, Arthur won his first RallyCross National Championship.
The RallyCross National Championship is the second of three SCCA National Championship events. The Solo National Championships took place at Lincoln, Neb., earlier in September, and the SCCA National Championship Runoffs for Club Racing competitors gets underway tomorrow at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.