The SCCA U.S. Majors Tour begins its six weekend Southern Conference racing series this Feb. 11-12, 2017
The 2017 SCCA U.S. Majors Tour will kick off in SCCA’s Southern Conference this coming weekend, Feb. 11-12, at the challenging Texas World Speedway circuit in College Station, Texas. Despite rumors of the track’s closing, the facility is still completely operational and SCCA’s Texas Region is excited to host its annual Polar Prix to start the Conference’s 2017 Majors season off right.
Over 100 drivers will take on the beloved 2.9-mile “roval” course, looking to bring home victory – but possibly none more so than defending E Production SCCA National Champion Matthew Reynolds. “Texas World Speedway is a great track to kick off the 2017 season,” Reynolds says. “I’m looking forward to shaking some of the rust off and getting the cars ready for the SCCA Hoosier Super Tour races coming up.”
Having dominated the Mid-States Conference in previous years, Reynolds looks to continue that success with the help of his team and supporters of the SCCA Club Racing program. “We’re excited to have Hoosier Racing Tire as the title sponsor for those events and would love to put the No. 71 Hoosier Racing Tire/Jesse Prather Motorsports/G-LOC Brakes/Reynolds Brothers Racing Mazda Miata at the top of the points for not only the 2017 Hoosier Super Tour events, but all the Southern Conference Majors as well,” Reynolds continues.
Reynolds is already preparing for this year’s SCCA National Championship Runoffs fight in late September, and isn’t afraid of the unique challenge that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway may pose. “This season will be unique in that almost all of the drivers will have never turned a wheel on the track.” Reynolds explains. “I believe this will level the playing field and provide some intense and exciting racing.”
Reynolds is always up for a challenge, especially learning new tracks. “Indy seems to have a good mixture of low and high speed sections, which won’t heavily favor one aspect of a car, making this Runoffs E Production race even more competitive than last year,” he says. “Everyone has continued to step up their game, and I don’t anticipate anything different going into this season.”
Like with many race tracks, it’s hard to determine if one track individually is a close parallel to another, but Reynolds feels there are several road courses in SCCA’s Southern Conference that have similar components to the 14-turn, 2.592-mile road course at the Brickyard. “Texas World Speedway has the speed and some rhythm sections, NOLA is flat and has a series of esses, and Hallett is just busy, demanding, and requires a lot of focus,” Reynolds says. “Every weekend we are hoping to take something away that can be used to better prepare the car – and myself – for the Runoffs.”
Reynolds and at least five others will be racing for the E-Production win in Group 7. He will also be racing in Spec Miata, looking to maximize both track time and hardware.
Coverage of the Polar Prix from Texas World Speedway will be available on Race Monitor with final results posted to SCCA.com and sowdivscca.com. MazdaMotorsports.com will follow this race weekend and provide an update, as well.