December 22, 2022
Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour, the premier series conducted within the Summit Racing Equipment SCCA Road Racing program, is designed to be a top-shelf experience for amateur road racers. It’s a series filled with skilled drivers, fantastic tracks, and is a showcase for what SCCA has to offer.
In 2023, the Hoosier Super Tour enters its seventh season. With each event, organizers increase their knowledge on how to better deliver a safe, fun, and exciting motorsports experience. In an effort to meet the core mission established for the Hoosier Super Tour, the SCCA Road Racing Department has adopted new plans and services for the coming year. These changes are a result of member and Region feedback, as well as ongoing analysis through the Green-to-Checker (G2C) initiative.
A new staff position for the 2023 season will be that of Super Tour Coach. At each of the year’s 10 events, a Super Tour Coach will be on site and offer guidance similar to that provided to drivers at SCCA Time Trials or Track Night in America Driven by Tire Rack events.
Deanna Flanagan, SCCA’s Road Racing Director, noted that the Super Tour Coach will not be a race official or steward, and the role isn’t geared toward helping drivers analyze data or shave hundredths off lap times. Instead, the coach will serve as a mentor, guide, or sounding board for participants.
“The coach will work closely with the Race Director to identify those who could benefit from some additional guidance,” Flanagan said. “If someone is having a tough go of it on course, the Super Tour Coach interacts with that person with the hope of improving their experience, as well as the experience of everyone else on track.”
The Super Tour Coach will not have all the answers. However, that person will be able to interact with others in the paddock to find the right person to offer qualified insight. Find the weekend coach in the impound area, or through one of the other Super Tour staff members.
It became evident after the review of 2022 G2C data that highly subscribed, multi-class race groups face challenges. On-track incidents ultimately affect the experience of racers in such groups, as well as those in other groups due to lengthy cleanups that sometimes require later sessions be shortened.
To address the situation, one additional run group will be added at highly subscribed, three-day Hoosier Super Tour events. This change will likely be for either Touring cars or the “Wings ‘n’ Things” group, but could be used for other classes if deemed necessary.
Due to time constraints, schedules will need to be tweaked to make room for an additional run group at select events. Generally, what was previously Friday practice will become a 25-minute qualifying session, followed by a second 25-minute qualifying session later the same day. However, not all run groups will fit into this revised Friday schedule, so a handful of groups will be bumped to a 25-minute qualifying session Saturday morning. That means traditional 15-minute Saturday morning qualifying sessions can be eliminated.
Flanagan noted that the General Competition Rulebook (GCR) required 65 minutes of non-racing track time at a three-day event. For 2023, this has been adjusted to 50 minutes.
“On paper, this may look like 15 minutes less time on track, but that isn’t actually the case,” Flanagan said. “In the real world, it’s a decrease of only five minutes for most participants.
“In the past, a 10-minute warm-up session was included Sunday mornings to help meet the GCR’s 65-minute stipulation,” Flanagan continued. “However, that session wasn’t always feasible. Plus, data shows that warm-up was utilized by less than 20 percent of our entries. Our hope is this schedule revision for certain three-day Hoosier Super Tour events will result in more green-flag racing throughout the season, which we know will greatly enhance the experience for participants far beyond five more minutes of practice or qualifying.”
That being said, organizers are fully aware situations arise where entrants could really use some extra time on track to sort things out prior to races. For that reason, all Hoosier Super Tour events will implement a generous hardship lap policy in 2023. Check individual event supplemental regulations for details.
At the request of the Spec Miata community, drivers will be limited to one set of dry (SM 7.5) tires per weekend at three Hoosier Super Tour events in 2023, those events being at Sebring International Raceway, VIRginia International Raceway, and the WeatherTech Chicago Region June Sprints at Road America.
The tires of SM competitors will be marked after the first qualifying session, and then used throughout the rest of the event. Full details for the Sebring International Raceway Hoosier Super Tour are available in the event supplemental regulations found at www.scca.com/sebringsupertour.
New Hoosier Super Tour Decals
Lots of new things are happening with the Hoosier Super Tour in 2023, and that includes the required series decal. Hoosier Racing Tire recently updated its logo, which means new Hoosier Super Tour car decals have been created and are ready to be distributed.
The new decals are being sent out to those drivers registering a Majors number in 2023. New decals can also be found in Tech at each Hoosier Super Tour event.
As a sidenote, the requirement has been removed to run the U.S. Majors Tour decal during events. Racers are welcome to keep those decals on their cars, it’s just no longer required.
Coverage of the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour is about to make a giant leap. Beginning with the very first round of the 2023 Hoosier Super Tour at Sebring International Raceway on Jan. 13-15, SCCA elevates the presence of its pinnacle racing series with a dynamic, multi-camera setup and live commentary to put viewers amidst the action through their computer, phone, or tablet.
The original announcement covers the details, but the gist is that working in conjunction with DriversEye Live LLC – a company with nearly six years of experience streaming live race coverage – all 10 weekends of the 2023 Hoosier Super Tour will boast a setup of up to 12 cameras sporting a leaderboard overlay, produced into a single stream and blended with commentary from Brian Bielanski and Gregg Ginsberg.
The race coverage will then stream live via SCCA’s YouTube and Facebook pages. When available, races will also include live in-car camera views. After each race weekend, races will be available for on-demand viewing.
Check out the complete 2023 Hoosier Super Tour schedule, subscribe to SCCA’s YouTube channel (ringing that bell icon for notifications), and be sure to Like SCCA’s Facebook page – that way, if you can’t make it to the track, you can still keep up with the action.
Photo by Joseph Bierschbach
