By By Richard Dark/The Meridian Star
Feb. 23, 2001
This year marks the return of the Sports Car Club of America National Tour to Meridian. The tour officially begins its 2001 campaign here in the Queen City.
The full slate of weekend SCCA activities gets jump started at the Meridian Regional Airport this morning at 10 a.m. with an open Test and Tune Practice Course. Registration and tech inspections will begin at 6 p.m., as will the official event welcome ceremony.
Saturday morning's action gets started bright and early as the course becomes open for fans at 6 a.m. Following a driver's meeting at 7:30, Heats 1-5 will commence their competition at 8 a.m. The competition will continue until all the heats are finished.
Sunday's activities will follow the same format, with an awards presentation scheduled at 4:30 p.m.
These two-day events are presented seven times a year in locations all over the United States.
There is no entry fee and no cover charge for the event, as the SCCA is a non-profit organization.
Thomas, a native of Meridian said the national tour stop here in its third year has drawn fan interest. "The popularity has really grown since we ran just a localized event some five years ago."
There were 285 drivers registered for the event as of Wednesday evening according to Thomas. He said the drivers usually come in from all over the country and even Canada.
There are four major classifications of vehicles: Stock, Street, Prepared and Modified Class.
There is only one competitor allowed on the course at one time and the slalom-style event which is timed won't see speeds that are in excess of 70 miles per hour. "We aren't doing over a 100 mph, but because of the course we have set up, the speeds that you do are still pretty exciting."
Fans can keep up with this weekend's activities via a live Internet radio broadcast once again presented by Peavy Electronics.
For more information about the SCCA and how to get involved, visit the website at www.scca.org/amateur/solo2 or call 800-770-2055.
Richard Dark is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rdark@themeridianstar.com.