The 2003 Northeast Division Solo2® Championships were hosted at the BeaveRun Motorsports Complex by the Steel Cities Region. The chairman, Vern Anderson, should be given a big round of applause for his efforts in providing the division with such a great event. Once again, the event was a success due to the work of many members from across the division who agreed to step up and help serve as chiefs of specialty and just do whatever had to be done. Everyone made it their event by helping and keeping things going.

The two days of competition were enjoyed by 132 drivers, as was the after-event party on Saturday night. Fun runs were offered on Saturday night, followed by a wonderful cook out and beverage selection, along with lively conversation and bench racing.

This year, the courses were designed by Sam Strano, making good use of the site, with plenty of interest to keep even the most experienced autocrosser on his or her toes.

The novice challenge returned this year to the competition, a traveling trophy awarded to the region with the greatest novice participation and performance. This year, the trophy went to Steel Cities Region. They had the largest number of novices participate, but won the trophy on the performance of those novices. Other regions with notable percentage of novice participation were: Misery Bay, Glen, WDC, NEPA, NY, WNY, CNY and FLR.

The Grant Reynold Trophy, a long-standing tradition at the NEDiv Solo2 Championships, was hotly contested as well. The top three regions vying for this trophy were: FLR (who has won it for the past 2 years), Philadelphia Region, and Steel Cities. This trophy is awarded based on the finishes of each region’s top ten finishes. New England has taken itself out of the competition for this trophy, as it had dominated it’s results for most of the trophy’s 33 year history, this year however, NER was not a factor in the results, and the trophy was won outright by Steel Cities Region. This win was again aided by the region’s novice finishes.

Congratulations to the Steel Cities Region and the entire NEDiv Solo2 community for putting on such a great event.