One of the premier Pro-Touring events that takes place each year is the Heidts Midwest Performance Car Challenge (HPCC). Under the direction of the American Street Car Series Staff, it’s more than just an autocross event, the HPCC is a full three-day weekend of events that put your camaraderie and your vehicle through their paces, making new friendships and leaving lasting impressions. You can expect to see nearly 100 of the best engineered Pro-Touring cars show up and compete in this weekend-long event.
Beginning on Friday, May 30, the Heidts Performance Group provides participants with a tour of Heidts’ facility, followed up by a barbecue hosted by Heidts. Staff will be on hand to get all of the registration requirements and documents filled out for racing the following two days. When the festivities are over for the evening, a Road Rally to the Holiday Inn in Joliet, Illinois, is where the real racing spirit begins. The Road Rally will test your ability to contain yourself, as everyone heads back to the hotel to do a little bit of bench racing and bragging.
Saturday morning, May 31, the Autobahn Country Club, outside of Chicago, plays host to the competition, where the Heidts Road Course portion of the event takes place. The north course is a 9-turn course spread out over a 1.46 miles, giving competitors an entire day of racing and track time.
Adding to the event, the Nitto Autocross puts the drivers skills to the test as they navigate through the cones for best track time. A Jet Hot Autocross Driver School is available to the first 20 drivers to sign up for the HPCC, conducted by professional race car drivers. The goal for this driver school is to give beginners and novices an opportunity to learn from some of the best, to get the most out of their experience.
The Speed Stop Squared Challenge, sponsored by Wilwood, will also be taking place on Saturday. As you can surmise, this is a go fast-stop fast event that puts the driver on another course through the cones, where acceleration, braking and driver skills are all put to the test. This course will have drivers competing head-to-head on mirror-image courses, with a short drag race before a slalom course, and then coming to a complete stop in a “stop box”. Sliding out of the box, or hitting a cone can put you at the bottom of the heap.
A car show with some outstanding examples of craftsmanship and talent will take place on Saturday only, with awards being given to the winner of each class. Judging will include a Best of Show, along with an Editors Choice – chosen by the editorial staff. Entering the car show will include a trio of laps around the track so entrants can show off their ride to everyone.
Finishing up the day will be the Saturday Night Forgeline Party back at the hotel. After a night of rest and relaxation, the Autocross, Speed Stop Squared, and racing on the Autobahn South course will continue on Sunday, June 1. The cost for the event is $175 for one day of racing, either Saturday or Sunday, or $350 for the entire weekend. The car show entrance fee is only $25, and that includes the three parade laps.
You can expect to see some of the most experienced drivers at this event, including top names that you’ve seen at other events throughout the year. Be sure to check out the Heidts Performance Group website for rules, registration, hotel information, and how to participate.