Two events. One legendary stretch of Nevada blacktop. The fastest legal road racing on Earth.
The spring event. New for 2026, NORC runs a two-leg format — 90 miles south, 61.38 miles back — totaling 151 miles, making it the longest open road race in the United States. Record attempts are allowed on the 90-mile leg for qualified entries.
The fall event and the original. A one-way, 90-mile sprint down the Silver State Classic Challenge Highway. The Guinness World Record for the world's fastest road race — 219.6430 mph average — was set on this very course.
The Silver State Classic Challenge debuted on September 25, 1988 — the first legal open road race held in the United States in nearly half a century. Co-organized with the White Pine County Chamber of Commerce, the inaugural event closed Nevada's State Route 318 to public traffic and turned 90 miles of two-lane desert highway into the world's longest racing course.
In 1991, the calendar expanded to its current twice-yearly rhythm: the new Nevada Open Road Challenge in May, and the original Silver State Classic Challenge in September. Today both events are sanctioned, non-profit operations run by the SSCC Board of Directors, with course security handled by local Sheriff's departments and a sophisticated portable repeater network keeping every car in radio contact.
In 2012, the Nevada Department of Transportation officially renamed SR-318 the "Silver State Classic Challenge Highway" — permanent NDOT signage now marks the course through the Great Basin.
Set in May 2017 by Robert Allyn and David Bauer in a modified former Andy Petree Racing 2001 NASCAR Monte Carlo. Recognized by Guinness as the World's Fastest Road Race. On the same course, Jim Peruto previously broke the record in 2012 at 217.5570 mph.
A charming, rustic mining town high in the Nevada Great Basin. Race week brings a caravan from Las Vegas, Dutch-oven cookouts in Pioche, official receptions in Ely, and a paddock that fills downtown with race cars from across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Japan, the U.K., and beyond. The thin mountain air at 6,500 feet is part of the challenge.
Both events are organized by the Silver State Classic Challenge Inc. — a non-profit run by racers, for racers. Full rulebook, entry forms, course notes, and registration live on their site.
Visit sscc.us