Marshall Mast is no stranger to the Runoffs pole or the win, and at this year’s 60th anniversary SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® presented by Sunoco – taking place Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 2024 at Road America – the tradition continued.
In his prior eight visits to the Runoffs, Mast had earned the Tire Rack Pole 50% of the time. Now, the Philadelphia Region member’s fastest qualifying time in Touring 3 (T3) driving his No. 31 Phoenix Performance/Hawk/Hoosier Pontiac Solstice GXP upped his record to five for nine.
Mast’s closest T3 competition in qualifying was Nic Hammann, whose time was just 0.294sec off Mast’s. Starting fourth was Chris Hart, who finished on the Runoffs podium once before and was sporting a qualifying time only a half second further back.
T3’s Hagerty Race Day came toward the tail end of the event’s final day, so the grid was already abuzz with anticipation – but this day, the grid was also bustling with strong wind, so drivers would be facing forcible gusts largely coming from the north, but often shifting to the west.
On-track drama began before the green even flew, as Mast and Hart made contact ever so slightly coming up the front straight, although not enough to cause damage. Moments later, the starter showed the green and Mast went to work.
Opening laps showed that Hamann and Hart were determined not to let Mast escape, as the trio began to put space on Sean Lovett in fourth. But when Hammann dipped his left tires in the dirt on the corner exit of 14, Hart popped out for the pass and headed up the pursuit of Mast.
On lap five, Jared Lendrum made contact with the wall at Turn 8, but the incident was covered by local yellows, allowing Mast to retain his two second advantage over Hart and Hammann – only now it was Hammann then Hart, as Hammann had retaken second.
While the leaders were running away, the battle for eighth place between John LoGiudice, Anthony Piselli, Derek Chan, and Derek Wagner waged, as did the fight for 12th with Richard Baldwin, Scotty B. White, James Berlin, and Ross Murray.
Those races were 40-plus seconds behind Mast who, with one lap to go, had amassed a three-second advantage over Hammann, who himself was three seconds ahead of Hart. This was roughly the same gap when the three crossed the finish line 4.048 miles and 14 turns later.
Behind them, Lovett finished fourth, with James Leithauser beating out Hines for fifth with only 0.136sec to spare. The Sunoco Hard Charger award went to Derek Wagner, who started 13th and finished 10th.
“The wind was crazy out there,” Mast said after winning his fifth Runoffs gold medal. “It was pushing us around all over the place and it was different every turn, every lap. So trying to manage that was honestly one of the hardest parts of this race. But … the guys behind me, they didn't let up at all and made me push pretty much all race.”
As for his car – well, Mast had no complaints. “The car did everything I asked it to do,” he said. “The brakes held up, the Hoosier tires were great, Hawk brake pads got me stopping in every brake zone. did everything I would have wished it to do.”
Even after 13 laps, Kansas City Region member Hammann said his No. 41 Nissan/Carbotech/ParagonPerformance Nissan 370Z Nismo was still running strong. “The Carbotech brakes were really good throughout the whole race, and the Nissan was just getting faster and faster … and it was handling really good at the end. We just needed like 40 more minutes and we would have had something, but it was a lot of fun.”
Collecting his second-ever Runoffs bronze medal, Hart was happy with his finishing position in the No. 5 FabTek/SCI Spray Coating/The Ridge Nissan 370Z Nismo, though the Northwest Region member was already looking forward to having another shot at the championship. “I learned a lot,” he said. “This is my first time [at Road America], so now that I got to actually race with some people, I know what [the car] needs to be and I think we could probably be better next time.”
The 60th anniversary SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® presented by Sunoco is the pinnacle of American amateur motorsports and crowns Sports Car Club of America’s Road Racing National Champions this year at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI, during Hagerty Race Days running Friday, Oct. 4, through Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024.
Live, online video coverage of Runoffs races, presented by Mazda, is available throughout the three days of competition at SCCA.com/runoffs-live. Live timing and scoring for each race are also available at SCCA.com/pages/runoffs-live-timing.
Below are final results for Sunday's Touring 3 race at the 2024 SCCA® National Championship Runoffs, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, and laps completed.
1, (1), Marshall Mast, Denver, PA, Pontiac Solstice GXP, 13.
2, (2), Nic Hammann, Elkhart Lake, WI, Nissan 370Z Nismo, 13.
3, (3), Chris Hart, Yakima, WA, Nissan 350Z Nismo, 13.
4, (4), Sean Lovett, Santa Rosa, CA, BMW SpecE46, 13.
5, (5), James Leithauser, Louisville, CO, BMW Z4 M, 13.
6, (8), Rob Hines, Arlington, VA, Nissan 350Z Nismo, 13.
7, (6), Simon Foweather, Birmingham, AL, BMW SpecE46, 13.
8, (10), John LoGiudice, Hartland, WI, Ford Mustang V6, 13.
9, (12), Anthony Piselli, Maurertown, VA, Subaru WRX Sti, 13.
10, (13), Derek Wagner, Jordan, MN, BMW SpecE46, 13.
11, (9), Derek Chan, Rosemount, MN, Nissan 350Z Nismo, 13.
12, (16), Ross Murray, Marina Del Rey, CA, Ford Mustang GT, 13.
13, (18), Richard Baldwin, Covington, LA, Nissan 350Z Touring, 13.
14, (11), Scotty B White, Auburn, WA, Ford Mustang V6, 13.
15, (17), James Berlin, Lakeville, MN, Nissan 370Z Nismo, 13.
16, (15), Christopher DeShong, Valrico, FL, BMW SpecE46, 13.
17, (19), Andrea King, Minneapolis, MN, BMW 330i/ci, 13.
18, (21), Robert Damler, Zionsville, IN, Ford Mustang GT, 13.
19, (20), Randy Johnson, Tacoma, WA, Ford Mustang EcoBoost, 12.
20, (22), Edward Karabec, Scarborough, ME, BMW SpecE46, 12.
DNF, (14), Jared Lendrum, Queensbury, NY, Subaru WRX Sti, 4.
DNF, (7), Gamaliel Aguilar-Gamez, Renton, WA, Nissan 370Z Nismo, 0.
Race Stats
Length of Race: 52.62 Miles
Overall Time of Race: 32:28.644 (avg. 97.220 mph)
Margin of Victory: 02.683 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:29.191 (97.679 mph)
Lap Leaders: #31, Laps 1-13
Sunoco Hard Charger: #122 Derek Wagner
Photo by: Jeff Loewe
