The third and final Hagerty Race Day of the 60th anniversary SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® presented by Sunoco included the always-popular GT-2 race with its 23 entrants. That was one of 26 classes involved in the Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 2024, winner-take-all event in Wisconsin at America’s National Park of Speed.
Charlie Peter – who already won Friday’s Touring 2 race around Road America’s 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit – was on pole for GT-2 after resetting the class qualifying record to claim a Tire Rack Pole Award in the No. 166 Charlie Peter/KCR Phenix Label/Yokohama Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup car. Alongside him to start the race was John Atwell in a Ford Mustang.
Peter, from SCCA’s Kansas City Region, managed the start expertly and shot out ahead of the field. Over the next 13 laps, he extended his lead slowly but surely until he reached the checkered flag with a 12-second margin of victory. However, that doesn’t mean Peter’s GT-2 Runoffs experience was stress-free.
Just two weeks ago, Peter’s Porsche was a shell – no fenders, no nothing. His friend Mirl Swan, however, was able to put the entire car back together in only 48 hours. Then, during qualifying on Tuesday, his car’s transmission blew up, so they had to swap in a new one.
“This is very exciting,” a grinning Peter said after the contest. “At half-race distance, I had an alarm come on my dash that said, ‘Check Belts.’ So I figured my battery was going to run out at any time. But I think it was a false alarm, thank God.”
The real fun happened behind Peter. Atwell took hold of second place early with Brad McAllister’s Ford Mustang in tow. Jared Odrick, the 2023 GT-2 Runoffs Champion, was third in the No. 30 Ford Mustang, Austin Jurs fourth in a Chevrolet Camaro, Jonathan Start fifth in the No. 51 Hoosier/Kalin Construction/G-Loc Dodge Viper ACR-X, and Tony Ave’s Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup sat sixth.
On the second lap, Jurs moved in front of Odrick for the fourth position. Four laps later, Jurs moved up to third after passing McAllister. Then just past the race’s halfway point, Jurs was in second followed by Atwell, McAllister and Odrick. A bit further back, Start was leading Ave around the circuit for the sixth and seventh positions.
As laps ticked away, Start looked to be out of the hunt even though he shook Ave off his bumper. Jurs and McAllister were mixing it up for second and third, and McAllister was a bit further back dealing with Odrick for fourth and fifth positions.
That was the order when the white flagged fluttered in the wind, but that wasn’t the order when the checkered flag fell. After the uphill climb into Turn 6 on the last lap, Atwell got by Jurs. As Atwell and Jurs approached Turn 8, they encountered some traffic. Atwell tried to dive inside a car in Turn 8 but made contact with the competitor. Atwell spun, then Jurs and McAllister went into the grass to avoid the shemozzle. Odrick drove by unharmed, as did Start.
Odrick and Start were able to complete the lap without incident to claim the final two steps on the victory podium. For Odrick, that’s his first silver medal at the Runoffs, and second podium appearance in only three tries.
“I had a really good start but couldn’t find a gap at the beginning. Then it was like the heavens opened up,” said Odrick, who is former pro football player. “This has been about focus and switching into a total lifestyle. There’s a lot I have grafted on from a previous life and previous athletic pursuit.”
Start’s effort resulted in his third bronze medal in 13 Runoffs appearances.
“I knew I had to be there at the end because you never know what those guys up front are going to do,” Start said. “I wanted to make sure I kept the tires under my car.”
McAllister was able to complete the final lap for fourth, Jurs came home fifth, and Ave finished sixth. A. Sterling Cole, in the No. 13 Mazda RX-7, earned the Sunoco Hard Charger award for starting 17th and finishing in the 10th position.
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 GT-2 race at the 2024 SCCA® National Championship Runoffs, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, and laps completed.
1, (1), Charlie Peter, Olathe, KS, Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup, 13.
2, (4), Jared Odrick, Hilliard, OH, Ford Mustang, 13.
3, (8), Jonathan Start, Caledonia, MI, Dodge Viper ACR-X, 13.
4, (3), Brad McAllister, Sherwood, OR, Ford Mustang, 13.
5, (5), Austin Jurs, Union, IL, Chevrolet Camaro, 13.
6, (7), Tony Ave, Maiden, NC, Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup, 13.
7, (10), Tom Patton, Fairfield Twp, OH, Sunbeam Tiger, 13.
8, (11), Justin Elder, Lakeville, MN, Chevrolet Camaro, 13.
9, (13), Ray Mason, Blacklick, OH, Ford Mustang, 13.
10, (17), A. Sterling Cole, Salem, NH, Mazda RX-7, 13.
11, (15), Brian Garcia, Saint Charles, IL, Dodge Challenger, 13.
12, (14), Patrick Utt, Riverview, FL, Chevrolet Camaro, 13.
13, (9), Michael Quattlebaum, Houston, TX, Chevrolet Corvette, 13.
14, (16), William Moore, Chagrin Falls, OH, Chevrolet Camaro, 13.
15, (18), Chuck Hurley, Monroe, WA, Porsche 997.1 GT3 Cup, 13.
16, (2), John Atwell, Azle, TX, Ford Mustang, 12.
17, (19), Kevin Rich, Lexington, TX, Ford Mustang, 12.
18, (21), Gary Johnson, Knoxville, TN, Sunbeam Tiger, 12.
19, (23), R Paul Evans, Wolfe City, TX, Panoz Esperante GTS, 12.
20, (12), Dominic Starkweather, Cave Creek, AZ, Chevrolet Corvette, 11.
21, (20), Timothy Gray, Minneapolis, MN, Ford Mustang, 11.
22, (22), Paul Ruth, Parker, TX, Chevrolet Camaro, 8.
23, (6), Jack Stanford, Commerce, GA, Ford Mustang, 7.
Race Stats
Length of Race: 52.62 miles
Overall Time of Race: 29:11.831 (avg. 108.142 mph)
Margin of Victory: 12.077 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:13.311 (109.314 mph)
Lap Leaders: #166, Laps 1-13
Sunoco Hard Charger: #13 A. Sterling Cole
Photo by: Rick Corwine
