Fifth of 10 Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour (HST) stops for 2025, the April 5-6 visit to VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) along the border with North Carolina marks the midway point of a season marching toward SCCA’s National Championship Runoffs® at Road America this fall.
SCCA’s North Carolina Region is hosting weekend festivities in Alton, VA, which officially opened Saturday morning with 20-minute qualifying for each of the seven run groups. That was followed by 25-minute races for all around the undulating, 3.27-mile circuit that has hosted SCCA’s Runoffs® multiple times before.
Mostly sunny skies and a pleasant breeze ruled the day as temperatures topped out in the mid 80-degree range. The humidity level wasn’t too bad, but the amount of yellowish-green pollen covering everything was nothing to sneeze at.
B-Spec Warrior
Making his first HST appearance this weekend at VIR is B-Spec driver Adam Benaway in the No. 69 Racing for Heroes Honda Fit. A member of SCCA’s North Carolina Region, Benaway first joined the Club in 2011 and has already achieved much success. He has twice won Solo Spec Coupe at the Tire Rack Solo® Nationals Championship and added to that a Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials Nationals Championship in the Sport 6 class.
A former member of U.S. Army Special Operations, Benaway’s 20 years of service included more than seven deployments around the globe. He even earned a Purple Heart before retiring in 2023 from military service. After that he immediately went to work as a full-time employee and instructor for Skip Barber Racing School where he obtained a competition license.
On Saturday, Benaway let everyone know he’s serious about B-Spec by winning his very first HST race. But he wasn’t just out enjoying the competitive nature of the class. He was also serving as a Racing for Heroes ambassador. That organization is a 100% nonprofit that aims to prevent veteran suicide, and it’s currently looking to build a health and wellness center at VIR that will help local veterans through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“I have a passion for reaching out to other veterans,” Benaway said previously. “If there’s anyone out there that needs help or is looking to get involved, I highly encourage them to find a veteran organization, reach out, and contact them and offer them your services.”
Helping Benaway’s B-Spec effort at VIR is Jesse Elliot, an active duty Special Operations soldier. Keep an eye out for Elliot at future races as he recently participated in an SCCA Club Race Experience event where he obtained his novice competition license.
Volunteers Having Fun
VIR is a fantastic, beautiful, modern facility that includes exciting competition for fans of motorsport. So it’s no surprise a healthy-sized troop of volunteers are out socializing and having #funwithcars at the venue this weekend with SCCA’s North Carolina Region. Unfortunately, one group missing are those with a passion for flagging at corner stations.
This weekend’s event is a unique situation, and Flaggers are very much encouraged to be part of future SCCA events at VIR. Earlier this year a social media dust devil of drama swirled online for a little bit regarding the need for volunteer Flaggers at VIR during SCCA events. But let’s take a moment and set the record straight.
VIR is an awesome playpen and venue for motorsports. For discussion’s sake, let’s say it’s akin to a very popular wedding or party venue. An event at a cherished venue requires a contract that includes some stipulations. If you want to serve food, you must use the venue’s banquet services. You want music? Then you’ve got to use the venue’s A/V staff to set up speakers and microphones. Want a bar? Cool, but it’s the venue’s liquor license and drinks must be served by them.
Kind of the same process exists at VIR, as well as lots of other motorsport venues around the country. If you rent VIR’s facility, part of the price is mandatory use of its employees. That includes one VIR staffer at each of the 18 corner stations, as well as a VIR employed person for pit, two for grid, and management of the communications network.
So, does that mean SCCA volunteers aren’t welcome, needed or shouldn’t come have fun at VIR? When was the last time only ‘one’ person was needed for pit, grid, corner stations, the starter stand or race control?
For safety, SCCA Road Racing dictates a minimum of two people at each flagging station. VIR supplies one via the mandatory contract, and more if needed at a cost of several thousand dollars. But if 18 SCCA members whose passion is flagging show up, they’ve got a station to play at for the weekend – and the SCCA Region renting the track doesn’t lose its shirt paying for additional corner marshals.
In theory (not practice), there is no ‘max’ number of SCCA members who can flag at a corner. If 90 flag waving SCCA members show up to have a party at VIR for a weekend, there’s a place right near the action for each and every one of them – and that’s not just at VIR.
An array of thoughts and concerns about this system? Sure, that’s to be expected from a skilled and passionate set of SCCA members. But future access to fun and frivolity at VIR, as well as many other circuits, depends on support from those same SCCA members. Each and every SCCA Region is doing its best, and SCCA members can help immensely by showing support and coming out to play.
Interested in learning more about exciting opportunities with SCCA’s North Carolina Region? Check out https://ncrscca.com/volunteer/. Anywhere else in the U.S., SCCA volunteering opportunities abound and can be found by clicking the volunteering with SCCA link.
Back in the SMX Mix
Saturday we witnessed a great contest in Spec MX-5 (SMX). Ethan Jacobs emerged victorious in the No. 199 Jacobs Design Homes/JDH Racing Mazda MX-5 after two runner-up performances just a couple weeks back during HST’s visit to NOLA Motorsports Park.
Race results show the list of top 10 finishers also includes Michelle Squirek, 34, of SCCA’s Atlanta Region. She has been a member of the Club since 2012, and this weekend she’s driving the No. 75 Rspeed.net/Formidable Racing Development car in the 22-entrant field.
This is Squirek’s first weekend back with HST in 2025. That’s because last November she decided to run her SMX car in the American Road Race of Champions event at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. She took victory in the first race. However, the second contest didn’t go as well.
“While leading, I was going into the fast Road Atlanta turn one when my left-rear hub sheared itself in half, ejecting my wheel and tire from the car at 90 miles per hour,” Squirek stated. “Sadly, this did a massive amount of damage to the car and forced me to sit on the sidelines only to watch the opening Hoosier Super Tour rounds at Sebring and Road Atlanta this year that I had hoped to attend.”
After much work, Squirek’s car was ready to go this weekend at VIR. And she did fantastic on Saturday, coming home in seventh.
“It was a huge fight all the way through the race,” she said breathlessly afterwards with a giant grin. “This is a blast every time I come out. It’s what I live for.”
To see how Squirek and everyone else does Sunday at VIR, tune into the HST video broadcast produced by DriversEye Live found at the SCCA YouTube channel. Announcers Brian Bielanski and Gregg Ginsberg will again provide corner-by-corner coverage, as well as interesting tidbits throughout the day.
Sunday’s broadcast begins at 8 a.m. Eastern Time with 15-minute qualifying sessions for all seven run groups. That will be followed by 35-minute or 14-lap races. Certainly, don’t forget that live HST Timing & Scoring is found throughout the weekend at scca.com/live, and Sunday victory podium celebrations can be viewed at the SCCA Road Racing Facebook page.
Saturday Race Winners
Below are provisional race winners from Saturday’s Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour conducted at VIRginia International Raceway. Each entry includes Car Class: Driver Name, SCCA Region, and Car.
American Sedan®: Gregory Eaton, Washington DC Region, Ford Mustang
B-Spec: Adam Benaway, North Carolina Region, Honda Fit
E Production: Peter Norton, North Carolina Region, Caterham Seven
F Production: Wade McBride, Texas Region, Mazda Miata
H Production: Steve Sargis, Blackhawk Valley Region, Triumph Spitfire
Formula Atlantic®: Larry Howard, Kansas City Region, Swift 016
Formula Continental®: Timothy Minor, Blue Ridge Region, Citation
Formula Enterprises® 2: Charles Russell Turner, Washington DC Region, SCCA Enterprises FE2 Mazda
GT-1: Michael McAleenan, Northwest Region, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo
GT-2: Austin Jurs, Chicago Region, Chevrolet Camaro TA2
GT3U: Tony Ave, Central Carolinas Region, Honda Civic
GT-X: Jacek Mucha, Florida Region, Cadillac Dallara P217/DPi
Spec Miata: Frankie Barroso, Florida Region, Mazda Miata
Spec MX-5: Ethan Jacobs, Milwaukee Region, Mazda MX-5
Spec Racer® Ford Gen3: Brian Schofield, Central Florida Region, SCCA Enterprises SRF3
Prototype: Todd Vanacore, Central Florida Region, Elan DP02
Super Touring® Lite: Jon Sewell, Florida Region, Acura Integra Type R
Super Touring® Under: Richard Astacio, New England Region, Lotus Exige
Touring 1: James Candelaria, Central Florida Region, Chevrolet Corvette
Touring 2: Bruce Griffin, Central Florida Region, Chevrolet Corvette Z06
Touring 3: Rob Hines, Washington DC Region, Nissan 350Z
Touring 4: Marc Cefalo, Northeastern Pennsylvania Region, Mazda RX-8
Photo: Adam Benaway on his way to victory in B-Spec at VIR during Saturday’s HST contest.
Photo by Jeff Loewe
