Since 2009, the toughest Summit Racing Equipment SCCA® Road Racing award to achieve in a single season has been the Super Sweep. For 2023, it required drivers claim an SCCA National Championship Runoffs® victory, a Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points Championship, at least one Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour win, and a U.S. Majors Tour® Conference Points Championship – all within one class.
With those parameters laid out, it’s easy to see why Super Sweep honors are so special. Of all the current Runoffs-eligible car classes, four have yet to see a driver emerge with a Super Sweep – those classes are Formula 600, Touring 1, Prototype 2, and Super Touring® Under.
To date, the late Scott Rettich remains the greatest Super Sweep honoree with six titles. The most Super Sweep award winners within a single year occurred in 2009, 2016, and 2020 – with that number being seven. Last year, there were two Super Sweep winners. In 2023, three fantastic competitors have earned the recognition, which now includes only 45 individuals to have ever reached the mark.
Graham Fuller
Starting out his 2023 season driving a Honda CRX in GT-Lite (GTL), Graham Fuller swept Hoosier Super Tour victories in GTL at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) in April, and again at Road America during the WeatherTech Chicago Region® June Sprints®. Those wins certainly played a key role in claiming the Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points Championship for GTL this year.
Fuller, from SCCA’s Washington DC Region, also used the Honda CRX to secure a Northeast Conference SCCA U.S. Majors Tour® Points Championship in GTL. Wins at Summit Point Motorsports Park and Pittsburgh International Race Complex helped with that endeavor.
Late in the season, Fuller got his hands on a well-sorted Toyota Tercel from another GTL driver. That was the weapon he brought to the National Championship at VIR, and was the car that shuttled him to victory and his first-ever Super Sweep title.
“Honestly, I just bought this car. This was only the second or third time I’ve been in it,” were Fuller’s words standing atop the Runoffs victory podium. “It’s been seven years of a lot of hard work. It’s a good feeling to be on the top step.”
Charles Russell Turner
Charles Russell Turner, also from SCCA’s Washington DC Region, was not toying around this year when it came to Formula Enterprises® 2 (FE2) competition. He won Hoosier Super Tour FE2 races early in the season at Sebring International Raceway and Circuit of the Americas (COTA), then later swept weekends at VIR and Watkins Glen International. When it was all said and done, Turner had amassed 175 points on his way to the FE2 Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points Championship – that’s the max number of points a driver can earn in one class over the course of a single season.
But that wasn’t all for Turner. He also claimed the Southeast Conference SCCA U.S. Majors Tour Points Championship in FE2 after making a strong start in January with a weekend sweep at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He then picked up an additional win at Sebring International Raceway.
The perfect points run was humming along nicely at the National Championship after Turner earned the FE2 Tire Rack Pole Award. Yet, the yearlong effort looked to be derailing during the Runoffs race when Turner fell back to fourth on the opening lap. An early full-course yellow allowed him to gather things up, and he charged back to the lead at the restart. Another incident late in the race resulted in the contest ending under a full-course yellow, and cemented Turner’s victory and first Super Sweep title.
“It feels awesome,” Turner said after the Runoffs race. “At the end, everything worked out.”
Andrew Whitston
When Formula Vee® (FV) driver Andrew Whitston emerges from his No. 12 RocketMotors/LOA Const/InfamousBrew Protoform P2 car, you can’t help but wonder how a 6-foot 2-inch man squeezes into such a small space. Whatever mystical magic makes it happen, Whitston and that machine work well together – so much so that the duo has now earned a second Super Sweep in the class.
On the Hoosier Super Tour front, Whitston took single wins during weekends at COTA and Watkins Glen International. He then earned two victories in FV during a sweep at Road America during the WeatherTech Chicago Region June Sprints. Those triumphs, plus a couple runner-up finishes, helped him secure the FV Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points Championship.
In the U.S. Majors Tour Northern Conference, Whitston did some winning work, too. A weekend sweep at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in May, and another in July at Road America, helped lock down an FV Points Championship in that Conference. But that triumph came by only two points over Alexander Bertolucci and his Citation XTC-41.
Then came the VIR Runoffs, where Whitston earned the Tire Rack Pole Award. The race saw three different leaders, but it was Whitston who led the most laps – including the one that netted the Milwaukee Region driver his second Super Sweep in three years.
Photo by Jeff Loewe
