Three days of qualifying are now over for the 60th anniversary SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® presented by Sunoco taking place Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 2024, in Wisconsin at the famed Road America.
Thursday was Tire Rack Pole Award day, which means 26 drivers have now been identified as the quick competitors who will lead their respective classes to the green flag over the next three Hagerty Race Days.
Each Tire Rack Pole Award winner receives $500 to spend at Tire Rack. Equally important is the psychological and competitive advantage they gain by starting out front, and perhaps reaching the checkered flag first on their way to victory podium celebrations to uncork and spray a bottle from Mazza Vineyards, the Runoffs’ “Official Sparkling Wine” supplier for the last nine years.
Records Tumble Aplenty
Of the 26 different car classes competing at the 2024 Runoffs, more than half of them – 16 to be exact – set new qualifying track records around Road America’s 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit.
Let’s start this record-breaking tour with the Touring classes. Kurt Rezzetano earned his ninth Tire Rack Pole Award with a best lap of 2:22.117 in his No. 37 Phoenix Performance/Hoosier/Hawk Chevrolet Corvette Touring 2 car, which now stands as the fastest qualifying lap ever turned at Road America in the class. Touring 3 then saw Marshall Mast claim his fifth Tire Rack Pole Award in the No. 31 Phoenix Performance/Hoosier/Hawk Pontiac Solstice GXP after a lap of 2:28.260 established a new qualifying record. Kudos also goes to the No. 63 Blueforce/Huffmaster Racing Mazda RX-8 driven by Matt Spicuzzi in Touring 4, which peeled off a qualifying lap of 2:34.430 to reset the record in that class and earning Spicuzzi his first Tire Rack Pole Award in his first appearance at the Runoffs.
In Super Touring® Lite, Joe Moser and his No. 36 King Motorsports/Hoosier/Carbotech Honda CRX Si went out Tuesday and set a qualifying lap record of 2:30.063 for the class. He posted no further times Wednesday or Thursday, but his first go was fast enough to secure a second Tire Rack Pole Award.
Daniel Conway has also earned his first-ever Tire Rack Pole Award after storming out in his B-Spec No. 98 Brondon Foot & Ankle/Empire Pizza Mini Cooper to turn a lap of 2:52.027, which resets the qualifying track record for that class.
Other “Spec” classes that saw records reset included Spec Racer® Ford Gen3 where Denny Stripling, in the No. 4 Lupe Tortilla/LSM SCCA Enterprises SRF3 car, lowered the qualifying mark to 2:27.773 on Tuesday for his first Tire Rack Pole Award. Spec Miata (SM) driver Ethan Goulart, at 15 years and 172 days, now owns the SM qualifying lap record with a 2:41.106 produced in the No. 72 SCDA/Krugspeed/Hoosier Mazda Miata. That effort also made him the youngest ever winner of a Tire Rack Pole Award.
And we can’t forget about Formula Enterprises® 2, where just one year removed from a fourth-place finish in his rookie Runoffs appearance, Porter Aiken and his No. 21 Aiken Racing SCCA Mazda FE2 car claimed his first Tire Rack Pole position with a 2:11.506 lap Thursday, which also established a new qualifying record for that class. In another Formula development, Calvin Stewart turned a time of 2:19.106 in his No. 07 SabbathTruth.com/Hoosier Novakar J10 Suzuki to set a new Formula 600 qualifying record on his way to earning a fourth Tire Rack Pole Award.
Previous records set in Production classes weren’t safe either this week at America’s National Park of Speed. Tyler Ladd fired around in the No. 51 BMW Z3 to produce a lap of 2:26.803 in E Production, which established a new qualifying record and earned him his first Tire Rack Pole Award. Then in H Production, Chuck Mathis and Jesse Prather lowered the fast qualifying time during Thursday’s session, but Mathis and his No. 54 Hoosier/AMT Performance Engines Volkswagen Rabbit held onto the pole position with his 2:38.445 lap, which garnered him a second Tire Rack Pole Award in his career.
Records in GT classes fell as well. Dave Ruehlow walked away with his first Tire Rack Pole Award after Thursday’s record-setting qualifying lap of 2:02.535 in GT-1 driving the No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro. In GT-2, Charlie Peter jumped on his very first Tire Rack Pole Award with a qualifying lap record of 2:11.860 in his No. 166 Phenix Label/Yokohama Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Then in GT-Lite, Peter Shadowen and his No. 72 Road N Race/Goodyear Honda CRX reset the class qualifying lap record to 2:30.858 Thursday on his way to a fifth Tire Rack Pole Award.
There is now nothing but new numbers for the Prototype classes, too. Chip Romer lowered the Prototype 1 qualifying mark to 2:00.476 in the No. 29 Stella Artois Elan DP-02/Mazda and gained his second career Tire Rack Pole Award. Road America local Bart Wolf earned his first Tire Rack Pole Award of his 14-start Runoffs career by ripping a record-breaking qualifying lap of 2:07.405 in Wednesday’s Prototype 2 session in his No. 28 Wolf Motorsports Ligier JS49/Honda.
More Pole Winners
While the drivers below didn’t reset qualifying lap records for their respective classes at Road America, they did still accomplish something quite special by claiming a Tire Rack Pole Award on Thursday.
Theodore Burns, in a Piper DF05/Honda, was fastest on Tuesday in Formula F, but Calvin Kautz stormed back Wednesday and turned the fastest lap in the No. 88 River City/Hoosier/Two Dogg Piper DF3D Honda. Nobody went faster Thursday, earning Kautz his first Tire Rack Pole Award in his third appearance at the National Championship.
Three different drivers led Formula Vee® over the three different qualifying days. Brian Farnham was first in a Silver Bullet FR-S/Volkswagen, and Steve Whitston led Wednesday in a Protoform P2/Volkswagen. But it will be Andrew Whitston, in the No. 12 Rocket Motors/LOA Roofing/Milio's Protoform P2 car, who will lead the field to the green flag Sunday after claiming his fourth Tire Rack Pole Award.
Ethan Lampe’s No. 95 Mazda MX-5 led the way in Spec MX-5 qualifying, giving the 17-year-old driver his first Tire Rack Pole position in his maiden Runoffs start. Lampe jumped two positions in the final qualifying session of the week to take the top prize.
Cliff Ira’s third career Tire Rack Pole Award was clinched during Wednesday’s qualifying session in the No. 36 Cliff Ira Motorsport/JPM Honda Civic Del Sol, and American Sedan® driver Gregory Eaton secured his third Tire Rack Pole Award in the No. 21 Eaton Racing and Development Ford Mustang GT.
Andrew Aquilante, driving the No. 33 Phoenix Performance/Hoosier/Hawk 2014 Ford Mustang, led Touring 1 qualifying all three days on his way to claiming an astounding 22nd Tire Rack Pole Award.
The number of Tire Rack Pole Awards Tony Ave has earned now equals his Runoffs victories at four, as the Wisconsin-native-turned-Charlotte-resident grabbed the top position in the GT-3 class driving the No. 44 Honda Civic.
Driving the No. 72 Precision Motorsports BMW 330i, Super Touring Under’s Thomas Noble knocked more than a second off of his provisional fast qualifying time from Wednesday to clinch the Tire Rack Pole Award at his first appearance at SCCA’s National Championship.
Hans Peter added to his previous three Tire Rack Pole Awards, taking Formula Atlantic®’s top spot in the No. 66 Hoosier Swift 016a/Mazda. And in Formula Continental®, Tim Minor earned his first career Tire Rack Pole Award in the No. 88 Hoosier/Ski Motorsports Citation US2000 for Friday’s race.
Tire Rack Pole Award Rundown
Below are provisional polesitters across the 26 different classes with driver name, SCCA Region, car, and fastest lap time. Entries with an asterisk (*) indicate a new Runoffs qualifying track record at Road America.
- American Sedan®: Gregory Eaton, Washington DC Region, Ford Mustang GT, 2:26.578
-*B-Spec: Daniel Conway, Washington DC Region, Mini Cooper, 2:52.027
-*E Production: Tyler Ladd, Wichita Region, BMW Z3, 2:26.803
- F Production: Cliff Ira, Kansas City Region, Honda Civic Del Sol, 2:32.327
-*H Production: Chuck Mathis, Southern Illinois Region, Volkswagen Rabbit, 2:38.445
-*Formula 600: Calvin Stewart, Detroit Region, Novakar J10 Suzuki, 2:19.106
- Formula Atlantic®: Hans Peter, Kansas City Region, Swift 016a, 2:01.560
- Formula Continental®: Timothy Minor, Blue Ridge Region, Citation US2000, 2:11.626
-*Formula Enterprises®2: Porter Aiken, Atlanta Region, SCCA Mazda FE2, 2:11.506
- Formula F: Calvin Kautz, Chicago Region, Piper DF3D/Honda, 2:22.552
- Formula Vee®: Andrew Whitston, Milwaukee Region, Protoform P2, 2:42.643
-*GT-1: Dave Ruehlow, Milwaukee Region, Chevrolet Camaro, 2:02.535
-*GT-2: Charlie Peter, Kansas City Region, Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup, 2:11.860
- GT-3: Michael Lewis, San Diego Region, Mazda RX-7, 2:22.244
-*GT-Lite: Peter Shadowen, Florida Region, Honda CRX, 2:30.858
-*Prototype 1: Chip Romer, San Francisco Region, Elan DP-02, 2:00.476
-*Prototype 2: Bart Wolf, Milwaukee Region, Ligier JS49/Honda, 2:06.709
-*Spec Miata: Ethan Goulart, New England Region, Mazda Miata, 2:41.106
- Spec MX-5: Ethan Lampe, San Francisco Region, Mazda MX-5, 2:35.651
-*Spec Racer® Ford Gen3: Denny Stripling, Texas Region, SCCA SRF Gen3, 2:27.773
-*Super Touring® Lite: Joe Moser, Detroit Region, Honda CRX Si, 2:30.063
- Super Touring® Under: Thomas Noble, Land O'Lakes Region, BMW 330i, 2:26.227
- Touring 1: Andrew Aquilante, Philadelphia Region, Ford Mustang, 2:16.578
-*Touring 2: Kurt Rezzetano, Philadelphia Region, Chevrolet Corvette, 2:22.117
-*Touring 3: Marshall Mast, Philadelphia Region, Pontiac Solstice, 2:28.260
-*Touring 4: Matt Spicuzzi, Detroit Region, Mazda RX-8, 2:34.430
Watch the ’24 Runoffs from Road America Online
All three Hagerty Race Days will again include a multi-camera video broadcast, presented by Mazda, delivered directly to smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, or desktops and laptops around the globe. Catch all 26 Runoffs races online in real time at SCCA.com and the SCCA Official YouTube channel. Up-to-the-moment timing and scoring data is also available at the Runoffs Live Timing/Scoring webpage.
A four-man team familiar to fans will anchor the race video broadcast, splitting duties across Hagerty Race Days. Greg Creamer and John Fippin will share play-by-play responsibilities, and color commentary will be added by Larry “Lefty” MacLeod and Tom O’Gorman. Heyward Wagner will add insight from grid and pit lane, as well as capture the emotion from competitors immediately after races. For those at Road America during race days, audio from the Apex Broadcast-produced presentation will air live around the circuit via the public address system.
On top of live race coverage, Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour announcers Brian Bielanski and Gregg Ginsberg return in 2024 with the Inside the SCCA podcast presented by Goodyear, which offers additional insights from Road America prior to the first race of each day, as well as during lunch breaks.
Still, there’s nothing better than being at the Runoffs in person, especially at Road America. The sounds, sights, and smells are simply amazing, and spectator ticket prices are very reasonable for a motorsports event of this magnitude.
An all-race pass, which is good Oct. 4-6, is only $80 at the entry gate, and includes parking and paddock access. Single-day admission is $35 for Friday, or $45 Saturday or Sunday. Anyone 16 years old and younger get in free at the gate with a paying adult, plus SCCA members receive a 20% discount. Learn more at the Runoffs ticket webpage.
'24 Runoffs Broadcast Runoffs Timing/Scoring
Photo: Tire Rack Pole Award winners for the 2024 Runoffs at Road America
Photo by Jon Krolewicz
