The honor of being the first race of the 60th anniversary SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® presented by Sunoco went to B-Spec and its 25 competitors during the first of three Hagerty Race Days.

The field was led to the green flag early Friday morning by Tire Rack Pole Award winner Daniel Conway in No. 98 Brondon Foot & Ankle/Empire Pizza Mini Cooper, who established a new lap record for the class – around Road America’s 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit – during qualifying in Wisconsin.

Starting alongside Conway for the 13-lap contest around America’s National Park of Speed was teammate and reigning B-Spec National Champion Richard Hromin in the No. 11 Mini USA/RaTSport/RP/Envirotex Mini Coupe. He slotted in behind Conway as soon as possible, and the entire field made it through Turn 1 without incident.

The opening laps saw a gaggle of cars form a group at the front. Conway, Hromin and Riley Salyer were the first three, then not far back were Rob Piekarczyk, Josh Schmidt in a Chevrolet Sonic, Stewart Black and Eric Yagel.

As the race progressed, Salyer looked intent on disrupting the team plans of Conway and Hromin. On lap four, Salyer and Hromin swapped the second spot over a few corners while similar jostling of positions was happening further down in the top ten.

Lap seven saw Salyer make a great run uphill into Turn 6, which positioned him perfectly to take the lead away from Conway at Turn 7. But into the Kink, Conway grabbed the top spot back.

Riley kept hounding Conway on the next lap. Behind them, Black had gotten by Hromin for third, and Joe McClughan – driving a Mazda 2 – was mixing it up with Yagel, Piekarczyk, Chris Taylor and Schmidt. Then at the exit of Turn 6 after an uphill run, Salyer went wide into the grass and dropped several positions.

The action kept going on lap nine with Conway and Hromin hooked together once again, but McClughan, Yagel, Black and Piekarczyk weren’t out of the hunt. Salyer had even managed to slot himself back into seventh place after his off-track excursion.

In Turn 5 on lap nine, it was Hromin’s turn to take the lead as Conway dropped way back. McClughan charged up to pass Hromin in Turn 7, but the reigning Champion from SCCA’s Washington D.C. Region took the spot back as the field shot through the Kink once again. In the meantime, Black had bided his time and ended up moving from third to first by the end of that lap.

Things got crazy heading down Road America’s 4,405-foot front stretch to start lap 10 as Black had his foot to the floor and moved into the grass at one point to avoid losing momentum. Hromin, Black, McClughan and Conway were trying to sort things out going into Turn 1 with laps dwindling. Then Conway and McClughan made contact, and Conway spun off track at the Turn 1 exit.

Conway’s car couldn’t continue, and a full-course yellow came out on the tenth lap. The race finished under yellow, with Hromin claiming his second-straight B-Spec Championship.

“It was just a fight,” Hromin said of the B-Spec battle. “I knew if we went back to green, I was dead. I really feel bad my teammate got taken out, but my emotions are flowing right now.”

Black claimed runner-up in the No. 40 Bill Black Chevrolet Sonic. That’s his first podium finish in five Runoffs starts.

“We had a great run going and we split three-wide, I think,” Black said of the excitement that occurred down the main straight during what ended up being the last racing lap. “Rich (Hromin) moved over on me a little bit, and I said, ‘I’m not lifting, man. I’m going and we’ll see what happens.’ I held my breath, closed one eye, and squeezed it through.

“What a race,” Black continued. “That was so much fun.”

Yagel, driving the No. 46 MSR Houston/Yagel Exchange Honda Fit, finished third for his first podium finish in his very first Runoffs race.

“Overall, this was a battle the whole race,” Yagel said. “We had an understanding that we would all hang back and chill and wait for the last couple laps for a shootout. And that’s pretty much what happened.”

Salyer managed a fourth-place finish in his Mazda 2, Piekarczyk was fifth in a Honda Fit, and Taylor sixth in another Mazda 2.

The Sunoco Hard Charger award went to Black, who started seventh and finished second.

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 Friday's B-Spec race at the 2024 SCCA® National Championship Runoffs, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, and laps completed.

1, (2), Richard Hromin, Stroudsburg, PA, Mini Coupe, 12.
2, (7), Stewart Black, Greensboro, NC, Chevrolet Sonic, 12.
3, (6), Eric Yagel, Brownsburg, IN, Honda Fit, 12.
4, (5), Riley Salyer, Longview, TX, Mazda 2, 12.
5, (3), Rob Piekarczyk, Brunswick, OH, Honda Fit, 12.
6, (9), Chris Taylor, Elroy, TX, Mazda 2, 12.
7, (4), Josh Schmidt, Kannapolis, NC, Chevrolet Sonic, 12.
8, (10), Stephanie Andersen, Racine, WI, Mazda 2, 12.
9, (8), Joe McClughan, Marion, TX, Mazda 2, 12.
10, (12), Gale Corley, Willis, TX, Mazda 2, 12.
11, (13), Matt Downing, Canal Winchester, OH, Honda Fit, 12.
12, (11), Kent Carter, Houston, TX, Honda Fit, 12.
13, (17), Ricky Holmstrom, Florence, WI, Mazda 2, 12.
14, (14), John Phillips, Sealy, TX, Toyota Yaris, 12.
15, (15), Joseph Gersch, Conroe, TX, Toyota Yaris, 12.
16, (16), Kevin Stuckey, Kenosha, WI, Chevrolet Sonic, 12.
17, (19), Jared Lendrum, Queensbury, NY, Mazda 2, 12.
18, (18), Austin Boynton, Appleton, WI, Honda Fit, 12.
19, (20), Tom Tuttle, Austin, TX, Mini Cooper, 12.
20, (22), Thomas Bartz, Plymouth, WI, Mini Coupe, 12.
21, (23), Tom Hopson, Plain City, OH, Honda Fit, 12.
22, (21), J B Swan, Braintree, MA, Chevrolet Sonic, 12.
23, (24), James Hugger, Woodstock, IL, Ford Fiesta, 12.
24, (1), Daniel Conway, Ruther Glen, VA, Mini Cooper, 9.
25, (25), Tim Ripley, Randolph, NJ, Honda Fit, 9.

Race Stats

Length of Race: 48.58 miles
Overall Time of Race: 40:22.369 (avg. 72.191 mph)
Margin of Victory: 00.035 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:51.889 (84.780 mph)
Lap Leaders: #98, Laps 1-8; #40, Laps 9; #11, Laps 10-12
Sunoco Hard Charger: #40 Steward Black

Photo by: Jeff Loewe