Editors Note: This article was updated Oct. 5, 2024, based on official results and due to post-race penalty assessment.

Formula F (FF) has long been a place for rookies to prove their mettle, and the 60th anniversary SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® presented by Sunoco, taking place Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 2024, at Road America put an exclamation point on that fact, with Runoffs rookies sweeping the FF podium.

But before there could be a rookie celebration, they had to get past everyone else – then they had to sort out which positions each of them would get.

Starting on the Tire Rack Pole was 19-year-old Calvin Kautz. While 2024 marked Kautz’s third appearance at the National Championship event, until this year, his best starting position had been fifth. In 2024, he earned the pole with a time of 2:22.552 – although it should have come as no surprise, as his father Tim is a perennial class frontrunner. All told, Tim has three Runoffs titles to his name; Calvin was undoubtedly looking to notch one for himself.

Driving the No. 88 River City/Hoosier/Two Dogg Piper DF3D Honda, Kautz had qualified 0.181sec ahead of four-time FF National Champ Jonathan Kotyk.

When the green flew on Friday during the first of three Hagerty Race Days at the Runoffs, Kautz hammered down as the 13-car field rocketed toward Turn 1 of the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit.

For his part, Theodore Burns lit a fire at the start, jumping from third to first – but by Turn 5, Kotyk was up front, followed by Kautz in second. A turn later, Kautz had slotted himself into the lead. In fourth was Sebastian Mateo Naranjo – although Naranjo exchanged that position for second overall a few turns later.

The top six breakaway pack simply wouldn’t sit still. Lap after lap, the leaders spread the width of the track with every passing opportunity. That battle allowed Tazio Stefanelli to join Demetrios Constantinidis and William Ferguson at the tail end of the front pack. A few laps later, Nathan Down and Antonio Costantino made the frontrunners nine strong.

Keeping track of who held what position was more than impossible, with shuffling taking place turn after turn. Two cars might pull a half-second gap, but a few corners later, they were bunched once more.

Lap 10 brought the first significant contact for the front pack, as Naranjo and Kautz touched tires entering Turn 5. Kautz launched into the air, stopped, and then rejoined the pack, the contact removing him from the front pack.

Into the last lap, anyone in the top five stood a shot at the win.

The cars bobbed and weaved in their last time through Turn 5, with Kotyk holding strong at the front. Exiting the Kink, Burns and Kotyk made nose-to-tail contact, pushing Burns into the inside wall, leaving Kotyk with a small gap. Kotyk was the first to cross the stripe, but the real race was the pack that followed, as Stefanelli beat out Naranjo, with Down next under the checker. In all, 0.111sec covered the gap from Stefanelli to Down.

Following the race, Kotyk was penalized for a racing infraction, moving him from first to eighth on the grid, meaning Stefanelli had earned the win, with Naranjo claiming second, Down third, Constantino fourth, and Constantinidis fifth. Kautz, meanwhile, recovered for sixth.

This was Stefanelli’s first time at the Runoffs, leaving the 25-year-old Blackhawk Valley Region member ecstatic with his medal. “It was amazing,” he said after emerging from his No. 23 Millennium Forms Spectrum FF 1600 Honda. “ first time ever here at the Runoffs and I had the best race of my life. just clean racing, hard racing, but everyone was very fair.”

Also a Runoffs rookie, Central Illinois Region member Naranjo was just as pleased with the medal he earned driving his No. 80 Ares Elite Vision/MNR Mygale SJ14 Honda from seventh to second – a feat that earned him the Sunoco Hard Charger Award. “The race was chaotic and I really had so much fun,” said the 17-year-old. “From my point of view, we just had action-packed from start to finish like we do in the pro series, and to me, it was hard racing but fair racing, and this is what I love most about it.”

A little more seasoned in years, Down proved you didn’t need to be age 25 or under to perform well in FF during your Runoffs rookie appearance. Colorado Region’s Down ran a smart race, moving his No. 96 Downforce/Stay Fresh Cheese Bags Swift DB6 Honda from eighth on the grid to third.

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 provisional results for Friday’s Formula F race at the 2024 SCCA® National Championship Runoffs, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, and laps completed.

1, (5), Tazio Stefanelli, Rockford, IL, Spectrum FF1600 Honda, 13.
2, (7), Sebastian Mateo Naranjo, Edwards, IL, Mygale SJ14 Honda, 13.
3, (8), Nathan Down, Thornton, CO, Swift DB6 Honda, 13.
4, (4), Antonio Costantino, Lampton Shores, ON, Piper DL7 Honda, 13.
5, (9), Demetrios Constantinidis, Chicago, IL, Van Diemen DP08 Honda, 13.
6, (1), Calvin Kautz, Geneva, IL, Piper DF3D Honda, 13.
7, (3), Theodore Burns, Fitchburg, WI, Piper DF05 Honda, 13.
8, (2), Jonathan Kotyk, Atlantic Beach, FL, Swift DB6 Ford, 13.
9, (12), Eric Poulsen, Clovis, CA, Piper DL7 Honda, 13.
10, (10), Michael Dowden, Newtown, PA, Piper DL7 Honda, 13.
11, (11), Jay Messenger, Muleshoe, TX, Van Diemen RF99 Honda, 13.
12, (13), Robert Gross, Washington Twp, MI, Piper DL7 Honda, 13.
13, (6), William Ferguson, Pacifica, CA, Piper DL7 Honda, 12.

Race Stats

Length of Race: 52.62 miles
Overall Time of Race: 31:21.295 (avg. 100.700 mph)
Margin of Victory: 00.111 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:22.057 (102.584 mph)
Lap Leaders: #5, Laps 1-2, 6, 10, 13; #81, Laps 3, 5, 12; #88, Lap 4; #23, Laps 7-9, 11
Sunoco Hard Charger: #80 Sebastian Mateo Naranjo

Photo by Rick Corwine