It was Bart Wolf who won the Prototype 2 (P2) gold medal during the 60th anniversary SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® presented by Sunoco. Taking place Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 2024 at Road America, the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit welcomed P2 racers with temperatures in the high 60s, but also a healthy wind blowing to the north.

The field was led to the green flag on the second of three Hagerty Race Days by Milwaukee Region member Wolf and his No. 28 Wolf Motorsports Ligier JS49 Honda, in which he’d earned the Tire Rack Pole. The qualifying gap to two-time National Champion Mike Reupert was not much, although the top two had a comfy margin to third-, fourth-, and fifth-place qualifiers Tim Day, Jr., Greg Gyann, and Raiden Nicol.

As the racers headed toward the starter’s stand for the green, they were desperately trying to anticipate the flag for the best chance to cut through the wind into Turn 1. When the green flag flew, more than a dozen highly tuned engines began to sing.

Wolf got the jump ahead of Reupert, but as Reupert tucked in behind, he appeared to make contact with Day, spinning Reupert backwards in Turn 1. Unfortunately, Reupert couldn’t refire his car, and a full course caution was called.

The restart saw Wolf repeat his performance from the original green, with him retaining the lead and pulling a gap on Day, Nicol, and the rest of the field. Nicol was quick to drop a spot, but a deep dive into Turn 5 claimed the position back from Gyann.

While Wolf pulled a 3.5sec lead over Day by lap five, Gyann and Pancea had caught Nicol and began to challenge for the third step on the podium, with Nicol’s larger Radical punching a sizable hole in the air for the smaller Stohrs. Nicol protected, but it wasn’t enough, and Pancea and Gyann made the pass on lap seven, making it Pancea’s turn to defend the bronze position.

Tucked together, Gyann and Pancea had Day in their sights, reeling in the second-place Day at the  the rate of half a second per lap. Gyann slipped a little wide into Canada Corner on lap 12, with Pancea not hesitating to slip into third as the two continued their pursuit of Day.

By lap 11, Wolf had afforded himself a nine second lead while the battle for second raged. At Turn 5, Pancea made the pass on Day, leaving Day to drag race down the straight with Gyann as Pancea began to build an untouchable cushion in second.

The last lap involved Wolf cruising to victory, followed by Pancea with a well-earned gap to third. The story for third was different – it was an all-out battle between Day and Gyann, with challenges occurring in nearly every braking zone. As the pair entered the Hurry Downs, Day poked inside and went super deep into Canada Corner, making the pass.

The duo engaged in another drag race down the front straight, this time for the checkered flag, with Day edging out Gyann for third by just 0.096 seconds. Sherman Chao followed in fifth, some two seconds later.

Wolf’s pre-race plan was to drive away from the field but, racing being racing, he wasn’t positive his plan would come to fruition. “We were trying, I mean, that was the idea,” he laughed after the race, adding, “but it usually never works as planned. Since the June Sprints®, we've pretty much lived and camped [at Road America]. So, yeah, it was a lot of testing, a lot of development.”

Starting eighth in the No. 99 LUCKOR/Young Racing Stohr WF1 Kawasaki and driving to his fifth silver medal and seventh Runoffs podium, Pancea was more than happy with his second-place finish, especially considering how his Runoffs week had gone. “We had a terrible qualifying – I think I did three laps in three days,” the Lone Star Region member said. “I had no idea how my car would handle on like the third or fourth lap. And then I had some issue with the brakes, so I had to drive around that. And then I was like, OK, I think I can do this, and I started passing people one by one.”

Pancea’s drive through the field also landed him the Sunoco Hard Charger award.

As for the pass that ultimately earned him third while driving his No. 8 Goodyear/Summit Racing/GDRE Stohr WF1 Suzuki, Day said: “I knew that was my last chance [into Canada Corner] because of the head wind on the front straight. I really appreciate that Greg Gyann drove me clean, and we’ve always raced clean against each other. It was a really small lane that was there, and I had a huge drop coming into Canada.

“It's a great time,” the San Francisco Region member concluded. “I've raced a lot with Lucian and with Greg, and for the most part, it's been incident free as much as it can with racing that hard. But it’s why I come to the Runoffs – it's what it's all about.”

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 Saturday's Protoype 2 race at the 2024 SCCA® National Championship Runoffs, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, and laps completed.

1, (1), Bart Wolf, Elkhart Lake, WI, Ligier JS49 Honda, 13.
2, (8), Lucian Pancea, San Antonio, TX, Stohr WF1 Kawasaki, 13.
3, (3), Tim Day Jr, Scottsdale, AZ, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 13.
4, (4), Greg Gyann, Western Springs, IL, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 13.
5, (6), Sherman Chao, Palm Beach, FL, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 13.
6, (5), Raiden Nicol, Hoschton, GA, Radical SR3 Suzuki, 13.
7, (10), Brian Lindstrand, Bristol, WI, Van Diemen Prince - LSR Kawasaki, 13.
8, (11), Richard Colburn, Northbrook, IL, Nostendo 1 Suzuki, 13.
9, (12), Dale VandenBush, Humboldt, WI, Spartan VP2 Mazda, 13.
10, (14), Michael Moulton, Wilmington, NC, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 13.
11, (13), John Goeden, Wind Lake, WI, Lola B07/90 Mazda, 12.
12, (7), Vaughan Scott, Royal Oak, MI, Hidari Firefly Suzuki, 11.
13, (9), Peter Shadowen, West Palm Beach, FL, West WX10 Suzuki, 8.
DNF, (2), Mike Reupert, Hubertus, WI, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 0.

Race Stats

Length of Race: 52.62 Miles
Overall Time of Race: 31:16.363 (avg. 100.965 mph)
Margin of Victory: 12.430 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:08.322 (113.564 mph)
Lap Leaders: #28, Laps 1-13
Sunoco Hard Charger: #99 Lucian Pancea

Photo by: Jeff Loewe