The Kettle Moraine hills were alive with the sound of horsepower, which was music to the ears of GT-1 fans at Wisconsin’s Road America late Saturday afternoon during the second of three Hagerty Race Days that make up the 60th anniversary SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® presented by Sunoco.

America’s National Park of Speed and the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit that rests within it saw GT-1’s qualifying lap record fall Thursday when Dave Ruehlow thundered around the track and waltzed away with a Tire Rack Pole Award in the No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro. That accomplishment earned him the advantage of leading the GT-1 field to the green flag for a 13-lap race.

At the start, Ruehlow put down the power and rumbled toward the first turn. David Pintaric, whose Ford Mustang started alongside Ruehlow, struggled at the start and tripped up drivers behind him. Michael Lewis and his Jaguar XKR tried to move right to avoid Pintaric’s ailing machine but made contact with Ryan McManus in a Chevrolet Corvette. McManus spun into the grass with damage less than 100 yards from the starter’s stand.

Meanwhile, Ruehlow looked to be having his own issue, allowing Tony Ave – in a Ford Mustang – to fly by as they headed along the 3,888-foot Moraine Sweep straight toward Turn 5, slotting Adam Romito into second driving the No. 2 Aire/Zeta/EPIC/SRI/Goodyear/TWO3 Dodge Challenger. A full-course caution came out before the first full racing lap was completed to clear the cars from the incident at the start which took Pintaric, McManus and Lewis out of the race.

Things got cranking again on lap four. Ave fired off down into Turn 1 with the lead and was speeding toward Turn 3 when he lost a cylinder and began to slow. That gave Romito the lead with Ruehlow giving chase. In third was Rick Dittman driving the No. 24 RDE Chevrolet Corvette, and fourth was Rocky Elli in the No. 11 Fields Auto Group/RDE Chevrolet Corvette.

Whatever issue Ruehlow had on the opening lap hampered him no further as he applied copious amounts of pressure on Romito. Those two drivers hustled off on their own, dropping Dittman several seconds back in third.

There was some entertaining, strategic racing for the next couple laps as Ruehlow showed Romito the nose of his car a few times going into corners. Romito placed his car perfectly to keep Ruehlow behind in second. But heading down Road America’s 4,405-foot frontstretch to begin lap nine, Ruehlow drove by Romito for the lead.

Ruehlow, of SCCA’s Milwaukee Region, was never challenged from that point and ended up with a 12-second victory margin for his first Runoffs gold medal and the GT-1 National Championship.

“He was throwing a lot of defensive moves,” Ruehlow explained about battling Romito. “I was fighting and trying not to get tangled up. So I backed off, waited a few laps, waited for the right time and away we went.

“This has been a long time coming,” Ruehlow added. “It was a rough start, but I was able to fight through it.”

Romito finished solidly in the runner-up spot for a silver medal and his first Runoffs podium appearance in only two tries.

“I tried everything to hold him off,” Romito said. “I cooked the brakes and rear tires off the car. He just had the top-end speed.”

Even though Elli closed in toward the race’s conclusion, Dittman was able to finish in the third and final podium position. That’s his first Runoffs medal in eleven attempts.

“We’re tickled to death,” Dittman said about the finish. “This is unexpected because our good motor we broke on Monday. The motor in this car is 15 years old.”

For his effort, Elli received the Sunoco Hard Charger award for starting eighth and finishing fourth.

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 GT-1 race at the 2024 SCCA® National Championship Runoffs, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, and laps completed.

1, (1), Dave Ruehlow, Hartland, WI, Chevrolet Camaro, 13.
2, (5), Adam Romito, Opelika, AL, Dodge Challenger SRT, 13.
3, (6), Rick Dittman, Lincolnshire, IL, Chevrolet Corvette, 13.
4, (8), Rocky Elli, Winnetka, IL, Chevrolet Corvette, 13.
DNF, (3), Tony Ave, Maiden, NC, Ford Mustang, 4.
DNF, (4), Michael Lewis, Poway, CA, Jaguar XKR, 1.
DNF, (2), David Pintaric, Canfield, OH, Ford Mustang, 0.
DNF, (7), Ryan McManus, Seville, OH, Chevrolet Corvette, 0.
DNS, (9), David Fershtand, Fort Worth, TX, Ford Mustang, 0.
DNS, (10), Dominic Martinolich, Maiden, NC, Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup, 0.

Race Stats

Length of Race: 52.62 miles
Overall Time of Race: 32:27.026 (avg. 97.300 mph)
Margin of Victory: 12.687 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:06.893 (114.843 mph)
Lap Leaders: #35, Laps 1-3; #2, Laps 4-8; #31, Laps 9-13
Sunoco Hard Charger: #11 Rocky Elli

Photo by: Jeff Loewe