Tyler Ladd had big shoes to fill when he stepped into the No. 51 BMW Z3 this season and handled the pressure like a pro, capturing the E Production championship on Sunday at Road America during the 60th anniversary SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® presented by Sunoco.
Ladd qualified on the Tire Rack pole and led the field to the green with John Hainsworth’s No. 95 Turf Trade/Hoosier/Carbotech Mazda RX-7 to his outside. The two checked out from the rest of the field, running together through the caution-free race and pulling a lead of 30 seconds on the rest of the field.
The gap between the two was never more than two seconds and just 1.730sec when the duo came to the white flag to start the final lap. Heading into Turn 5, Hainsworth stepped on the brake pedal as his front right suspension broke, ending his race nine corners early as he safely pulled off track.
That left Ladd all alone up front and he cruised to the checkered flag for his first win in just his second Runoffs start.
“I’m absolutely stunned,” Ladd said. “I came from mid pack in Spec Miata and now I’m standing on the top at the Runoffs. Some of the gap was managing it. He would catch back up and I would bottle it, and I’d have to tell myself to calm down, relax, concentrate on the braking points, concentrate on powering out and you’ll be fine. I wish I could have raced him right to the end. That sucks for him because he gave me such a good race. He didn’t let me have this one.”
Ladd’s BMW has now won five consecutive E Production races – three in a row from Jesse Prather, followed by Greg Ira in 2023 before landing in the Wichita Region driver’s hands for the 2024 season. That season was an unequivocal success as the Runoffs victory also clenched an SCCA Super Sweep for Ladd, which also requires a Hoosier Super Tour point victory and a Majors Conference champion all in the same class.
“There was a lot of weight,” Ladd said. “When I bought this from Jesse, it took a couple of races to stop calling it his. I just wanted to keep the pedigree going. I couldn’t sleep last night.”
With Hainsworth dropping out, the battle between Austin Bradshaw and Bill Miller was now for second place. Bradshaw’s No. 41 Sunoco/T3/Mazda/Goodyear Mazda RX-7 started fourth on the grid and moved around Peter Norton’s Caterham 7 on the opening lap to slot into third place. Miller moved his No. 47 JPM/W-Interactive/Miller95 BMW 328i to fourth two laps later and spent the rest of the race in a battle that looked nearly identical to the one taking place at the front of the field.
Bradshaw crossed the line with a second-place finish that fulfilled a childhood dream for the 24-year-old second generation racer, who grew up watching the television broadcast of the Runoffs each year. That finish also earned him the Sunoco Hard Charger Award for most positions gained during the race.
“I grew up watching the SCCA Runoffs as a child. To now be here feels like a complete dream come true,” Bradshaw said. “To be here with an RX-7 and to be here with my family, I couldn’t ask for a more memorable way to finish out the week. A second place to me is a win for my family. We wrench on the car ourselves. To be able to all do it together is the coolest thing. That’s what makes SCCA racing so fun.”
Miller backed down on the final lap after beginning to drop some oil, content to take home a career-best fourth-place finish. He didn’t learn that he had finished on the podium until the pit lane crew pointed him to parc ferme.
“I thought I was fourth,” Miller said. “I got waived over at the last second coming in. I just wanted to keep the car going, get a good finish, and end the day with the car on the trailer. I was a little more dominant until Turn 5, and then he had me in the rest of the track. It’s pretty neat to have two styles of cars, where they are good in different spots. I was setting him up for a corner one, last lap pass, and the last four laps my axle popped out and started oiling down my right rear tire. So I went right to survival mode and didn’t need to be a hero. I stayed with him as best I could and brought it home.”
Norton finished fourth, followed by Tim Anastopoulos in fifth.
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 Sunday's E Production race at the 2024 SCCA® National Championship Runoffs, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, and laps completed.
1, (1), Tyler Ladd, Clearwater, KS, BMW Z3, 13.
2, (4), Austin Bradshaw, Dundee, OR, Mazda RX-7, 13.
3, (5), Bill Miller, Weston, MO, BMW 328i/is E36, 13.
4, (3), Peter Norton, Pelham, NC, Lotus/Caterham 7 America, 13.
5, (6), Tim Anastopoulos, Kenosha, WI, BMW 325i/is, 13.
6, (7), Doug Piner, Hampstead, NC, BMW Z3, 13.
7, (9), Lance Loughman, Bath, MI, Nissan 240Z, 13.
8, (10), Heikki Silegren, Stouffville, ON, Nissan 240Z, 13.
9, (8), Aaron Johnson, Lodi, OH, Honda S2000, 13.
10, (11), Joe Carr, Petaluma, CA, Mazda Miata, 13.
11, (12), Don Tucker, Memphis, TN, Mazda Miata, 13.
12, (15), John Collins, Albuquerque, NM, BMW 325i/is, 13.
13, (13), Anthony Parker, New Ipswich, NH, Triumph GT6, 13.
14, (2), John Hainsworth, Vineland, NJ, Mazda RX-7, 12.
DNF, (14), John Baucom, Monroe, NC, Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto, 1.
DNF, (16), Mark Weber, Saint Louis, MO, Mazda Miata, 1.
Race Stats
Length of Race: 52.62 miles
Overall Time of Race: 32:19.718 (avg. 97.667 mph)
Margin of Victory: 34.020 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:27.869 (98.552 mph)
Lap Leaders: #51, Laps 1-13
Sunoco Hard Charger: #41 Austin Bradshaw
Photo by: Rick Corwine
