The good times rolled for sure March 22-23, 2025, at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, LA, during Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour’s fourth event of the year, which was hosted by SCCA’s Lone Star Region and Southwest Division.
Part of the Summit Racing Equipment SCCA Road Racing program, Sunday’s action opened with 15-minute qualifying sessions for each of the seven run groups. Then it was time for 35-minute or 18-lap races around the 2.75-mile, 16-turn circuit found just outside New Orleans. Trophies and commemorative bottles of Mazza Vineyards sparkling wine were then awarded to the top three finishers in each car class to mark their success.
Sunday’s weather was slightly different from the previous day. Winds were up a bit, and the sky was overcast all day. Still, things were comfortable as temperatures again only reached the upper 70-degree range with humidity levels quite acceptable.
Paddock Oddball
During Saturday evening’s festivities at NOLA, some may have spotted a group of SCCA members chasing yellow tennis balls down a staircase. No, they had not lost their marbles, they were just enjoying what is becoming a fundraising tradition named Oddball.
An activity shepherded in by Alliance Autosport, Oddball involves up to 400 tennis balls. Each of the bright, fury orbs have a number on it. At $5 per ball, people purchase entry into the Oddball contest and are randomly assigned a number that corresponds to a specific ball.
Once money has been collected, the tennis balls are taken to a high point such as a pedestrian bridge, paddock slope or staircase. The balls are then dumped out and the one that rolls furthest is deemed the victor. The lucky person who purchased that numbered ball receives about 30 percent of the entire pot collected. Second place gets a cut, too, as well as third. The last-place ball earns a $5 refund for its owner.
At least 50 percent of the pot is given to event organizers to distribute as they see fit to volunteers. In many cases, those lucky enough to have purchased winning balls often concede their prize money to the volunteer fund, too. The end result at NOLA was $800 raised for the volunteers’ fund.
Oddball can ‘go down’ any evening during certain HST events. To get involved, find the Alliance Autosport paddock spot or driver Mark Weber. They’ll let you know what Oddball plans are for the weekend.
SMX Runoffs Redo
Ethan Lampe and Ethan Jacobs are familiar with one another. At last year’s Runoffs® in Wisconsin, Jacobs finished second to Lampe by 0.161sec in the Spec MX-5 (SMX) National Championship race. This weekend at NOLA, the two crossed paths again for the first time this season.
Jacobs came into the weekend with one win to his credit, which was earned at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, as well as a runner-up performance at Sebring International Raceway during HST’s January visit there. Lampe had two HST victories in SMX, both of which were claimed on The Circuit at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in California.
It was a surprise to see Lampe at NOLA since he proclaimed on Buttonwillow’s victory podium that funds were tight. He wasn’t sure there’d be any more HST races on his 2025 calendar. But things changed and a last-minute decision was made.
“We managed to come up with a little bit of money,” Lampe admitted. “After winning at Buttonwillow, Mazda was really generous with their contingency programs. So, we really just had to pay for travel, food and whatnot to get out here.”
Granted, Lampe had to travel to NOLA all the way from Northern California, so it was no small journey. The trip, however, was well worth it as he swept SMX victories Saturday and Sunday in the No. 95 Mazda MX-5 car. Jacobs led the race for a bit on Saturday but ultimately came home in the runner-up spot both days.
A Shared Interest
The NOLA HST weekend was a great excuse to visit a fantastic city, and plenty of drivers from other parts of the country took advantage of that opportunity. For instance, you had Sneaky Moose Motorsports based out of Wisconsin.
The core of that team consists of Tyler Brown and his father, Tom, who are both Spec Miata (SM) competitors and members of SCCA’s Milwaukee Region. They hauled the 1,000 miles south to escape chilly weather, sample fantastic food, and to spend a weekend together at a track they love.
The duo has been racing with SCCA for almost a decade, and they both freely admit the whole experience has been an incredible father-son adventure.
“It has been epic,” Tyler said. “This is certainly going to be one of the best parts of my life.”
Tom shared the same sentiment, adding that “it has been a special moment. It is a window we have had that we’ve really tried to take advantage of.”
Along the way, the Browns have added other drivers to their team. Those other competitors were friends themselves, and now all combined it has become one good-time squad. In fact, fellow Sneaky Moose Motorsports driver Senter Smith was in attendance at NOLA and finished 11th Sunday in the No. 55 Sneaky Moose Motorsports/Garage ID Mazda Miata.
Tom finished 12th both race days in the No. 27 Sneaky Moose Motorsports/Custom Wireless Inc. Mazda Miata, and Tyler finished fifth twice in the No. 07 Sneaky Moose Motorsports/Custom Wireless Inc. Mazda Miata. But as far as the entire SM field goes, it was Frankie Barroso who had the best possible weekend as he claimed both victories in the No. 48 IAG Aero Group Mazda Miata.
Sunday Race Winners
Below are provisional race winners from Sunday’s Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour at NOLA Motorsports Park. Each entry includes Car Class: Driver Name, SCCA Region, and Car. An asterisk (*) denotes drivers with a weekend sweep in the class.
*American Sedan®: Michael Kamalian, Atlanta Region, Ford Mustang
*B-Spec: Eric Yagel, Houston Region, Honda Fit
*E Production: Tyler Ladd, Wichita Region, BMW Z3
*F Production: Stephen Simonds, Houston Region, Mazda Miata
*H Production: R. Paul Evans, Texas Region, Datsun 510
*Formula Atlantic®: Larry Howard, Kansas City Region, Swift 016
*Formula Enterprises® 2: Eric Wisniewski, Western Michigan Region, SCCA Enterprises FE2 Mazda
*GT-1: David Fershtand, Texas Region, Chevrolet Corvette
*GT-2: John Atwell, Texas Region, Ford Mustang
*GT3U: Jeff Dernehl, Atlanta Region, Mazda RX-7
*GT-X: Jacek Mucha, Florida Region, Cadillac DPI
*Spec Miata: Frankie Barroso, Florida Region, Mazda Miata
*Spec MX-5: Ethan Lampe, San Francisco Region, Mazda MX-5
*Spec Racer® Ford Gen3: Tyler Stephens, Northeast Oklahoma Region, SCCA Enterprises SRF3
*Prototype 2: Jack Donnellan, Oklahoma Region, Carbir SR
*Super Touring® Lite: Nick Leverone, New England Region, Mazda Miata
*Super Touring® Under: Richard Astacio, New England Region, Lotus Exige
*Touring 2: Alex Hocevar, Delta Region, Chevrolet Corvette
*Touring 3: Richard Kulach, Tennessee Region, Nissan 370Z
Touring 4: Chris Giles, Houston Region, Mazda RX-8
VIRginia Ahead for Lovers of Hoosier Super Tour
The Bravo Trailer that shuttles HST gear from one race to the next is now headed northeast to Virginia for an April 5-6, 2025, gathering hosted by SCCA’s North Carolina Region at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR).
Registration for volunteers and drivers is already open for the two-day party in Alton, VA, just along the border with North Carolina. Get signed up today so you don’t miss out on the experience and opportunity to have #funwithcars.
Of course, on-track action from VIR will be presented live, online and for free thanks to the popular HST video broadcast produced by DriversEye Live. Before then, the NOLA weekend can be revisited with on-demand video playback at the SCCA YouTube channel. Also find Sunday victory podium celebration videos at the SCCA Road Racing Facebook page.
Photo: Ethan Lampe on his way to Spec MX-5 victory Sunday during the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour at NOLA Motorsports Park.
Photo by Harrison Atwood
