
Editor's Note: This article was updated Oct. 5, 2025, based on official results and due to post-race penalty assessment.
Leading up to the Oct. 5, 2025, Spec MX-5 (SMX) race at the 62nd SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® Presented by Sunoco at Road America, Camden Ebben claimed the Tire Rack Pole Award in the No. 55 Mazda MX-5, just 0.045sec ahead of second-place qualifier Francisco Barroso in the No. 48 AIG Arrow Group MX-5. The second row included Ethan Lampe in the No. 95 MX-5 and the No. 11 MX-5 of Matthew Novak. In all, the top 11 qualifiers all drove times within a second of the polesitter, giving a preview of the dense-pack racing that this class provides.
None of them could have ever guessed how this race would end.
At the start on Sunday of the Hagerty Race Days, Ebben moved out to the lead before the first turn of the 4.048-mile, 14-turn Road America circuit. Ebben led Barroso and the No. 26 MX-5 of Michael Tinis, who had moved up from the fifth grid position, and the No. 199 JDH Racing/Jacobs Design Homes MX-5 of Ethan Jacobs, who had charged up from seventh on grid.
The leaders were through Turn 2 when Weston Duchak in the No. 40 MX-5 suffered contact and went off-track for a hard hit, the impact bringing out a full-course caution that led to uncertainty about who the ultimate race winner would be.
Following a pair of laps behind the safety car, the field came around for a restart to begin the fourth lap, and as frequently happens, there was some balking in the field. Defending SMX National Champion Ethan Lampe was running in seventh position and pulled out of line before the start/finish line.
"We were coming up the straightaway to the start and the whole field bunched up," Lampe said after the race. "I popped out so I didn't plow into the guy in front of me, but I didn't pass him. I just popped out and maybe there was slight overlap, but I never passed him."
After the restart, there was another large automotive peloton as the drivers in the evenly matched SMX cars hustled to find advantage. Ebben retained his lead, with Barroso running tightly against his rear bumper. Tinis went wide on the exit of the Carousel and that moved Novak to third position. At this point, Lampe had moved up to fourth position, followed by Jacobs.
Over the next several laps, Lampe moved up to third place and Barroso fell back before Ebben went wide in the circuit’s famous Canada Corner, yielding the lead to Novak. The dogfight continued, with cars going up to three wide in several of the numerous passing zones.
In the fifth lap, Lampe moved into the lead for the first time. But two laps later, Camden Gruber drove his No. 24 Planet Miata/RP Performance/CGR MX-5 into the lead at Turn 5.
That's the way it went for the balance of the race, with a six-car train trading the lead and all positions around every lap.
With two laps to go, Lampe moved into second position in Canada Corner, then retook the lead heading into Turn 1 on the final lap, leading Gruber and Jacobs for the podium positions. Jacobs made a play for second on the final time through Canada Corner but couldn't get it done. At the flag it was Lampe first across the line, followed by Gruber and Jacobs, then Barroso, Novak, and Ebben rounding out the lead pack.
However, by the time the cars arrived in victory lane, word had come from Race Control that the officials were levying a five-second penalty on Lampe for his actions at the restart. That action moved Gruber to the National Championship winning position, Jacobs to silver, and Barroso to bronze, while Lampe was slotted into sixth.
The penalty was later removed, restating Lampe as the 2025 Spec MX-5 National Champion and making him two for two in Runoffs attempts.
“At the end of the day, my dad and I put so much effort into being here, and being able to pull this off twice in a row is just unreal,” Lampe said.
Washington DC Region’s Gruber was thoughtful about the whole experience: "It's been a heck of a week. We've been chasing setup all week. I think we finally got the setup squared away in qualifying, but I mean, it was a good, long race with a bunch of respectful guys. I couldn't ask for a better group of guys to race with."
Jacobs was thrilled to stand on the podium once more. "I'm very excited to be on the podium for the second year in a row for the Runoffs,” he said. “I took second place last year and I was really going for that win. But with a little bit of contact going into Canada Corner with two laps left, I got shuffled back to third and I just did what I could to hang onto that podium."
The Sunoco Hard Charger award goes to the driver who most improved his or her position during the race. For SMX, that was Christian Hoagland, who started in 18th position and rose to 11th by the end of the race.
The 62nd SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® Presented by Sunoco is the pinnacle of American amateur motorsports and crowns Sports Car Club of America™ Champions as part of the Summit Racing Equipment SCCA Road Racing program. In 2025, two Hagerty Race Days at Wisconsin’s Road America decide 23 gold-medal winners.
Live, online video coverage of Runoffs races is available over both competition days at SCCA’s Official YouTube Channel. Live timing and scoring for each race is also available at SCCA.com/live.
Below are final results for Sunday's Spec MX-5 race at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs Presented by Sunoco; with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, SCCA Region, car, and laps completed.
1, (3), Ethan Lampe, San Francisco Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
2, (6), Camden Gruber, Washington DC Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
3, (7), Ethan Jacobs, Milwaukee Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
4, (2), Francisco Barroso, Florida Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
5, (4), Matthew Novak, Chicago Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
6, (1), Cam Ebben, Milwaukee Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
7, (9), Vinnie Meskelis, Texas Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
8, (10), Ethan Barker, Houston Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
9, (11), Joey Andrews, Cal Club Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
10, (13), Ryan Gutile, San Francisco Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
11, (18), Christian Hoagland, Cal Club Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
12, (14), Mitchell Lowry, Western Ohio Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
13, (16), Michael Neumeyer, San Francisco Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
14, (19), Gavin Wardle, Utah Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
15, (15), Emy Kissick, Oregon Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
16, (20), Matteo Azari, Chicago Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
17, (17), Michelle Squirek, Atlanta Region, Mazda MX-5, 11.
18, (5), Michael Tinis, New York Region, Mazda MX-5, 10.
19, (8), Skyler Cottrell, Atlanta Region, Mazda MX-5, 6.
DNF, (12), Weston Duchak, Florida Region, Mazda MX-5, 0.
Race Stats
Length of Race: 52.62 miles
Overall Time of Race: 38:06.939 (avg. 82.838 mph)
Margin of Victory: 0.145 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:37.091 (92.767 mph)
Lap Leaders: #55, Laps 1-3; #11, Lap 4; #95, Laps 5-6, 13; #24 Laps 7-10; #199 Laps 11-12
Sunoco Hard Charger: #01 Christian Hoagland
Photo by: Jeff Loewe