58th Runoffs by the Numbers

From 01 (like Chris Daughtery, B Spec) through 99 (like Michael Kamalian, F Production) and beyond, the SCCA National Championship Runoffs is full of fun numbers. Here are some of our favorites:

872

As good a place to start as any. Though test days and attrition may claim a few, this is the total number of entrants for the Runoffs going into the weekend. Is that a lot? The previous record was at IMS in 2017, with 969. The next highest? 709 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2004. So yeah, that’s a good total.

424

The number of those 872 entries who were at the 2017 Runoffs and elected to come back this year — a significant number of entries, especially when combined with our next number.

215

The number of first-time Runoffs starters on the entry list. Runoffs rookies make up nearly 25 percent of the entry list.

105

Does experience matter at the Runoffs? There are 105 former champions racing this weekend who hope so.

26

The number of races (not counting Last Chance Races on Thursday) and, by default, the number of National Champions that will be crowned over three days — Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week.

15

John Heinricy has won the Runoffs 15 times — second on the all-time list. The leader? Jerry Hansen, who has an amazing 27 National Championships.

4

The number of Runoffs championships that Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske can claim, including 1960 in F Modified and three in a row from 1961 to 1963 in D Modified. For those keeping score at home, those wins came in a Porsche RSK (1960), a Cooper-powered Maserati (1961), a Cooper Monaco (1962) and a Cooper-powered Zerex Special (1963).

2.592

Miles, that is. The length of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in the configuration used by SCCA for the Runoffs. This is a slightly different configuration than the IndyCar and NASCAR road course layout, adding in the loop just after Turn 5.

3

Number of tries Michael Lewis will have to break a tie with Andrew Aquilante, David Daughtery and Joe Huffaker with 10 championships for third most all-time. Lewis is entered in GT-1, GT-3 and GT-Lite. The others aren’t standing still, however. Aquilante is entered in two classes, while Daughtery and Huffaker are entered in one class each.

1

Number of tries each of the 872 entries gets to win a National Championship each season. No points, no series of events, no do-overs — the winner-take-all format is what makes the Runoffs so rewarding, or heartbreaking.

2021 Super Sweep Hopefuls

Established in 2009, the SCCA Road Racing Super Sweep is the most demanding feat a Club racer can achieve. To warrant the award in 2021, competitors must win a U.S. Majors Tour Conference Championship, a Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour Nationwide Points Championship, and a National Championship Runoffs race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — all in a single class.

It takes a lot of great driving to become a Super Sweep honoree. In 2020, there were actually seven drivers who achieved the high mark. Those competitors were Bobby Sak, Jesse Prather, Preston Pardus, Joe Moser, Michael Borden, Mark Boden and Robert Allaer. Amazingly enough, over a dozen years there have been four drivers who managed to claim multiple Super Sweep awards. Those talented aces are Michael Lewis, Scott Rettich, Darryl Wills and Matt Reynolds.

In theory, 20 of 26 classes at the Runoffs this year could produce a Super Sweep winner — for a total of 31 drivers. Some just need to win their Runoffs race outright, while others need to claim a National Championship and hope that another competitor in the class finishes somewhere back in the field.

The best way to track how 2021 Super Sweep eligible competitors are progressing is to follow all the Runoffs action at SCCA.com where you can watch some action and listen to the race announcers, who will certainly be keeping an eye on this elite group of drivers during their 40-minute or 19-lap races Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Day 1 Qualifying Leaders

The opening day of qualifying has concluded for the 58th SCCA National Championship Runoffs being held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Below are provisional qualifying leaders across the 26 different classes with driver name, hometown, SCCA region, car and fastest lap time.

QUALIFYING RESULTS

Follow Along Live

Audio-only coverage of Runoffs qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway continues Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. local time. Longtime Runoffs broadcasters Gregg Ginsberg, Larry MacLeod and Tom O’Gorman are back in the booth once again this year. Audio commentary can be heard trackside and on 103.9 FM for those lucky enough to be on site, or found at scca.com for those elsewhere.

Photo caption: Formula Vee drivers pull off grid for their first qualifying session of the 2021 SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Troy Ermish is making his first Runoffs appearance at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year. No, it’s not his first-ever Runoffs, as he is a former GT-Lite national champion. But he couldn’t make the 2017 Runoffs at IMS, so Sunday’s test session was his first experience driving his GT-3 Nissan 350Z around the 15-turn, 2.592-mile circuit. Unfortunately, his day could’ve gone better.

During his second session Sunday, Ermish made side-to-side contact with another car coming out of Turn 5. The two vehicles touched tire sidewalls and Ermish shot up into the air and landed on the roof of the other car before sliding down its front windshield. His Nissan then slipped onto the racing surface on the passenger side before catching the grass and barrel rolling two-and-a-half times. Ermish was OK, although a little sore around the shoulders and neck. His car, however, looked squashed as if Godzilla had stepped on it.

“I got really fortunate … it didn’t break one piece of suspension, didn’t bend one wheel, it didn’t bend a shock,” Ermish said. “But it did take out the A-pillar bar by three inches above the driver. So, I got super, super lucky.”

Back in the paddock, Ermish and his crew — consisting of Reiner Wolff and Patrick Emge — stripped the racecar of its body and loaded it up so it could be hauled to a local shop by 8 a.m. Monday morning for retubing. By 4 p.m. Monday, the No. 38 was back at the track with a crew working hard to ready it for GT-3’s Tuesday morning qualifying session.

Sure enough, they made the deadline and Ermish was on track to qualify. While the car’s paint job is a little scraped up and there are some dents in the hood, it certainly didn’t seem to slow it down. In fact, Ermish set the fastest GT-3 qualifying time Tuesday with a 1:46.582 lap.

“We’re going to make the car better,” Ermish said after the opening qualifying session. “We are going to start tweaking the chassis to get it better because we are going to need to pick up another second to maintain that pole position.”

Ermish’s supposition that he’ll need to cut more time off his lap to maintain pole could be a solid one. Michael Lewis, the defending GT-3 national champion driving the No. 32 Mazda RX-7, did not turn a qualifying lap Tuesday, but he is expected to be a contender at this year’s Runoffs.

Speaking of Lewis, he is one of 14 drivers in the running to claim this year’s 2021 GT-3 Challenge presented by MPI championship. Supported by Mazda, Max Papis Innovations, Penske Racing Shocks, Hoosier Racing Tire, Goodyear Tire and Ave Motorsports, the GT-3 Challenge is in its third year with a goal of boosting participation in the GT-3 class.

Five GT-3 Challenge events have already been held this year. Runoffs GT-3 competition, however, caps off the season, and SCCA’s National Championship carries a weighted score four times that of regular season events. Coming into the event, Taz Harvey leads the points battle in his No. 62 Mazda RX-7 racecar. Second is Paul Young in the No. 79 Ford Probe. Lewis sits third, followed by Ken Nelson in the No. 91 Nissan 200SX.

Up for grabs is a grand prize that consists of a day of coaching from IndyCar and Daytona 24 Hour winner Max Papis. And if a Mazda driver claims the overall GT-3 Challenge championship, that racer will also earn parts support valued at $1,500 from the manufacturer. Furthermore, if that racer also claims the Runoffs GT-3 win, he’ll earn an additional $4,000 payout as part of the standard Mazda Runoffs champion’s purse.

GT-3 has two more qualifying sessions — one each on Wednesday and Thursday — before their race, set to roll off the grid at 8:10am on Sunday, Oct. 3. Be sure to tune in to this National Championship race from IMS to see who comes out on top!

TUNE IN

Photo caption: After the on-track incident and subsequent fixes, Ermish awaits a corner balance as he puts the finishing touches on his No. 38 GT-3 Nissan in preparation for qualifying day two on Wednesday.

Up and Running at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The 58th SCCA National Championship Runoffs officially got underway this morning at promptly 8 a.m., when the first of the many 18-minute qualifying sessions took to the 2.592-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

H Production was first on track. With the grid set by regular season Hoosier Racing Tire Super Tour points, Eric Vickerman had the honor of being first on track to open the event.

“As racers, we all talk about this being one of the hallowed grounds,” Vickerman, of Howell, Michigan said. “It’s definitely a privilege. Once I found out that I had the Super Tour points to be the first car on track, I immediately went to my wife, my mom and dad, my son, the crew, and I said make sure your cameras are on to get my number on the top of the pole when we go out on track. Who knows, it may not be there all week. It’s an opportunity. It’s great to be at the Brickyard for the SCCA Runoffs. H Production has been healthy for a lot of years and it’s a great class to be in right now.”

Vickerman led the opening session until the closing minutes. Eight-time Champion and 19-time podium finisher Steve Sargis recorded the fastest lap time in that first session, with two more chances to set the grid prior to Thursday’s Tire Rack Pole Day.

Fueling Up on Sunoco 260 Tuesday

The first qualifying day of the 58th running of the SCCA National Championship Runoffs marks the second year for Sunoco 260 Tuesday. The driver in each of today’s 26 classes whose best qualifying time comes closest to including .260 will get a complete fill-up of Sunoco race fuel for their car–which can be collected on Wednesday from the Sunoco fuel truck found in the garage area at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Why is it called 260 Tuesday? Because Sunoco’s 260 race fuel has been highly regarded for many years. Still available today, Sunoco’s 260 GT is a street-legal (in most states), oxygenated, unleaded gasoline designed for high performance street cars, muscle cars, classics, street rods, motorcycles, and the like. With a 100-octane rating, Sunoco 260 GT allows increased boost levels in supercharged or turbocharged applications as compared to lower octane “pump” gas. It is engineered to not harm catalytic converters or oxygen sensors, and contains a comprehensive additive package for greater engine protection and reduced fuel system deposits. It is compatible with two-stroke synthetic and mineral-based engine oils, and safe for carbureted and fuel injected engines.

Sunoco has been powering victories on and off the track for nearly 135 years, which is why Sunoco is trusted to fuel over 50 series of racing, driving, and winning–including the SCCA National Championship Runoffs, SCCA Pro Racing, NASCAR, NHRA and Trans Am. Since 2001, Sunoco has also been the Official Fuel of SCCA. Visit http://www.sunocoracefuels.com to learn more

Indy-go-go

While the official opening to the event came this morning when Vickerman pulled onto the track, the 870-plus drivers, more than 400 workers and volunteers, and hundreds of crew members and families gathered outside the famed IMS Pagoda for the event’s Welcome Party on Monday evening.

Participants enjoyed the buffet-style dinner and drinks in the outdoor courtyard while listening to classic cover tunes from the Indigos. The purple-hued musicians ran the gamut from classic rock to Motown, with strings and horns bringing the melodies.

An old-fashioned dance-off nearly developed between the grid workers and the victory circle team, but both immediately backed down when two-year-old Kash Start, son of GT-2 driver Jonathan Start, made his way to the dance floor to show off his moves.

Follow Along Live

Audio-only coverage of Runoffs qualifying continues this afternoon from the Racing Capital of the World–Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Longtime Runoffs broadcasters Gregg Ginsberg, Larry MacLeod and Tom O’Gorman are back in the booth once again this year. And, they’ll be back at it tomorrow starting at 8:00 a.m. local time. Audio commentary can be heard trackside and on 103.9 FM for those lucky enough to be on site. For those elsewhere, follow Runoffs qualifying at SCCA.com.

Photo caption: The first green flag of the 2021 SCCA National Championship Runoffs waves for the H Production field.

The SCCA National Championship Runoffs is officially underway, after a handful of test days, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And while more than 870 entries are on the entry list, literally none of them could run around the track without tires.

Hence the 1900 square foot service tent for Hoosier Racing Tire this week, literally the size of a ranch house. Throughout the week, Hoosier Tire estimates that between 3,800 and 4,000 Hoosier Tires will be used on the way to crowning 26 new SCCA National Champions.

It’s no easy feat to get those four thousand tires where they need to go. Though many were shipped to competitors in advance of the event, there are still a lot to be picked up. Twelve employees from Hoosier Tire Midwest are on site to service wheels and tires; six more engineers and other employees from Hoosier’s corporate office are attending the Runoffs.

The large number of tires accounts for likely 80 to 85 percent of the total entries this week who choose to run Hoosier Tires. That includes a whopping nine trailers on site — two with equipment, and seven jammed full of tires.

“We just unloaded one truck a little bit ago (on Monday),” Tim Gilvin, Product Manager said. “We brought a truck in on Friday night and unloaded that with 600 tires. We’ll probably unload another on Tuesday and another on Wednesday. Luckily, we’re close enough. It’s only two hours to home.”

And it’s one that, as always, the team at Hoosier does with a smile. That’s because no one understands this event and its competitors like the team at Hoosier Tire.

“I think of all the races we do at Hoosier, this is our biggest event of the year,” Gilvin said. “We’re racers, and that’s all we do. Adam Batton, our new product manager, is going to be here long term and he’s being trained up in the Hoosier way. He came out of our karting program and designed, developed, and drove on the kart tires and was our test driver on the quarter midget tires. We’re in this for the long term.”

Follow along all week at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs, beginning with qualifying from Tuesday through Thursday and a total of 26 National Championship Races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You can find all of the action live on SCCA.com.