This article first appeared in the January, 2017 edition of SportsCar Magazine. SCCA members can read the current and past editions of SportCar digitally here after logging into their account; To become an SCCA member and get SportsCar mailed to your home address monthly in addition to the digital editions, click here.
Cameron Maugeri
Central Florida Region
SCCA Member Since 2012
At age 23, Cameron Maugeri might be relatively new to racing, but his Runoffs resume proves he is a force to be reckoned with
Except for a quirky, intermittent misfire in his STU Lotus Exige and a lap four restart that didn’t go as well as it might have, Central Florida Region’s Cameron Maugeri might be relishing a National Championship Runoffs victory right about now. Instead, the 23-year-old Daytona resident, while pleased with his second consecutive Runoffs runner-up finish, views the 2016 finish with “kind of mixed feelings,” and is looking forward to the forthcoming season and perhaps another shot at a Runoffs title.
“I was excited to get back on the podium at the Runoffs, but it didn’t exactly go as planned,” he said about his Mid-Ohio experience. “The Lotus ran well even though we had a little misfire, which didn’t really hurt us much. It’s just the way the race went that hurt us a little bit – dropping back a few spots and then getting held up for four or five laps.”
At Daytona in 2015, Cameron finished second in Touring 1 to First Gear alum, fellow Southeast Division driver, and multiple Runoffs Champion Andrew Aquilante. That race had its hardships, too, Cameron recalls, because he finished the last lap in his Boss 302 Mustang with a tire going flat. Still, he finished ahead of three former National Champions, which – all things considered – was a great result for a Runoffs rookie.
“Throughout the race, I was just trying to concentrate on my own race by keeping my head down and running fast laps,” he said at the time.
His two Runoffs experiences were totally different, because Mid-Ohio was a new facility for him, Cameron says. “I had never been to Mid-Ohio. It was a new track for me. We had to absolutely be on our ‘A’ game the whole week. Fortunately, our setup was not that far off, and we did well.”
We caught up with Cameron a few weeks after the 2016 Runoffs and not long after Hurricane Matthew had made its October landfall along Florida’s Atlantic coast. Fortunately, Cameron says, he and his family live inland a bit from the Daytona coastline, and while they – like almost everyone else in Hurricane Matthew’s path – had “prepared for the worst and hoped for the best,” they and their immediate neighbors essentially “dodged a bullet” because of the last-minute track of the storm.
“We definitely got lucky,” he says.
As with many First Gear candidates who have appeared in this section, Cameron’s introduction to motorsports came through his family. Dad, Rick, is himself a racer and a 2000 class winner at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, where he, John Finger, Doug Mills, and Andy McNeil piloted a Chevrolet Camaro to an AGT victory.
“When I was little, my dad used to do a lot of track days,” Cameron says. “Then he moved up and actually did the 24, I think, five times. He got a first, second, and third.”
Needless to say, the senior Cameron was a big influence on the aspirations of his son. “He’s the reason I want to be a racecar driver,” says Cameron.
Cameron describes his family – dad, mother Dina, brothers Brett and Spencer, and twin sister Jordan – as “pretty close-knit. We do a lot together. Every time I’m at the racetrack, they’re there to support me,” he says. “And, anything they need, I’m obviously there to support them.”
In addition to his family, Cameron credits Alex Krugman of Krügspeed Racing and Dave Janse of BTI Motorsports with offering him a “tremendous amount of support” and advice. “It wouldn’t be possible without them,” he says.
Like his dad, Cameron has now dabbled in professional motorsports as well, having run a couple pro series including a Trans Am race at Daytona.
Away from the track, Cameron focuses on school – he’s a senior majoring in business management at the University of Northern Florida – and on working on and building cars for himself. As for this year and the coming season, “I hope to continue driving the Lotus for Alex Krugman and Krügspeed Racing,” Cameron says.
Words by James Heine
Image by Jan Bonvouloir
