The Path to the 2024 Runoffs, Plus Invited Classes

It’s time to start thinking about the 2024 Summit Racing Equipment SCCA® Road Racing season – and for many, the coming season is imminent. The 2024 U.S. Majors Tour kicks off on Jan. 5-7 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour beginning just one week later at Sebring International Raceway. Those with their eyes on the 2024 National Championship Runoffs® – taking place Sept. 28-Oct. 6 at Elkhart Lake’s Road America – should already be knee deep in race prep. Which classes will be invited to the 2024 Runoffs, and how do racers qualify for SCCA’s massive winner-take-all National Championship road race? We’ve got those details.

“Aside from the previously-announced discontinuation of the SCCA Pro Racing path to the Runoffs, drivers hoping to attend the 2024 Runoffs will find the qualification criteria very similar to last year,” said SCCA Director of Road Racing Deanna Flanagan. “Like in the past, there will be multiple paths to a Runoffs invitation, allowing racers to qualify in the way that makes the most sense for their racing program. Classes will look the same as 2023 as well, with the exception of Spec MX-5 (SMX) being a full National Championship Runoffs class.”

Three Ways to Qualify

The 2024 SCCA Road Racing season will include three distinct ways to qualify for the Runoffs.

U.S. Majors Tour Path
There are two components to receiving a Runoffs invitation using the U.S. Majors Tour: participation and performance. Participants must compete in at least three separate U.S. Majors Tour events, which includes any combination of Conference Majors and Super Tours. During those weekends, drivers must finish at least three individual races.

Racers may replace participation in one Majors/Super Tour event with two separate Regional event weekends, for a total of four race weekends (this is referred to as the 2+2, or two Majors/two Regionals, path). The Majors-plus-Regional route to the Runoffs still requires a driver to finish at least three individual Majors races in their class.

Those using the U.S. Majors Tour Path (including the 2+2) must finish in the top 50 percent of their class point standings in a Majors Conference or the Hoosier Super Tour point standings. If a class has less than 20 total participants, drivers finishing in the top 10 and meeting the other criteria will qualify.

Divisional Path
Another way to qualify for the 2024 Runoffs is the Divisional Path. Here, drivers will need to participate in four event weekends in a single Division in a single class, finishing in the top three in the Divisional point standings (top five in Spec Miata and Spec Racer Ford Gen3). The invitations extend to the top half for all classes in the Central and Great Lakes Divisions, space permitting.

Defending National Champions
Drivers defending their National Champion title from 2023 may enter the 2024 Runoffs in the class or classes being defended without meeting any qualification criteria. This provision may not be invoked for two consecutive years in the same class, even if the driver repeats as a National Champion.

The only change from 2023 to 2024, is the previously announced discontinuation of the SCCA Pro Racing path to the Runoffs, which allowed drivers to replace Majors weekends with Pro weekends.

Runoffs Qualification Flowchart

Qualifying Classes

Twenty-six classes will be invited to compete at the 2024 Runoffs. Those classes are:

AS, B-Spec, F600, FA, FC, FE2, FF, FV, EP, FP, HP, GT1, GT2, GT3, GTL, P1, P2, SM, SMX, SRF3, STL, STU, T1, T2, T3, and T4.

New to the lineup for 2024 is Spec MX-5 (SMX), which will compete at the Runoffs for a National Championship title for the first time.

Of note is that while F600, FA, FF, GT1, and GT3 will be invited to race at the 2024 Runoffs, those classes will be on probation for having fewer than 10 cars per class at the 2023 Runoffs. Any of those five classes that have fewer than 10 cars competing at the 2024 Runoffs will not crown a National Champion.

“We have some classes now on probation due to dropping below 10 cars at the Championship event in successive years,” Flanagan said. “Track time and resources are valuable at the Runoffs. While indications are that F600, FA, FF, GT1, and GT3 will rebound in participation, if any of these classes are unable to meet the 10-car minimum in 2024, and are below the 4.0 participation rule in the GCR (Article 3.7.4.C), that class will not be included in the 2025 Runoffs.”