Fans were out in force Saturday at Road America for the 70th consecutive running of the WeatherTech Chicago Region® June Sprints®, which is included in the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour® (HST) series that is part of the Summit Racing Equipment SCCA Road Racing program.
The June 6-8, 2025, stop in Wisconsin is a bit different this year as the competition is being conducted in a single-race format. That means drivers from each of the 10 run groups will have only one shot at taking home a coveted June Sprints trophy plaque. Three of those run groups saw action Saturday afternoon during contests that were either 13 laps or 45 minutes in length.
Saturday opened with a second round of qualifying for a majority of the run groups. Conditions were magnificent with temperatures in the lower 70-degree range. That might explain why so many fans came out to enjoy a spectacular day at America’s National Park of Speed.
Will the wonderful weather hold out Sunday for the final seven run groups? Forecasts are shifting and we’ll have to wait and find out.
June Sprints Grand Marshal Dave Weitzenhof
Few drivers epitomize SCCA open-wheel racing more than 82-year-old Dave Weitzenhof, the 2025 WeatherTech Chicago Region June Sprints Grand Marshal. Winning four Formula F National Championships in the ‘70s and ‘80s was no small feat. But add to that a Formula Vee title in 1972, then a pair of Formula Continental titles during the ’90s, and we can’t forget about his 14 June Sprints victories.
Inducted into SCCA’s Hall of Fame in 2020 alongside his wife, Sherrie, Dave also earned the Road Racing Drivers’ Club Mark Donohue Award in 1972 and SCCA’s President’s Cup in 1977. This weekend at Road America, it’s Dave who presents podium finishers with one of the unique and fabulous plaque trophies created by Chicago Region for the June Sprints.
Outside the car, Dave is an accomplished engineer who spent much of his career with Bridgestone/Firestone and has numerous patents to his name. That engineering knowhow served him well in his racing, but he has given it freely to his fellow racers over the years. Without hesitation, car setup and vehicle dynamics information were shared in documents he made readily available to others. He also has given setup seminars at NEohio Region, NEDiv and even SCCA National Conventions.
Both his driving and engineering prowess were applied in test-driving duties for the original SCCA Enterprises Sports Renault, now one of SCCA’s largest car classes known as Spec Racer Ford Gen3. Perhaps that is just one of the stories he’ll regale an audience with during Saturday evening’s all-participant dinner.
Back at Work for June Sprints
The HST event a month ago in Portland, OR, was the first race weekend Craig Stevens missed in five years. He’s back and working hard this weekend with the rest of his Stevens Motorsports crew as caretakers of a 1992 Mazda RX-7 driven by Michael Lewis in two different classes at Road America.
Stevens easily earned some vacation time considering all the effort it takes to get that blue No. 32 car on track each race weekend. It’s a plucky workhorse with a rotary engine used across five different classes the last two years of SCCA Road Racing. That included GT-3 and GT-Lite (GTL) last year, and GT3U and F Production (FP) in 2025 – plus an HST victory this year in GT-1 on The Circuit at Buttonwillow Raceway Park.
The car itself comes with a backstory. Lewis, a member of SCCA’s Cal Club, originally had the vehicle built for himself. He later sold the machine, which then sat in storage for nearly two decades. Stevens bought the car eight years ago and maintains it today, along with the GT-1 Jaguar XKR owned and raced by Lewis.
“We strip the cars down in the off season,” Stevens said. “We go over every nut and bolt, change things, and basically make sure we have a good start to the year.” However, the RX-7 is used so frequently that it’s disassembled almost weekly for focused inspection of known wear points. Overall, around 30 hours a week is committed to upkeep.
That number doesn’t include work done in the paddock on weekends. In 2024, while running both GT-3 and GTL, major equipment swaps were needed to make the car both competitive and legal one race to the next. After loads of practice, Stevens and his team became ridiculously efficient at that task.
“It was 58 minutes from jack up to jack down,” Stevens noted. “We changed the engine, transmission, and exhaust … with just three guys.”
For the Runoffs, as many as seven engines are hauled to the track. The National Championship at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2021 saw Stevens’ squad execute a total of 11 engine changes. Lewis said things are a bit easier this year running in GT3U and FP competition. The team can get by using a single engine for both classes, but front-suspension setup changes need to happen – a task taking 30 minutes.
“Nobody works harder than Craig and his crew, changing between two classes plus helping out with a third car in a third class,” Lewis noted. “And I’ve never heard the guy say ‘no’ when anybody has come and asked for help, which a lot of people do. He’s the embodiment of what SCCA is as far as Club Racing.”
Why does Stevens do it, other than to gobble up a bunch of first-place trophies?
“A lot of it is the challenge,” Stevens admitted. “What I chase is being better than the next guy. I always push myself to be better.”
Saturday’s FP race was won by Chris Bovis in the No. 178 Hart Marx Advisors/Goodyear Honda CRX. But Stevens’ No. 32 Goodyear Mazda RX-7 will have another chance at victory Sunday when Lewis pulls away from grid for the GT3U contest.
Kinky Feedback
It was 1956 when racing commenced at Road America, and that season of action included the Chicago Region June Sprints. While America’s National Park of Speed in Elkhart Lake, WI, has an absolutely enthralling motorsport history, the beautiful facility refuses to rest on its laurels.
Those charged with managing the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit constantly seek ways to make the driver and visitor experience better year after year. In late 2022, the entire track was meticulously repaved with the original configuration remaining unchanged. This offseason, grasscrete was placed beyond the track-out curbing at the Kink to mitigate ruts and dust along that challenging, highspeed corner.
How were changes to the Kink received by SCCA drivers this weekend? Nearly every driver interviewed said the Kink is as it always was, but with less dust. So, kudos to Road America for making changes without changing the makeup of a classic corner at a classic circuit.
Saturday Race Winners
Below are provisional race winners from Saturday’s WeatherTech Chicago Region June Sprints at Road America, part of the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour. Each entry includes Car Class: Driver Name, SCCA Region, and Car.
B-Spec: Josh Schmidt, Central Carolinas Region, Chevrolet Sonic
E Production: Jon Brakke, Land O'Lakes Region, BMW Z3
F Production: Chris Bovis, Chicago Region, Honda CRX
H Production: Steve Sargis, Blackhawk Valley Region, Triumph Spitfire
Formula Enterprises® 2: Gian Buffomante, Chicago Region, SCCA Enterprises FE2 Mazda
Prototype: Bart Wolf, Milwaukee Region, ELAN DP-02
Sunday June Sprints Race Coverage
Seven more run groups will race Sunday at the June Sprints, revealing a multitude of class winners and Mazza Vineyards sparkling wine recipients. But first, a second round of qualifying for a couple competition groups will take place starting at 8 a.m. Central Time.
Also starting 8 a.m. local time is HST’s multi-camera, free broadcast found at SCCA’s YouTube page. Produced by DriversEye Live, commentary will again be provided by Brian Bielanski and Larry “Lefty” MacLeod. Or enjoy a day of excitement at America’s National Park of Speed with spectator entry only being $35 per person. Anyone 16 years old and under gets in free with a paying adult.
Live HST Timing & Scoring is always available throughout the weekend at scca.com/live. Saturday and Sunday victory podium celebrations can also be viewed at the SCCA Road Racing Facebook page.
Photo: How Road America’s famous ‘Kink’ looks today after having some work done to it during the offseason.
Photo by Rick Corwine
