It was an aggressive and strategic drive to a first-ever SCCA® National Championship title, startling in the fact that such wisdom and confidence behind the wheel came from a 17-year-old making only his fifth-ever race start in the home-garage-built 2006 Mazda MX-5. That 2024 SCCA National Championship Runoffs® drive was also his first race at Road America.
Ethan Lampe’s flag-to-flag run from the pole to the 2024 Spec MX-5 gold medal secured him SCCA’s Jim Fitzgerald Rookie of the Year Award, which is given to "the SCCA Road Racing driver showing the greatest promise as evidenced by their driving performance during their first season of National competition."
His 2024 success in the new SMX class teed up an amazing early season Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour run in 2025 even as he eyes a Runoffs victory repeat. In early June, when thousands of other 18-year-olds were graduating from high school, Ethan was instead up to his elbows in oil and grease helping a buddy replace a water pump.
“Well, I graduated a semester early,” he explained, "so at the moment, I'm not doing anything school-wise.”
His title-winning SMX MX-5, prepped by Ethan himself and his dad, Bryan, was for the moment parked, too, having taken its young driver to seven wins in eight 2025 Super Tour starts (Buttonwillow, NOLA, Hallett, and Portland, February through May).
Ethan was denied a perfect eight-for-eight win streak via a contretemps with SMX archrival Ethan Jacobs in the second race at Hallett, Jacobs the Wisconsin driver who chased Lampe all the way to the flag at the 2024 Runoffs.
"I wound up backwards and almost got stuck in the dirt,” Lampe said, "but then went from almost last back to finish fourth. Might have finished higher but I just ran out of time.
“Ethan's one of my buddies,” he went on, "so it’s … we go back and forth racing each other. We've talked about , and we're all good now."
Family and Friends
In between once-a-month race weekends, Ethan Lampe has kept busy on a new path: driver coaching.
“I did karting coaching for a long time. This year I've coached a few other Spec MX-5 drivers, and I coached a Porsche client at Buttonwillow a couple months back.”
Ethan is well-poised to offer quality instruction. Dad Bryan drove a variety of fendered race cars in ITS, STU, and other classes before son Ethan was born (indeed, Bryan garnered the Cal Club Region’s "Pete Sharland Low Bucks Racer Award” in 2001) while mom Dara autocrossed her Toyota Celica GT.
There are many accomplished friends in the Lampe family orbit including production car star Stu Hayner. Ethan’s dad worked for Hayner's race team occasionally in his 20s, and the Trans Am driver would have a hand in Ethan’s career because at age 7, Ethan was ready to go racing: “We walked into a kart shop in Orange County, and Stu owned it – we had no idea,” Ethan said. “When my dad saw Stu's face, he was like, 'Oh, I remember you!’ Then, yeah, it just kind of kicked off from there.”
Ethan was quickly competitive as part of Hayner’s karting team. With help from his dad and coaching from notable mentors, Ethan advanced quickly through the karting ranks, from cadet to junior to senior. He remained active in karting as driver and coach as recently as 2024 when he made headlines in the SKUSA ProKart Challenge, bulling his way from 33rd, after a troubled qualifying, to first in just 22 laps.
Big Wheels
Three years earlier, then-14-year-old Ethan had made the big move from karts to cars, acquiring a Mazda Miata in 2021 that he raced sporadically in 2022 then full time in 2023 in NASA’s Mazda Teen Challenge.
“My dad and I built it into a race car in our-two car garage,” explained Ethan. “We welded the cage together ourselves, did everything."
Indeed, dad Bryan has worked on a wide variety of race cars over the years, though he is a civil engineer by training.
“He works for a company that builds people-mover systems – trams, trains, and the like,” said Ethan. “He's really smart when it comes to mechanics, for sure."
In December 2023, the Lampe’s decided to sell their Spec Miata and build a Spec MX-5 car for SCCA’s new SMX class.
“We started building the car in January, but by the time we had it done, it was June and the Super Tour was over,” Ethan remembered. "So, we just ran Regionals – the remaining four Regionals that were left before the Runoffs to qualify – and then we went straight to Road America.”
(Ethan Lampe's performance at the 2024 SCCA Runoffs on his way to the Spec MX-5 National Championship was nothing less than spectacular. Photo by Jeff Loewe)
Ethan won three of those four Regionals (“We had an engine problem in the first session at Laguna Seca, so I didn't even get to go out”) and was very much an unknown arriving at the Runoffs – only his fifth race weekend with the MX-5 and first-ever visit to Road America.
"Oh, I was definitely an underdog last season going into [the Runoffs]” he said. “Nobody knew my name. No one knew who I was. And honestly, I did not go into the Runoffs thinking I would get a podium. I went in thinking I'd be happy with a top 10.
“To come away with being quickest in three of the four practice sessions I did, qualifying on the pole and then winning the race – well, that definitely exceeded my expectations.”
His stunning Runoffs triumph put him atop the list of Jim Fitzgerald Rookie of the Year Award contenders, and his clinching the award was no surprise. Its importance means a great deal to the well-spoken young driver:
"I know it's a significant trophy just from looking at the names of the people who've earned it in the past. I mean, you have Connor Zilisch, you have Morgan Burkhard, you have Simon Sykes – a bunch of other really talented drivers on that list. And just seeing where they've gone and being a part of that is an honor. Putting my name on that list means, hopefully, I’ll have a bright future too,” he laughed. “We’ll see how everything plays out."
Focus
Most of the TV commentary and race reports following Ethan’s Runoffs win noted his poise and maturity, attributes that were again on display in the second Hoosier Super Tour Race at Portland in mid-May.
The SMX cars were part of a crowded Race Group 1 that included faster E and F Production cars as well as H Production, B-Spec, and Spec Miata. On a tricky wet-but-drying track, Ethan steered his MX-5 to an impressive second overall finish.
“There was very slight rain, the track was slightly damp, but it was manageable. It dried up after a couple laps. But, yeah, we were, really fast in the changing conditions and [took] second overall. I'm happy about that."
With experience and, more recently, coaching, Ethan has learned a lot about strengths and weaknesses.
(Will Ethan Lampe's journey lead him back to the SCCA Runoffs podium? If he has anything to say about it, very much so.)
“My own strength is definitely consistency,” he said. "Honestly, my brain is just able to hyperfocus on racing. Like, I don't lose focus at all when I'm on track. I’m always in the zone and, while I'm on track, I don't get ruffled by anything. Even when I get into incidents or whatnot, while I'm still in the car, I'm just head-down, focused on hitting my marks.
“Karting definitely helped me there, but it helped with racecraft the most out of everything that translated over to cars.”
Ethan’s consistency and skill on track has helped nurture a deepening association with Mazda – and a hope it will grow further.
“Mazda’s program has been great,” he enthused. “They've definitely been supportive, and their contingency programs – everything they have to offer grassroots racers – have just been amazing. A huge help to me and my dad.”
Ethan was invited to the prestigious Mazda Shootout last November in Miami.
“There were 50 original nominees, then they narrowed it down to a final 12 who got to the Shootout in Miami, and from there they narrowed down the field to the final three.”
A hard-trying Ethan made the final three, but did not claim one of the two scholarships on offer. He was only a little disappointed.
“It was definitely a difficult event,” he said. “I was somewhat behind the eight ball, especially since I didn’t have much time in the MX-5 – a lot of the people I was competing against had quite a bit of experience in those cars. But I did the best I could, and I was super grateful for the opportunity."
Ethan’s goal is to earn another Mazda Shootout invitation and follow up with a strong performance there – and again at the Runoffs – setting up a Mazda MX-5 Cup pro run in 2026.
Skilled beyond his years – he won’t turn 19 until December – Ethan Lampe is chasing the dream of many a previous SCCA Rookie of the Year Award winner: Already at speed on the road to a long career.
Photo by Stefan Jackowniak (unless otherwise noted)
