Editors Note: This article was updated Oct. 5, 2025, based on official results and due to post-race penalty assessment.
“The last thing I wanted to do was take both of us out, you know,” an elated Matt Spicuzzi said after claiming his first SCCA National Championship title during the Oct. 5, 2025, Touring 4 (T4) race at the 62nd SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® Presented by Sunoco at Road America. “I didn't care who finished first as long as we both went across the line one-two.”
It was a spectacular battle that was all but choreographed, with Spicuzzi and teammate Alex Lozano controlling the pace of the entire race, never putting a tire wrong, and running to the checker.
That’s how the race ended during the second of two Hagerty Race Days at the 2025 Runoffs. This is how they got there:
The Touring 4 field was made up of a solitary Toyota 86, a pair of Mazda RX-8s, a trio of V6 Ford Mustangs, and four Mazda MX-5s.
Spicuzzi was this year’s Touring 4 Tire Rack Polesitter, earning the front-row honor with a time of 2:32.956 in his No. 11 Huffmaster Racing/Blueforce Health 2012 Ford Mustang V6. Starting the race to his left was teammate Lozano in his No. 1 Huffmaster Racing/Hoosier/AMJRacing 2012 Ford Mustang V6 with a time of 2:33.003. Both of those times were faster than the existing track record and roughly 2.5sec quicker than Scotty B White in his No. 0 Knight Transport/Goodyear/CMT 2012 Ford Mustang GT in third and Ethan Barker and his No. 28 Sabre Supplements 2006 Mazda RX-8 starting fourth.
The green flew and Spicuzzi held the advantage, followed by Lozano and White into Turn 1. By the halfway point on the first lap, Chip Herr (starting from the back due to an issue in qualifying) had made it to sixth in the solitary Toyota 86 and found himself in a heated battle with Marc Cefalo’s RX-8 – a battle that would come to an end on lap eight with both racers exiting the race.
As expected, teammates Spicuzzi and Lozano were the class of the field, hooking up and running nose-to-tail more than two seconds a lap faster than everyone else. In third, White was battling Ethan Barker, who was determined to grab third – White using every inch of the new Grasscrete through the exit of the Kink to defend.
One might expect the slightly heavier Mustangs to slow as the race progressed, but the Huffmaster Racing teammates kept lighting the already burning wick, resetting the fast lap and running below their qualifying times even at the halfway point. Race leader Spicuzzi appeared to be the quicker of the two, but the gap between him and Lozano at the line was always within 0.3sec.
With the laps winding down (and with a 30 second advantage over White in third), playtime was over for Spicuzzi and Lozano, and the metaphorical gloves came off.
With two laps to go, Spicuzzi’s Mustang appeared to have fading tires, his car running wider through Turn 1 compared to Lozano’s tidy line. Then came Turn 14 of the final lap.
Lozano dove to the inside of Spicuzzi on Canada Corner and pulled alongside his teammate, the duo pushing hard through Billy Mitchell Bend. Lozano, still trailing, tried to get the power down exiting Turn 14 but he asked too much of the rears, dramatically sliding and losing the momentum he needed.
This was Spiccuzi’s first win and first Runoffs podium – both in his second-ever Runoffs appearance. A stellar performance that went completely to plan.
“Everything went really smooth,” an elated Spicuzzi said after the race. “We’ve got a really good team. We went out, we worked together, we let the gloves off the last couple laps. I think both of us messed up coming into 14. We got a pretty good, even run up to the front straight, and it was a lot of fun.”
Lozano, last year’s Touring 4 National Champion, wanted the win, but was happy with the close second-place finish.
“I was a little bit farther back on the second to last lap, and I was like, I’ve got to make a move,” Lozano said. “ did a great job to cover it and I got loose out of 14, and I just didn’t have the legs up the hill. Man, I’m just so happy – it was a one-two and it was exactly what we wanted and I’m really excited to be here.”
In the battle for third, Barker had made ground on White, with their run to the checker coming down to the wire.
“It was a tight race between me and White,” said Barker before heading to the podium to spray the Mazza sparkling wine with Lozano and Spicuzzi. “I was just chasing him down the whole time – I don't even know how close it was [at the stripe]. I had to have won by less than a tenth at the line. I mean, like, we were nose to nose.”
The gap between Barker and White turned out to be 0.02sec.
The fight for fifth was also a wild one, with Kevin Fryer and Richard Mooney battling all race long – that one was also decided in Turn 14 as Mooney spun into the grass at corner exit. For his run from seventh to fifth, Fryer claimed the Sunoco Hard Charger award.
Post race, Mooney was disqualified from his sixth-place finishing position due to a Steward's action.
The 62nd SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® Presented by Sunoco is the pinnacle of American amateur motorsports and crowns Sports Car Club of America™ Champions as part of the Summit Racing Equipment SCCA Road Racing program. In 2025, two Hagerty Race Days at Wisconsin’s Road America decide 23 gold-medal winners.
Live, online video coverage of Runoffs races is available over both competition days at SCCA’s Official YouTube Channel. Live timing and scoring for each race is also available at SCCA.com/live.
Below are final results for Sunday's Touring 4 race at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs Presented by Sunoco; with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, SCCA Region, car, and laps completed.
1, (1), Matt Spicuzzi, Detroit Region, Ford Mustang V6, 13.
2, (2), Alex Lozano, Detroit Region, Ford Mustang V6, 13.
3, (4), Ethan Barker, Houston Region, Mazda RX-8, 13.
4, (3), Scotty B White, Northwest Region, Ford Mustang V6, 13.
5, (7), Kevin Fryer, Washington DC Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
6, (8), Connor Thomas, Colorado Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
7, (9), Brad Childs, Florida Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
8, (5), Marc Cefalo, Northeastern Pennsylvania Region, Mazda RX-8, 8.
9, (10), Chip Herr, Susquehanna Region, Toyota 86, 8.
DQ, (6), Richard Mooney, Milwaukee Region, Mazda MX-5, 13.
Race Stats
Length of Race: 52.62 Miles
Overall Time of Race: 33:17.091 (avg. 94.861 mph)
Margin of Victory: 0.294 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:32.633 (95.476 mph)
Lap Leaders: #11, Laps 1-13
Sunoco Hard Charger: #98 Kevin Fryer
Photo by: Rick Corwine
