Jeff Dernehl, of the Atlanta Region, scored an emotional GT3U-class victory on Sunday morning at Road America — the second of two Hagerty Race Days during the 62nd SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® Presented by Sunoco. Tony Rivera and Rob Warkocki completed a Mazda sweep of the podium following 13 action-packed laps on the 4.048-mile circuit.
Dernehl started third in his No. 65 Roswell Outback Racing Mazda RX-7 but inherited second when second-starting Michael Lewis slid through the braking zone in Turn 5 on the opening lap. From there, Dernehl spent the entire race with his mirrors full of Rivera’s No. 09 Mazda RX-3 in what looked to be a battle for the silver medal.
That fight became a battle for the lead when Tire Rack Polesitter Tony Ave — who had been 21 seconds up the road — slowed and pulled off with a mechanical issue. Dernehl completed the final five laps out front, scoring his second career Runoffs victory and his first since 2019.
The win comes in the final season of the standalone class for these highly stressed, old-school race cars — machines where reliability and ease of maintenance often take a back seat, and simply finishing is half the battle. Dernehl, an old-school racer himself, was a fitting champion. For good measure, his two-place improvement from the grid also earned him the Sunoco Hard Charger award.
“The smile went from here to here,” Dernehl said when Ave slowed. “That’s what I was banking on, that engine package is very sensitive. I pushed as hard as I could but he’s wicked fast. Props to him. I had a good feeling about this, one, I really did. But Tony would not let up, so I had to step up to make it happen.”
The win also gave Dernehl the prestigious SCCA Super Sweep — awarded to drivers who win a U.S. Majors Tour® Conference Championship, the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour® Nationwide Points Championship, and a National Championship Runoffs race, all within a single class.
Rivera, a Cal Club Region member who had struggled with straight-line speed in his RX-3 throughout the weekend, fought through those challenges to stay on Dernehl’s tailpipes for much of the race. Smoke from the right rear of the car slowed his pace in the closing laps, but Rivera held on for the silver medal – his fourth career podium but first since 2007 when he turned his attention to SCCA Pro Racing for many years.
The RX-3 is a car that originally belonged to the late Gary Bockman, a GT3 stalwart whose car Rivera admired when he was younger. Rivera purchased the car just a few years ago, keeping its livery intact and aiming for a Runoffs podium.
“This means quite a bit,” Rivera said. “I rebuilt the car completely, I took everything off over the winter. I did everything I could to get the front end to grip and worked really hard on the suspension. I knew, being an old RX-3, it was never going to be as slippery as the RX-7. I knew if I hung tough and kept pushing, usually I’m a better racer than a qualifier.”
The Chicago Region’s Warkocki, another longtime GT3 class competitor, spent his race in a tight battle with Lewis after the 11-time Runoffs Champion and defending race winner recovered from his opening-lap incident. Lewis charged back through the field, passing Warkocki’s red RX-7 for fourth place on lap five.
A two-time champion himself, Warkocki stayed close and reclaimed third on lap eight — just after Ave slowed from the lead. The pass in Turn 12 became permanent when Lewis went to pit lane two laps later, ending his day.
“It was a lot of fun,” Warkocki said. “I can’t have a bad Runoffs at my home track. We’re closing out GT3 and it’s kind of emotional for me. I’ve been in the class for 40 years. To go wheel-to-wheel with Michael Lewis like that, it’s taken me 40 years to race with him but that was a blast. I thought I could reel in Tony there at the end, I was giving it all I had but he was, too.”
Chris Edens, the last car on the lead lap in the multi-class race combined with STU, finished fourth, followed by George Chicon.
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 GT3U 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, (3), Jeff Dernehl, Atlanta Region, Mazda RX-7, 13.
2, (4), Tony Rivera, San Diego Region, Mazda RX-3, 13.
3, (5), Rob Warkocki, Chicago Region, Mazda RX-7, 13.
4, (6), Chris Edens, Arkansas Region, Mazda Miata, 13.
5, (7), George Cichon, Blackhawk Valley Region, Mazda RX-7, 12.
6, (8), Ric Cline, Atlanta Region, Mazda RX-7, 12.
7, (2), Michael Lewis, Cal Club Region, Mazda RX-7, 10.
8, (1), Tony Ave, Central Carolinas Region, Honda Civic, 7.
Race Stats
Length of Race: 52.62 miles
Overall Time of Race: 33:17.784 (avg. 94.828 mph)
Margin of Victory: 3.436 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:23.605 (101.478 mph)
Lap Leaders: #44, Laps 1-7; #65, Laps 8-13
Sunoco Hard Charger: #65 Jeff Dernehl
Photo by: Rick Corwine
