“There was some real pressure, especially at the restart,” Brandon Dixon said after taking the Formula Continental® win at the 62nd SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® Presented by Sunoco at Road America this afternoon. “ certainly some real pressure there. I could pull a little bit of a gap from Turn 6 to the end of the Carousel and I could get a gap. From that point, it was just driving it and hitting my marks.”
This is Dixon’s third SCCA National Championship title, and when you hear him talk about it after the fact, it sounds like a tight battle. From the grandstands, though, Dixon’s run to the gold was a masterclass in racing.
Dixon’s story begins as the Tire Rack Polesitter.
This was hardly Dixon’s first time at the sharp end of the grid. The two-time SCCA National Champion turned his pair of titles into a trio this year — proof that he knows exactly what it takes to earn the most coveted spot on the grid, and what to do once he’s there.
Trailing Dixon’s No. 7 Hoosier/Citation Engineering Citation US2000 on the grid was Brendon Cronin in his No. 12 LTD Motorsports/Heart & Soil Van Diemen RF03, Michael Varacins in his No. 65 Speed Sport Engineering/Pepperball Van Diemen RF10, and Timothy Minor in his No. 18 Citation US2000. Of the top four, Cronin was the only one without a Runoffs win – Cronin, in fact, was a Runoffs rookie.
The green flew on a sunny, breezy, and warm Sunday for the second of two Hagerty Race Days at the SCCA Runoffs, and Dixon quickly pulled clear of Cronin, making his way to track left to improve his run down to Turn 3. That advantage paid dividends, as Dixon put 2.258sec on Minor (now in second), with Cronin and Varacins on Minor’s tail. Varacins dropped from that pack on lap two with a spin in Turn 5, promoting John Janssen to fourth.
Janssen wasted no time slotting in behind Minor, making it clear that he was gunning for third.
Dixon set the pace for the field, with Cronin his closest competition once Minor dropped back a bit. Even then, Cronin’s best laps consistently trailed Dixon’s by as much as 1.5 seconds. By the halfway mark, Cronin could focus on hitting his marks, as Minor had fallen some six seconds behind.
Working lap nine, a full-course caution for a Continental driver stranded under the Corvette bridge wiped out Dixon’s 8.3-second lead over Cronin. The yellow also brought Minor back into contention — though he’d have to navigate a bundle of five Formula Fs between himself and Cronin, as the two classes shared a split start race. Minor, meanwhile, faced a mirror full of Janssen, who had been on a tear.
This was the restart Dixon spoke about earlier. The green flew with three laps remaining — a true sprint for the National Championship — and Cronin did everything he could to keep Dixon within reach. But Dixon’s pace was undeniable, and he quickly opened a one-second gap on the field. By the start of the final lap, the lead had stretched to 1.7 seconds, with Minor a distant third and Janssen in fourth, too far back to take a shot at the podium.
4.048 miles and 14 turns later, the field crossed the line in that order, Dixon earning his third National Championship title (his first since 2012), followed by 17-year-old Runoffs rookie Cronin, and 64-year-old Runoffs veteran Minor rounding out the podium. Carter Sheets started eighth, finished fourth, and earned the Sunoco Hard Charger award for the run.
“This super special,” Dixon said before spraying the Mazza sparkling wine on the podium. “This car is very special to me. This car is kind of my heart and soul. I helped design and develop everything with this car. It's the best race car I've ever had, and I really wanted to bring it here.”
Cronin was very pleased with his rookie performance, although he knew the finish was possible because his team had put in the necessary work.
“I knew I could put it together,” he said. “We worked really hard throughout the week, trying to find speed each and every session. I was putting down times one second off my best times I did in qualifying … it feels great.”
Minor’s podium finish was all the more impressive given what he was dealing with behind the wheel.
“I got into a little altercation early on and I think something’s bent in the back of the car, so I hung on the whole race,” Minor revealed. “That was basically what I was doing the whole race.”
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 Formula Continental 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), Brandon Dixon, Alabama Region, Citation US2000, 13.
2, (2), Brendon Cronin, Washington DC Region, Van Diemen RF03, 13.
3, (4), Timothy Minor, Blue Ridge Region, Citation US2000, 13.
4, (8), Carter Sheets, Steel Cities Region, Van Diemen RF03, 13.
5, (3), Michael Varacins, Chicago Region, Van Diemen RF10, 13.
6, (7), Hayden Eade, Chicago Region, Van Diemen RF03, 13.
7, (10), Bill Wallschlaeger, Arizona Region, Van Diemen RF97, 13.
8, (6), John Janssen, Land O'Lakes Region, Van Diemen RF02, 12.
9, (9), Rockford Beauchamp, Milwaukee Region, Van Diemen RF99, 7.
DNS, (5), Bill Johnson, Kansas City Region, Van Diemen RF01, 0.
Race Stats
Length of Race: 52.62 Miles
Overall Time of Race: 33:04.635 (avg. 95.457 mph)
Margin of Victory: 2.594 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:12.824 (109.715 mph)
Lap Leaders: #7, Laps 1-13
Sunoco Hard Charger: #03 Carter Sheets
Photo by: Jay Bonvouloir
