The opening Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour (HST) of 2026 is in the books after a wonderful weekend hosted by California Sports Car Club (Cal Club) Feb. 21-22 on The Circuit at Buttonwillow Raceway Park (BRP). The weather couldn’t have been nicer for what was only the second time HST competed on the relatively new 2.56 mile, 10-turn course located midway between San Diego and San Francisco.
Part of the Summit Racing Equipment SCCA Road Racing program, Sunday began with 15-minute qualifying sessions for each of the seven run groups. That was followed by 35-minute or 19-lap races, after which podium celebrations lauded the top three finishers in each car class with commemorative bottles of Mazza Vineyards sparkling wine.
Racing Writer
A mid-pack performer by his own admission, Richard James has been part of nearly every HST Buttonwillow gathering for the last decade. He was back again this weekend competing in both Spec MX-5 (SMX) and Super Touring® Lite (STL) driving the No. 91 R.S.James Creative Mazda Miata.
A humble paddock dweller, others perhaps don’t know James’ history. He was editor of SportsCar Magazine for years, writer for IndyCar Series Magazine, and current contributor at Racer Magazine. As a journalist, he has covered the Indy 500, 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Spa, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and even the Baja 1000 in Mexico.
James has seen much after discovering SCCA in the late 1980s for autocross #funwithcars while attending Texas A&M. Since then, he has interviewed top-level pro drivers at some of the most prestigious circuits worldwide. Still, BRP and HST are something special to him.
“For me, this is my 24 Hours of Daytona or Le Mans,” James said. “The Hoosier Super Tour is my Super Bowl. Do I go into it with any chance of winning? No. Am I getting the chance to compare myself with some people who will go to the Runoffs® with a real chance of winning? Yes. It’s the chance to compete against the best people on the West Coast.”
Does being in a racecar help James’ work as a motorsport journalist?
“I think it gives me a greater understanding of what racers are talking about,” he said. "I do understand the basic principles of braking and cornering at the limit, and a little bit of race strategy.”
While James has been to amazing venues over the years, Buttonwillow still holds a sweet spot in his heart.
“Buttonwillow is my Club track,” James said. “I see all these great racetracks … but Buttonwillow is where I get to race. That’s why Buttonwillow matters and why it’s important to me. I get to race there, I know the track, I get to have fun there, and that’s what’s important.”
Driving your racecar onto the trailer at the end of a weekend is equally important. So while James didn’t reach the podium on either day of competition, he did complete all four races and went home having had a great adventure once again.
So Much Lewis
Spotting Michael Lewis’ name on the entry list for an HST event is no shocking surprise. The 11-time Runoffs winner competes at several HST stops each year and often runs in multiple classes. This weekend in California, however, the surname Lewis popped up on results sheets several more times. That’s because Michael’s son, 20-year-old Preston, and 18-year-old daughter Lauren ran their first-ever HST event after earning SCCA competition certification late last year and recently participating in a January U.S. Majors Tour® weekend in California.
Since Michael ran his first SCCA National Championship 30 years ago, it probably comes as no surprise that Preston and Lauren have been going to racetracks since they were toddlers. They both attended too many HST weekends to count over the last decade, and they both spent time as Volunteers in multiple disciplines. Some may even recognize Lauren from her victory podium work at several Runoffs. But any way you cut it, the siblings came into Club Racing with their eyes wide open.
“I’ve always liked driving cars,” Preston said. “I’ve been going to Cal Club races for as long as I can remember. I know everyone there and it has always been super fun.”
Lauren, on the other hand, didn’t always fancy herself a racecar driver. But that changed in the last few years after one victory podium celebration.
“The first time I had to hand a trophy to a girl younger than me, it hit me that maybe I wanted to start doing this,” Lauren admitted. “It inspired me. It was kind of a slap in the face that I’m behind.”
Preston competed in Spec Miata (SM) this weekend and performed admirably in Sunday’s race won by Christian Hoagland, as well as Saturday’s contest won by Tyler Vance in the No. 1 Thatcher Bend Motorsports/G-LOC Brakes Mazda Miata.
Lauren did the same in SM, driving the No. 45 Goodyear car; then added STL competition to her repertoire in races that were won by the No. 27 Mazda MX-5 driven by Jared Korth.
Sunday afternoon, after Michael drove the No. 37 Goodyear Mazda RX-7 to victory in F Production, he reflected on 48 hours at Buttonwillow.
“The kids did well,” he said. “We’re throwing them into the crucible here with the Hoosier Super Tour. They ran some good lap times and I’m proud of them both.
“This dad is always frustrated, and dad always wants to win,” Michael continued. “I’m not the most patient driver coach, but their mother is happy they’re just back in one piece. A racing family, I never saw that in my future.”
After Sunday’s STL race, Lauren was waiting around in impound when a very young girl sheepishly stepped forward and asked if it was OK to talk and get a tour of the racecars. Lauren smiled warmly, gave her a “fist pump” and took a ton of time to kindly show things to the ponytailed, burgeoning fan of motorsport wearing a favorite baseball cap two sizes too big.
Sometimes, being a role model just happens whether you know it or not.
Scouting Things
While every HST trip to BRP is a chance to reconnect with longtime chums, it’s also an opportunity to meet new pals who share a passion for motorsport. One such example from the past weekend is Santino Garetto, an 18-year-old from Long Beach, CA, who flagged his first event as a Volunteer.
“Waking up early is not really my thing, but I was excited to get up and show up,” Garetto said. “I’m learning so many things. It’s so much fun just watching all the cars go by so close. It’s so personal.”
It was about five years ago that Garetto actually made his first visit to BRP. He was part of a Scouting America troop led by Gary Ford, a Cal Club member who took advantage of familiarity with motorsport to offer unique outings at the California racetrack.
“The kids were working on a merit badge,” Ford said about track visits. “It was an ‘automotive maintenance’ badge, which you typically get by working on your dad’s car in a shop. We decided to work around racecars instead. We got some of the drivers to talk them through changing tires, a gearbox, and a fuel injector system. So, they did some stuff on a racecar at the track instead of a street car at home.”
Garetto lucked out with having a mentor as experienced as Ford, who has flagged pro races and was at Buttonwillow this weekend to help with Timing & Scoring. In the future, Garetto hopes to start working pro events, and it’s a safe bet that Ford will be a mentor once again when it’s time for that dream to become a reality.
“It’s very cool to see kids come back out to the track,” Ford added. “The more kids we get involved, the better.”
Sunday Race Winners
Below are provisional race winners from Sunday’s Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour conducted on The Circuit at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. Each entry includes Car Class: Driver Name, SCCA Region, and Car. An asterisk (*) denotes drivers with a weekend sweep in the class.
*American Sedan®: Ross Murray, Cal Club, Ford Mustang
B-Spec: Trenton Kramer, Ohio Valley Region, Mini Cooper
E Production: Joe Carr, San Francisco Region, Mazda Miata
F Production: Michael Lewis, San Diego Region, Mazda RX-7
H Production: Bill Okell, Cal Club, MG Midget
*Formula Atlantic®: Greg Labadie, Cal Club, Swift 016
*Formula Continental®: Robert Armington, San Francisco Region, Van Diemen DP-08
Formula Enterprises® 2: Jon McClintock, Oregon Region, SCCA Enterprises FE2 Mazda
Formula F: Johnnie Crean, Cal Club, Swift DB-6
*Formula Vee®: Gavin Sweeney, San Francisco Region, Protoform P4
*GT-1: Michael McAleenan, Northwest Region, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo
*GT-2: Tim Carroll, Cal Club, Chevrolet Camaro
*GT-X: Moze Cowper, Cal Club, Porsche 981 Cayman
Spec Miata: Ryan Busk, Arizona Region, Mazda Miata
*Spec MX-5: Christian Hoagland, Cal Club, Mazda MX-5
Spec Racer® Ford Gen3: Asad Nikadambaev, Northwest Region, SCCA Enterprises SRF3
Prototype: John Manfroy, San Francisco Region, Dauntless-Stohr P07d
*Prototype 2: Tim Day Jr, San Francisco Region, Stohr WF1
*Super Touring® Lite: Jared Korth, San Francisco Region, Mazda MX-5
*Super Touring® Under: Rylan Hazelton, San Francisco Region, Honda S2000
*Touring 1: Ed Gless, Northwest Region, Pontiac GTO
*Touring 2: Rylan Hazelton, San Francisco Region, Honda Civic TCR
*Touring 3: Scotty B White, Northwest Region, Ford Mustang
*Touring 4: Izzy Sanchez, Cal Club, Toyota FRS
On to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta
A dramatic change of scenery awaits HST drivers as the series now travels 2,400 miles east to the lush, hilly landscape of Braselton, GA, and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. That is where the second of nine events on this year’s schedule takes place March 6-8, 2026, during a gathering hosted by SCCA’s Atlanta Region.
Site of the 2027-’28 National Championship Runoffs®, Road Atlanta’s 2.54-mile, 12-turn circuit will be the next challenge faced by HST competitors. Driver and Volunteer registration is already open for that upcoming, three-day meetup in March.
As always, action from Road Atlanta will be presented live, online and for free thanks to the popular HST video broadcast. Before then, the BRP weekend can be revisited with on-demand video playback at the SCCA YouTube channel. Also find Sunday victory podium celebration videos at the Summit Racing Equipment SCCA Road Racing Facebook page.
Photo: Lauren Lewis (front) and brother Preston (middle) competed at Buttonwillow in their first Hoosier Super Tour, watched carefully by parents Michael and Peggy Lewis in the background.
Photo by SCCA Staff
