When you’re having fun, a three-day weekend blows by in the blink of an eye. That was certainly the case at Road America this past weekend during the 71st consecutive Chicago Region June Sprints® presented by WeatherTech®.
Part of the 2026 Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour (HST) series and Summit Racing Equipment SCCA Road Racing program, the June 5-7 affair in Wisconsin continued traditions built over seven decades. New things happened, too, on Sunday with 13-lap or 45-minute contests for eight of the nine run groups. The outlier was Group 8 – containing GT-1, GT-2, GT-X, American Sedan® and Touring 1 cars – which had a race that is traditionally longer at 15 laps or 45 minutes around the legendary 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit.
The major, notable new thing that came about Sunday was a new track record. Not necessarily a car-class specific record, but the fastest lap ever turned at Road America during an SCCA event. That honor went to the No. 25 Ligier JS/P320 car piloted by James French in the GT-X field. While Anthony Smith won Sunday’s GT-X event in the No. 5 Ligier JS/P320 car, French managed a lap of 1:59.377 to break the magical two-minute barrier and set an all-time SCCA record at America’s National Park of Speed.
“Once I had some clean track, the tires were hot and the car is obviously a rocket ship,” French added afterwards “But I’ve actually gone a couple seconds faster around here.”
Special Trophies for a Special Gathering
“It’s Not Just Another Race™” is the motto SCCA’s Chicago Region uses to describe its June Sprints gathering. With seven decades of history, the Region isn’t wrong.
The top three finishers in every car class at HST events receive a trophy and commemorative bottle of Mazza Vineyards sparkling wine. As the June Sprints is part of the HST series, the same rule applies. However, there is one significant difference. Instead of the usual trophy, accomplished June Sprints drivers receive a very unique, wooden trophy plaque.
Since the late 1970s, Chicago Region has produced unconventional plaques adorned with creative artwork. The plaques this year feature an engraved illustration showing Road America’s track outline and various motorsport scenes through the decades. Perhaps even more unique is the fact that actual Region volunteers generated the sketches.
According to Chicago Region Competition Chairman George Laws, the tradition started with Chicago Region Board Member John Hill who drew from his natural artistic ability and passion for motorsports to generate sketches. He also created artwork for Road America posters used to promote events.
Next to lend his talents to the project was a local corner worker who turned out to be a very adept artist. His name is Jim Swintal, and he went on to become very well known for his automotive artwork. He also worked in Race Control for INDYCAR.
“He was graphically wonderful,” Laws noted. “He knew about artwork, knew what composition was, and all that good stuff. He actually designed the laser cut, wooden plaques that we use now.”
While the artwork changes each year, the selected design is carried across all three trophies for first, second and third. However, not each plaque is the same size. A third-place finisher receives a wooden plaque that is 9-inches by 12-inches. The runner-up’s plaque is 11-inches by 13-inches, and victors get a big piece of lumber that is 12-inches by 15-inches in dimension.
“We wanted to honor the June Sprints,” Laws said about the Region’s reasoning behind the annual effort that starts with design planning each January. “We wanted to make something special that wasn’t just another silver cup sitting on a shelf somewhere. We wanted to have someone be able to put it on their wall and display it.”
SCCA is a volunteer organization. Every single event conducted around the country has countless members crafting an experience that ensures a fun weekend that runs smoothly and is safe. But it takes more than easily visible corner marshals to make events possible. Sure, they’re up close to the action, sometimes interacting with drivers and getting exceptional access to wonderful cars and people. Behind the scenes, however, there are a whole host of others deploying their personal talents in a multitude of useful ways, just as Hill and Swintal did.
SCCA strives to create opportunities for anyone who loves having #funwithcars. Interested in learning more? Just walk up to an SCCA Volunteer at any event and say “hello.” They’ll be happy to clue you in on how to get involved. A bunch more information can also be found by clicking here.
Another Daytona 24 Podium Finisher
Cooper MacNeil, the 2026 June Sprints Grand Marshal, has a lengthy list of accomplishments. In addition to his 2019 National Championship Runoffs® victory in Touring 2, he is a two-time Sebring 12 Hour winner, three-time Petit Le Mans winner, three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans podium finisher, and a Rolex 24 At Daytona winner. But he wasn’t the only driver at Road America this weekend who stood on a Daytona 24 podium.
More than 45 years ago, Mark Greb took part in 1978 celebrations at Daytona International Speedway after finishing second in the Grand Touring Under (GTU) class with co-drivers George Drolsom and Hugh Davenport. This weekend, 68-year-old Greb was out on track at the June Sprints competing in both the Formula Enterprises® 2 (FE2) and Spec Racer® Ford Gen3 (SRF3) fields.
A member of SCCA’s Iowa Region who joined the Club in 1976, Greb has been racing for quite some time. The son of a Volkswagen dealer who raced in Formula Vee®, he achieved immense success in the Volkswagen Rabbit Bilstein Cup series before being asked to join the endurance effort with Drolsom and Davenport.
“I was tired, having run through the night and run through the day,” is how Greb describes his emotions after taking the second step on the podium at Daytona. “I was 19 years old, maybe 20, and it really didn’t feel like much at the time.”
After spending most of his early competitive years in cars with doors, Greb has now spent more than a decade involved in open-cockpit competition. He enjoys the spec classes, mostly because the cars are equal and easy to work on. For him that means the competition comes down to setup and driver skill.
“I like challenges,” Greb said about what keeps him going. “I really enjoy running with SCCA and enjoyed running with IMSA years ago. I really enjoy racing, and I enjoy the camaraderie of the racers.”
In SRF3, Greb’s best finish over the weekend was 24th on Sunday driving the No. 71 Elite Autosport SCCA Enterprises SRF3 car in a 55-entrant field. The SRF3 winner Saturday was Caleb Roethel in the No. 22 GBM Racing/Further Motorsport vessel, and Sunday’s winner was Bobby Sak in the No. 19 Further Motorsport machine.
In FE2, Greb finished ninth both days in the No. 71 SCCA Enterprises FE2 Mazda. The FE2 class winner Saturday was Steve Whitston in the No. 18 Alliance Autosport/LOA Construction car. On Sunday, Sebastian Mateo Naranjo won in the No. 80 Mateo Naranjo Racing/Alliance Autosport machine after leader Will Franklin spun out of contention on the last lap in the final corner.
Sunday Race Winners
Below are provisional race winners from Sunday’s Chicago Region June Sprints presented by WeatherTech. Conducted at Road America as part of the 2026 Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour, each entry below includes Car Class: Driver Name, SCCA Region, and Car. An asterisk (*) denotes drivers with a weekend sweep in the class.
*American Sedan®: Andrew McDermid, Milwaukee Region, Ford Mustang
B-Spec: Caleb Patrie, Milwaukee Region, Honda Fit
E Production: Jon Brakke, Land O'Lakes Region, BMW Z3
F Production: Mason Workman, Ohio Valley Region, Mazda Miata
*H Production: Chris Schaafsma, Chicago Region, Volkswagen GLI
Formula Atlantic®: Shane Kennett, Colorado Region, Swift 016a
*Formula Continental®: Brandon Dixon, Alabama Region, Citation F2000
Formula Enterprises® 2: Sebastian Mateo Naranjo, Central Illinois Region, SCCA Enterprises FE2 Mazda
*Formula 600: James Weida, Indianapolis Region, Scorpion W1
Formula F: David Ybarra, Texas Region, FF 1600 Mygale
*Formula Vee®: Andrew Whitston, Milwaukee Region, Protoform P2
*GT-1: Dave Ruehlow, Milwaukee Region, Chevrolet Camaro
GT-2: Jonathan Start, Western Michigan Region, Dodge Viper ACRX
*GT-X: Anthony Smith, Milwaukee Region, Ligier JSP 320
*Prototype: Bart Wolf, Milwaukee Region, Elan DP02
Prototype 2: Greg Gyann, Chicago Region, Stohr WF1
Spec Miata: Tyler Brown, Milwaukee Region, Mazda Miata
*Spec MX-5: Camden Gruber, Washington DC Region, Mazda MX-5
Spec Racer® Ford Gen3: Bobby Sak, Detroit Region, SCCA Enterprises SRF3
*Super Touring® Lite: Danny Steyn, Florida Region, Mazda Miata
Super Touring® Under: Thomas Noble, Land O'Lakes Region, BMW E46
*Touring 1: Roy Lipner, Chicago Region, BMW M4
*Touring 2: Rylan Hazelton, San Francisco Region, Honda Civic TCR
*Touring 3: John LoGiudice, Milwaukee Region, Ford Mustang
*Touring 4: Mario Carini, Milwaukee Region, BMW Z4/E89/2.5L
Watkins Glen, Here We Come
There are only two more regular-season events on the 2026 HST calendar. The penultimate race weekend is up next and will take place in New York at Watkins Glen International (WGI).
Hosted June 19-21 by SCCA’s Finger Lakes Region, the time is now for drivers and volunteers to register for the annual WGI visit. The three-day confab will again navigate the historic 3.4-mile, 11-turn circuit that includes The Boot and Inner Loop. It’s a long, high-speed circuit that always generates lots of competition during Saturday and Sunday races.
Of course, action from The Glen can be followed online thanks to HST’s broadcast produced by DriversEye Live and available for free at SCCA’s YouTube page. Before then, relive the June Sprints action from Road America on demand at the same YouTube page. Also, Sunday victory podium celebrations can be viewed at the Summit Racing Equipment SCCA Road Racing Facebook page.
Photo: Sebastian Mateo Naranjo came home a winner in FE2 on Sunday at Road America during the Hoosier Super Tour June Sprints hosted by SCCA’s Chicago Region.
Photo by Jeff Loewe
