The 2026 Mission Foods SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® is roaring ever closer. Taking place Sept. 28-Oct. 4, the winner-take-all road races at Road America are poised to take to the 4.048-mile, 14-mile circuit located a stone’s throw from Elkhart Lake, WI – and while we don’t KNOW who will win the 24 championship races that are about to take place, we’d like to think we know enough to make an educated guess.
Or a foolish guess. It depends on your perspective.
Today, we’re going to look at the competition in American Sedan, B-Spec, Super Touring® Lite, and Super Touring Under – but before we reveal who we think will stand on the podium in those classes, we’ve got some links for you.
Up first is the Runoffs homepage, where you’ll find literally everything you need to know about the event. Also below is the driver’s entry list and event schedule, so you can discover who is racing, and when they’ll be on track. Then there’s a link to spectator tickets for those who want to view the action on site, along with a link to SCCA’s YouTube channel, where Runoffs qualifying and Hagerty Race Days will be streamed live:
Keep reading to discover who WE think will win, then vote on who YOU think will take the gold.
American Sedan
Did you know that it’s been eight years since Andy McDermid won the Runoffs in American Sedan? Did you also know that he hasn’t finished on the podium since then, either? Clearly, the sport has passed the eight-time champion by.
Except...did you forget that he was on the Tire Rack Pole in 2025 by 0.489sec over second-starting Gregory Eaton, and was 2.6sec ahead of third-starting Danny Richardson? It took a mechanical failure to slow McDermid.
So yeah, we happen to think he’s ok at motorsports, and he’s our pick to win a ninth National Championship title while making everyone else question what they know.
That said, mechanical failures in American Sedan is, famously, a real thing. If McDermid doesn’t make it to the end, we’ve got our eyes on a couple of others.
Those “others” start with a guy who has won two of the last three in the class: Richardson. He’s scored back-to-back wins in 2023 and 2024 and was second last year, so a podium is very much in range this year.
We’ve also got our eyes on Ross Murray, who isn’t coming out from California just to tour the track. Murray is the current Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour point leader and is a two-time Champion himself – though his last win came in 2018 in Touring 1, and his last American Sedan win was in 1998 at Mid-Ohio.
Still, we think it’s McDermid unless something breaks, which is what makes this class exciting.
B-Spec
Don’t look now, but B-Spec continues to attract drivers who want to run bumper-to-bumper for a reasonable price, which is fantastic for watching the race, and the worst for trying to pick a winner. Let’s give it a shot anyway.
First thing first, we need to figure out which cars might be best equipped to attack Road America. We looked at the options – the Sonic, the Fit, the Mazda2, perhaps – and it didn’t help. But we did find a starting point.
Josh Schmidt qualified on pole for last year’s race, so we know he can throw down a lap. He’s the Hoosier Super Tour leader this season entering the Runoffs, so he knows how to race. He’s got some unfinished business after falling back the past two seasons, so he’s hungry. Add that up and he’s our selection for the win this year in a Chevrolet Sonic – and last year’s B-Spec Champ Eric Yagel agrees. In fact, he’s the one who came up with this pick.
Is it a lock? Definitely not.
Miles Goertz was on the podium last year. He started second, finished third, led a lap, and his Honda Fit looks up to the challenge. For third? Take your pick. We went with Stewart Black, who was on the podium two years ago. Rob Piekarczyk is in the conversation and could win just as easily as the others; meanwhile, Caleb Patrie won the Chicago Region June Sprints®, so he’s a contender.
For that matter, so are about 15 others.
We won’t have a repeat winner –Yagel has opted not to enter this year. He’ll be on site watching the action, however, and you should be too.
Super Touring Lite
If you’re looking for storylines, STL has them.
Jose Osiris Pena scored the Tire Rack Pole in 2025 and backed up his 2024 win with a second by crossing the finish line first. You see, he was penalized five seconds for an improper restart, dropping him to second place and elevating Mike Taylor to the title. Pena wants redemption; Taylor wants a second National Championship.
Then there’s Danny Steyn? The three-time champ and eight-time Tire Rack Polesitter has missed the last two Runoffs after a big accident in Spec Miata at the 2024 Runoffs. Now recovered, he’s back and as hungry as ever.
Nick Leverone was on the podium last year and his Flatout team always seems to hang around – at the Runoffs, sometimes hanging around puts you in contention at the end.
If we’ve got to make a choice on performance, not on emotion, we’re pointing it back at Pena. He knows how to do it, he’s got a lightning quick car, and we don’t expect him to leave too early on any restarts this time around.
Give us Steyn in second, Taylor in third to complete the podium. But watch out for just about anything.
Super Touring Under
If you’re choosing an STU winner, the first decision is picking which route to go. Do you prefer the classic STU car built on a production-based chassis, or do prefer what was previously an SCCA GT-3 tube-frame car?
You’ve got choices each direction. Tony Ave, Michael Lewis, and Tony Rivera are among the last standing in those tube cars, but that’s a talented trio of drivers with a lot of career wins (16 Runoffs wins and many, many more podiums). Of course, these cars come with a lot of noise and just as many potential mechanical gremlins.
Prefer production-based cars? You’ve got another talented group. Richard Astacio and Anthony Geraci out of the Krugspeed camp; Jose Osiris Pena has been on the podium here in three of the past four Runoffs.
Our best guess? Ave has led the Hoosier Super Tour points and we’re sticking with him in the car owned by Joe Kristensen. It’s a bit of a toss-up from here, so give us Pena and Geraci to complete the podium.
Photos by Jeff Loewe
