Can you believe the Sept. 28-Oct 4, 2026, Mission Foods SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® is nearly here? 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 can’t help but guess.
Today, we’re going to look at GT-1 and GT-2, 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:
- Runoffs homepage
Keep reading to discover who WE think will win, then vote on who YOU think will take the gold.
GT-1
The first time Tony Ave attended the Runoffs, it was 1991. There, he ran a Sports 2000, started third and finished 16th. His next two Runoffs appearances came in 1994 where he double-dipped Formula Continental® and Formula Atlantic®. Those appearances went about as well as his first attempt. Ave took a break from the Runoffs, then in 2007, he returned to run GT-1 and clinched the pole and the win. In 2008, he started second and finished second. Another break ensued, and when he returned in 2019, he did so by getting the GT-1 pole and finishing second. Since then (and with few exceptions), he’s either started in the top three or finished in the top three at the Runoffs.
This year, we think he’ll finish the GT-1 race in the top one. As in, Ave is our pick to win, with him claiming his sixth Runoffs gold.
It’s not a lock, though, as there’s fierce competition waiting in the wings for the man who no longer knows how to run just one class at the Runoffs (in addition to GT-1, Ave is also entered in E Production, Formula Atlantic, GT-2, and Super Touring® Under).
Dave Ruehlow was second on the grid and second at the stripe last year, and we can all but guarantee that he wants to repeat the feeling he felt when he stood atop the GT-1 Runoffs podium in 2024. For that reason, he’s our pick for second this year.
David Pintaric is another driver itching to get back on top. He last won GT-1 Runoffs gold in 2017 – that win meant a lot to him, as would getting another win in the class after just missing the podium last year and scoring DNFs in 2023 and ’24. We think he’ll have to wait at least one more year, as we anticipate seeing him in third.
Yet they’re not the only ones who can get to the front. Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour point leader Michael McAleenan wet his whistle with a GT-1 podium last year, and we suspect he’s looking to up the ante in 2026.
So it's likely Ave, Ruehlow, and Pintaric, in that order, at the checker. Unless we’re wrong. And in GT-1, where anything can happen, we wouldn’t be surprised to see someone else battling for the top spot, like Adam Romito and Jason Fiorito and...
GT-2
It’s a bold move to bet against Tony Ave winning, and we didn’t have the guts to do it in GT-1. But for GT-2, we’re going to do exactly that, despite Ave being the current Hoosier Super Tour point leader. In fact, we think the competition is so tight in this class that Ave might not even make the podium.
That podium will be led by Brad McAllister. McAllister scored the GT-2 Tire Rack Pole last year, although fourth was where he wound up – the same position he landed in 2024. But in 2018 and 2020, McAllister was the runner-up in GT-2, and we think he’ll be back in good form. This year’s Chicago Region June Sprints® didn’t see him finish on top, but we think he will at the Runoffs.
Hot on his heels will be Jonathan Start and John Atwell. Start does things differently from the bulk of the field, racing a Dodge Viper, but he gets things done, landing in the top six in GT-2 three out of the last four years. Atwell (racing a tubeframe car similar to McAllister) is looking to make his sophomore Runoffs start. His debut in 2025 put him second on the grid but 11th at the finish. He’s shown good speed during this year’s Super Tour, so if he can put it together, he’ll be in contention.
The order at the finish? McAllister followed by Start and Atwell…with Ave in a Porsche trying to prove us wrong the whole time.
Photo by Doug Berger
