After three qualifying sessions held over two days, starting grids for the upcoming Hagerty Race Days are now set for drivers competing across 23 car classes during the 2026 Mission Foods SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® taking place Oct. 3-4, 2026, in Wisconsin at Road America.
That means we now have the list of 2026 Tire Rack Pole Award winners. Each polesitter has earned $500 to spend at Tire Rack. Equally important is the psychological and competitive advantage they gain by starting out front, thus enhancing their chance of reaching the checkered flag first. Winners then head to a victory podium celebration where they’ll uncork and spray a bottle from Mazza Wine, the Runoffs’ “Official Sparkling Wine.”
The next two days of racing will see competitors tackle Road America’s iconic 14-turn, 4.048-mile circuit that has been making motorsports history for 70 years now. Each contest is scheduled to be either 13 laps or 40 minutes in length.
Firsts!
While it’s always great to gather up Tire Rack Pole Award honors, a driver’s first time is pretty special. Within the list of 2026 Runoffs polesitters, there are plenty of first-time tales.
Let’s begin with Derek Ketchie, who drove his Honda Civic to a first ever pole in Super Touring® Lite. Perry Richardson is a first timer, too, and came all the way from SCCA’s San Francisco Region with his Stohr WF1 to claim the top Prototype starting position.
Kudos also goes to Dudley Fleck who garnered his only Tire Rack Pole Award on Friday in Formula Atlantic® driving a Swift 016a Mazda in his 12th Runoffs appearance. At the other end of that spectrum is David Ybarra, a young man who drove his Mygale SJ14 Honda to the pole in Formula F on his very first go at the National Championship.
In Spec Miata, Brett Kowalski claimed his first pole, which is a major accomplishment considering 15th was his previous best starting spot in five Runoffs appearances. Then in Spec MX-5, Skyler Cottrell took his first pole in only his third go at the Runoffs, his inaugural visit taking place back in 2022 at VIRginia International Raceway as part of the Spec Miata field.
Also on the list of “firsts” is Stephen Simonds in F Production, who this year piloted his Mazda Miata to an inaugural Tire Rack Pole Award. He was at the top of the chart for two of the three qualifying sessions this year. Richard Astacio also now owns his very first Tire Rack Pole Award after he and his Lotus Exige showed themselves to be the quickest Super Touring Under combination.
The Tire Rack Pole Award winner in Formula Vee® (FV) was Zachary Whitston. That’s his first, and fifth overall for the Whitston family. Although, Zach has a way to go if he wants to catch brother Andrew who has started at the front of the FV field four times in 15 years.
Finally, that brings us to Scotty B. White. By no means a newcomer to Tire Rack Pole Award honors, seeing he already had three, he did earn his first-ever pole in the Touring 2 (T2) class driving a Ford Mustang GT. The one thing that has escaped White in 47 previous Runoffs races is a National Championship. Could this be his year? Starting on pole in T2 certainly can’t hurt his odds, right?
Reigning
When a reigning National Champion starts on pole during a Hagerty Race Day, other competitors already know they’ll have their work cut out for them if they’re going to earn a gold medal. That will certainly be the case in Touring 4 where reigning champ Matt Spicuzzi drove his Mazda RX-8 to a third-straight pole.
The same scenario exists for those in the Formula Continental® (FC) field as current Champion Brandon Dixon, in a Citation US2000, claimed his fourth Tire Rack Pole Award – that’s two in a row for him as far as FC competition is concerned.
Current Formula Entreprises 2 National Champion Franklin Futrelle will again lead the field to the green flag just before lunch on Saturday as he claimed his second consecutive Tire Rack Pole Award in that class. That’s his fourth, with the previous two coming in Spec Racer® Ford Gen3 (SRF3) events.
Perhaps no surprise to anyone, but in 2026 Tony Ave managed to notch his sixth overall Tire Rack Pole Award, this one being his fourth in the GT-1 class. As the reigning GT-1 National Champion, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with in Sunday evening’s race – assuming he has any energy left from the other four Runoffs races he’s competing in across both Hagerty Race Days this year.
Superfast
Each Tire Rack Pole Award recipient is fast in one way or another. A few, however, are uniquely quick. That is certainly the story for Calvin Stewart. On Friday, he executed a lap of 2:18.489 in his Novakar Blade Suzuki, which reset the Formula 600 qualifying record at Road America. It also led to his fifth Tire Rack Pole Award.
Other speedy drivers of note include those who reset qualifying track records at America’s National Park of Speed on Friday. First on that list is Touring 3 (T3) driver Nic Hammann and his Nissan 370Z Nismo. Hammann, the reigning T3 National Champion, turned a lap of 2:27.890 to reset the class lap record at Road America on his way to a second-straight Tire Rack Pole Award.
B-Spec racer Josh Schmidt gobbled up his second pole award in a Chevrolet Sonic, and with a lap of 2:51.987 he also now owns the class qualifying record. John Atwell, driving a Ford Mustang in the GT-2 field, reset the track’s fast mark with a 2:09.634 enroute to what will be his first pole appearance on a Hagerty Race Day.
Tyler Stephens also now owns the SRF3 qualifying track record after he produced a lap of 2:27.443 on his way to a first-ever Tire Rack Pole Award. The top seven qualifiers in the class were also under the previous record, so expect that to be one humdinger of an event Sunday afternoon.
'26 Runoffs Qualifying Results
Tire Rack ’26 Pole Award Rundown
Below are provisional polesitters across the 23 different Runoffs classes with driver name, SCCA Region, car, and fastest lap time. An asterisk (*) indicates a new qualifying track record at Road America.
- American Sedan®: Andrew McDermid, Detroit Region, Ford Mustang GT, 2:26.911
-*B-Spec: Josh Schmidt, North Carolina Region, Chevrolet Sonic, 2:51.987
- E Production: Jon Brakke, Land O'Lakes Region, BMW Z3, 2:29.239
- F Production: Stephen Simonds, Houston Region, Mazda Miata, 2:33.275
- H Production: Chris Schaafsma, Chicago Region, Volkswagen Jetta, 2:39.406
- Formula Atlantic®: Dudley Fleck, Iowa Region, Swift 016a Mazda, 2:02.513
- Formula Continental®: Brandon Dixon, Alabama Region, Citation US2000, 2:10.686
- Formula Enterprises® 2: Franklin Futrelle, Atlanta Region, SCCA Ent FE2, 2:12.326
- Formula F: David Ybarra, Texas Region, Mygale SJ14 Honda, 2:23.047
-*Formula 600: Calvin Stewart, Detroit Region, Novakar Blade Suzuki, 2:18.489
- Formula Vee®: Zachary Whitston, Lone Star Region, Protoform P2, 2:46.536
- GT-1: Tony Ave, Central Carolinas Region, Chevrolet Camaro, 2:02.981
-*GT-2: John Atwell, Texas Region, Ford Mustang, 2:09.634
- Prototype: Perry Richardson, San Francisco Region, Stohr WF1, 2:02.281
- Prototype 2: Greg Gyann, Chicago Region, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 2:10.606
- Spec Miata: Brett Kowalski, Pan American Region, Mazda Miata, 2:42.173
- Spec MX-5: Skyler Cottrell, Atlanta Region, Mazda MX-5, 2:36.472
-*Spec Racer® Ford Gen3: Tyler Stephens, Northeast Oklahoma Region, SCCA Ent SRF3, 2:27.443
- Super Touring® Lite: Derek Ketchie, Central Carolinas Region, Honda Civic, 2:30.537
- Super Touring® Under: Richard Astacio, New England Region, Lotus Exige, 2:24.912
- Touring 2: Scotty B White, Northwest Region, Ford Mustang GT, 2:23.977
-*Touring 3: Nic Hammann, Kansas City Region, Nissan 370Z Nismo, 2:27.890
- Touring 4: Matt Spicuzzi, Detroit Region, Mazda RX-8, 2:35.876
Watch ’26 Runoffs from Road America Online
Complimenting both Hagerty Race Days is a multi-camera Runoffs broadcast presented by Mazda. Available online around the globe, enjoy the action via smartphone, tablet, smart TV, or desktop and laptop computer at SCCA’s YouTube channel. Up-to-the-moment timing and scoring data is also available at the Runoffs Live Timing/Scoring webpage.
John Fippin, Brendan Kaczmarek, Larry MacLeod, and Tom O’Gorman will provide the color and play-by-play over the two days. Heyward Wagner also returns to his role in pit lane for race insight, as well as immediate reactions from the podium finishers. The high-quality race broadcast will again be assembled by longtime Runoffs producers at Apex Broadcast.
Of course, the Runoffs at Road America is best enjoyed in person, and spectator ticket prices are very reasonable. Click here for ticket information, then get out to America’s National Park of Speed for two fantastic days of racing.
'26 Runoffs Broadcast Runoffs Timing/Scoring
Photo: Tire Rack Pole Award winners at 2026 Runoffs
Photo by Jon Krolewicz
