The 63rd Mission Foods SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, was more than ready for Spec Miata (SM) this year. As usual, the race was an epic struggle worthy of the reputation that the class has earned over the years.
Heading into the second and final Hagerty Race Day, Brett Kowalski held the Tire Rack Pole Award in the No. 15 Kowalski Construction 1999 Mazda Miata. His best qualifying time of 2:42.173 edged out four-time Runoffs champion Preston Pardus in the No. 32 East Street Racing 1999 Miata by just over a tenth of a second. The second row on the grid included three-time Runoffs champion Nicholas Bruni in the No. 6 1999 Miata and four-time champion Elivan Goulart in the No. 72 SCDA Track Days/Krugspeed/Kessler 1999 Miata.
In classic Spec Miata fashion, the top 11 cars all qualified within a second of the leader's time, making the 13-lap or 40-minute race anyone's to win.
When the green flag dropped, Kowalski led Bruni into Turn 1, with the balance of the field forming into a tight pack running three-wide looking for advantage. James Newell in the No. 23 Benjamin Franklin Plumbing 2000 Miata came from a fifth-place starting position to take third, while Pardus was shuffled back to seventh position.
As is typical for Spec Miata, the top performers traded positions almost every lap, with Bruni staying tight against Kowalski's rear bumper and Goulart pressing Newell for third. The top seven positions made up a tight train, with an additional five cars keeping close enough to stay in contention.
At the end of lap three, the field got a break when the safety car led it around under full-course yellow while crews cleared cars stuck off course. The pause also let the pack collect itself for an exciting restart on lap six. As racing resumed, none of the leaders made a mistake and the action stayed clean, but with cooler tires and their earlier advantages lost, Kowalski fell back on lap seven and yielded the lead to Bruni, followed by Newell and Goulart.
However, the Wisconsin father-and-son duo of Tom Brown and Tyler Brown, in the No. 27 and No. 07 Sneaky Moose Motorsports Miatas, respectively, were coming up fast. The Browns worked together to make up positions, and Tyler soon moved into the lead with Tom close behind. Bruni ran third, followed by Newell, Goulart and Kowalski, until a lap-nine incident in Canada Corner took Tom out of contention and left Tyler to lead without his drafting partner.
In the final laps, Tyler Brown defended his lead against an onslaught from his competition. Newell took up second place, and Bruni was looking for a way to the lead. Newell took over first place on lap 10, followed by Bruni, Goulart, and Tyler Brown until Bruni briefly slipped back to fourth while trying to gain the lead in Road America's treacherous Turn 5.
The shuffling continued into the final lap. Newell led the field, followed by Goulart and Tyler Brown. In fourth, Pardus was balked by a slower car being lapped as the field navigated Turns 1 and 2, which frustrated both Pardus and Bruni until Goulart was caught up in an incident at Canada Corner. That left Newell, Tyler Brown, and Pardus to lead the field to the checkered flag. Sean Varwig finished fourth in the No. 02 Sneaky Moose Motorsports Miata, with polesitter Kowalski fifth and Austin Smith sixth. The Sunoco Hard Charger Award went to Francisco Barroso, who started 36th and finished 18th.
After winning the notoriously competitive Spec Miata championship in his rookie Runoffs, Newell said, “I feel so blessed. If you had told me at the start of this year that I'd even be at the Runoffs, much less winning the championship, I wouldn't believe you."
Shortly after his victory lap, Newell hoisted the traditional bottle from Mazza Wines, SCCA's Official Sparkling Wine supplier, on the podium in celebration.
The 63rd Mission Foods SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® is the pinnacle of American amateur motorsports and crowns Sports Car Club of America™ Champions as part of the Summit Racing Equipment SCCA Road Racing program. In 2026, two Hagerty Race Days at Wisconsin’s Road America decide 23 gold-medal winners.
The live, online Runoffs Broadcast presented by Mazda features video over both competition days at SCCA’s Official YouTube Channel. Live timing and scoring for each race is also available at SCCA.com/live.
Below are official results for Sunday's Spec Miata race at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs; with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, and laps completed.
- 1, (5), James Newell, Old Hickory, TN, Mazda Miata, 13.
2, (6), Tyler Brown, Muskego, WI, Mazda Miata, 13.
3, (2), Preston Pardus, New Smyrna Beach, FL, Mazda Miata, 13.
4, (15), Sean Varwig, Lake Zurich, IL, Mazda Miata, 13.
5, (1), Brett Kowalski, Ruidoso, NM, Mazda Miata, 13.
6, (20), Austin Smith, Grafton, WI, Mazda Miata, 13.
7, (8), Kyle Greenhill, Saint Paul, MN, Mazda Miata, 13.
8, (7), Tom Brown, Muskego, WI, Mazda Miata, 13.
9, (22), Christian Meyer, Seminole, FL, Mazda Miata, 13.
10, (9), Senter Smith, Greenville, SC, Mazda Miata, 13.
11, (13), Wyatt Couch, El Dorado Hills, CA, Mazda Miata, 13.
12, (17), Ryan Maloney, Dayton, MD, Mazda Miata, 13.
13, (4), Elivan Goulart, Shelton, CT, Mazda Miata, 13.
14, (18), Jonathan Davis, Wadsworth, OH, Mazda Miata, 13.
15, (3), Nicholas Bruni, Arlington, VA, Mazda Miata, 13.
16, (10), Andrew Devoto, Wilsall, MT, Mazda Miata, 13.
17, (12), Nick Leverone, Mendon, MA, Mazda Miata, 13.
18, (36), Francisco Barroso, Miami Springs, FL, Mazda Miata, 13.
19, (11), Jason Knuteson, Indianapolis, IN, Mazda Miata, 13.
20, (19), David Moreno, White Lake, MI, Mazda Miata, 13.
21, (16), Danny Steyn, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Mazda Miata, 13.
22, (14), Ken Sutherland, Sherwood, OR, Mazda Miata, 13.
23, (25), Jason Rawlins, Gaston, OR, Mazda Miata, 13.
24, (27), Samantha Silver, Saint Paul, MN, Mazda Miata, 13.
25, (26), Canon Smith, Greenville, SC, Mazda Miata, 13.
26, (24), Sam Nogosek, Ramsey, MN, Mazda Miata, 13.
27, (23), Domenico Leuci, Binghamton, NY, Mazda Miata, 13.
28, (21), Shayne Sullivan, Neenah, WI, Mazda Miata, 13.
29, (33), Dan Goff, Sycamore, IL, Mazda Miata, 13.
30, (31), Jackson Kimbrough, Crowley, TX, Mazda Miata, 12.
31, (32), Christopher Girem, Lake Mary, FL, Mazda Miata, 12.
32, (30), Alfredo Zedan, Miami, FL, Mazda Miata, 11.
33, (28), Cole Lucas, Edgewater, FL, Mazda Miata, 8.
DNF, (37), Logan Stretch, Arlington, TX, Mazda Miata, 1.
DNF, (35), John Salerno, Fairfield, CT, Mazda Miata, 1.
DNF, (29), Chris Haldeman, Princeton, TX, Mazda Miata, 0.
DNS, (34), Marc Briley, Austin, TX, Mazda Miata.
Race Stats
Length of Race: 52.62 miles
Overall Time of Race: 38:40.539 (avg. 81.639 mph)
Margin of Victory: 1.071 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:42.725 (89.555 mph)
Lap Leaders: #15, Laps 1-6; #6, Lap 7; #07, Laps 8-9; #23, Laps 10-13
Sunoco Hard Charger: #48 Francisco Barroso
Photo by Jay Bonvouloir
