Tony Ave, the reigning GT-1 National Champion and a member of SCCA’s Central Carolinas Region, made the very most of his visit to Wisconsin and America’s National Park of Speed for the 63rd Mission Foods SCCA® National Championship Runoffs®. Over the course of two Hagerty Race Days that occurred Oct. 3-4, 2026, Ave put himself to the test running five different races. Those were GT-2, Super Touring® Under, E Production, Formula Atlantic® and, late Sunday afternoon, GT-1.
After claiming the GT-1 Tire Rack Pole Award, Ave started at the front for his final 13-lap contest that included 13 drivers in all. It was a challenging event for nearly every one of those racers as seemingly everyone faced some sort of challenge along the way.
Ave stormed out to the lead immediately, but was having car issues and drove off course on the opening lap traveling through Billy Mitchell Bend in the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro. Dave Ruehlow screamed by in a Chevrolet Camaro to assume the lead, followed by Adam Romito in a Toyota Camry, and David Pintaric in his No. 57 Birds Eye View Project/Kryderacing Ford Mustang. Ave was able to get back on track for the fourth spot, but a portion of the car’s roof over his head was slightly ajar.
The second lap began with Ruehlow in front of Romito by nearly two seconds. Pintaric was hustling his way around the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit, but Ave had the bit between his teeth and was absolutely flying. He passed Pintaric for third midway through the lap, then swallowed up Romito for second in the last corner.
Ruehlow held a nearly six-second lead on Ave as they worked lap five. Romito had fallen back and Pintaric held third in his place, but Michael McAleenan was on his tail driving a Lamborghini Huracan. The two drivers mixed it up in Turn 5 and Turn 6 before McAleenan claimed the third spot. To complicate things further for Pintaric, Jason Fiorito was now in his mirrors driving the No. 21 Pacific Raceways Dodge Challenger SRT.
On the following lap, Ruehlow’s car quit, gifting Ave the lead. McAleenan, whose car was smoking, held the second spot followed by Pintaric and Fiorito. The unexpected kept occurring as Pintaric then spun at the end of Hurry Downs on lap nine, promoting Fiorito to third.
When the white flag was shown to indicate the final lap, Ave had a 4.7-second lead on McAleenan. But coming through Turn 5 after traveling down the Moraine Sweep, McAleenan’s car began to slow – and it never really got back up to speed again. Fiorito caught and passed him at Kettle Bottoms to claim second, and Pintaric made the pass in the last corner to secure third.
Ave took the win by 16.784sec, his sixth National Championship and his only gold medal of the 2026 Runoffs. The victory also earned him the right to claim a commemorative bottle from Mazza Wines, the Official Sparkling Wine supplier to SCCA.
“I think we have a cracked rearend housing or something. I could hardly drive it,” Ave said about the car afterwards. “I almost went off exiting the Carousel, got really sideways in The Kink, and finally in 13 I threw it off the road.”
The day was equally interesting for Fiorito, who now has his first Runoffs medal after claiming the runner-up spot. He was fighting an ailing engine toward the race’s end and worried the thing would overheat and expire.
“I had a notion that if a couple people had trouble in front of me, and if I stuck with it, we’d get there,” a gleeful Fiorito said. “I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve done this year.”
Pintaric’s third-place finish earned him his second-ever bronze medal. It also signified the sixth time he has taken part in Runoffs victory podium celebrations.
“Good things happen when you keep on digging,” Pintaric said. “These are not easy races. The drivers are really good, and the cars are fast and very finicky.”
Romito managed to keep his machine going and ended up in fourth. In fifth was Rocky Elli driving a Chevrolet Corvette. Todd Peterson earned the Sunoco Hard Charger Award after starting 13th and finishing seventh.
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 provisional results for Sunday's GT-1 race at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs; with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, and laps completed.
- 1, (1), Tony Ave, Maiden, NC, Chevrolet Camaro, 13.
2, (5), Jason Fiorito, Lake Tapps, WA, Dodge Challenger SRT, 13.
3, (4), David Pintaric, Canfield, OH, Ford Mustang, 13.
4, (6), Adam Romito, Opelika, AL, Toyota Camry, 13.
5, (9), Rocky Elli, Northbrook, IL, Chevrolet Corvette, 13.
6, (7), Dominic Martinolich, Kennewick, WA, Chevrolet Corvette, 13.
7, (13), Todd Peterson, Boulder, CO, Chevrolet Camaro, 13.
8, (3), Michael McAleenan, Tacoma, WA, Lamborghini Huracan, 12.
9, (10), David Fershtand, Fort Worth, TX, Chevrolet Corvette, 12.
10, (12), Dan Speer, Spring Grove, IL, Chevrolet Camaro, 12.
11, (11), David Jans, Maiden, NC, Ford Mustang, 9.
12, (2), Dave Ruehlow, Hartland, WI, Chevrolet Camaro, 6.
DNF, (8), Brian Garcia, St Charles, IL, Ford Mustang, 0.
Race Stats
Length of Race: 52.62 miles
Overall Time of Race: 27:49.657 (avg. 113.464 mph)
Margin of Victory: 16.784 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:04.611 (116.946 mph)
Lap Leaders: #31, Laps 1-5; #44, Laps 6-13
Sunoco Hard Charger: #24 Todd Peterson
Photo by Jay Bonvouloir
