Michael Froh, of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, completed at all but one doubleheader race weekend of the Northern Conference. Froh logged seven second-place finishes and a win in the eight races that counted toward the season-ending points.

To say the least, Froh was excited with his achievement.

“Winning the Majors Northern Conference Championship is the highlight of my 44 years of SCCA racing,” Froh said. “I live in Elkhart Lake and grew up with the Road America racetrack in my backyard. I obtained my SCCA National license in 1972 and raced in my first Road America June Sprints that year. Before that, I raced MGBs for many years and in the last few years of running the MG only raced events at Road America.

“I made the decision to move to a Mazda Miata four years ago and quickly realized the vast improvement in power, handling and dependability that the Miata offered. I expanded my racing to tracks that I had not been to in many years. As I became more comfortable with the Miata, we became very competitive and we decided to shoot for the Conference Championship this year.”

While this was the year that Froh made a concerted effort to travel to different tracks, his biggest challenge each race weekend was to learn a new track.

“Because we had not been traveling to many other tracks in recent years, GingerMan Raceway and Michigan International were completely foreign to me,” Froh said. “I enjoyed the challenge of learning the tracks, but it took quite some time before I felt comfortable on those courses.”

Froh said his turning point came at his home track of Road America, his old stomping grounds.

“I finished second in the June Sprints, and by the time the July RA race came along I realized how quick we were,” Froh said. “I won one of the July races and placed second in the other one.

“In the race that I finished second, I was actually two seconds per lap faster than the winning car, but got hung up in traffic and finished right behind him. We knew, at that point, that with two more races remaining, we would have a shot at the championship.”

Froh made sure to thank everyone he could for the wonderful season.

“I want to thank Jesse Prather for all his help and advice,” Froh said. I knew his father for many years in our MG days and really appreciated the knowledge and skills Jesse developed in the Mazda world. Jesse set up our car and I continue to use his services.

“My crew has been with me for many years. My uncle, Ron Gumm, has been with us since I started racing. Dale Gueldenzopf has been with me for 35 years, Christopher Donlon for 25, my nephew, Joe Walvoord, since he was a kid 20 years ago, Bob Hoopman for the last 10 years and Christopher’s son, Jarred Donlon, also since he was a kid more than 10 years ago.

“Gary Page encouraged me to move to a Miata and helped set up the car for our first year racing it. Also my wife, Susie, who has always been supportive of my racing, continues to encourage me to do my best. I am happiest when she is at the track cheering me on.

“Finally, I would like to thank Road America. My Dad took me to the Road America races as a child in the 1950s and early 1960s. By the late 1960s, I was volunteering to work the races and crew for other drivers in the area. Road America is the finest race facility in America. We are so fortunate to have this venue available to us for club racing and that SCCA has been an essential part of Road America for its entire 60-year history.”