NER’s Ethan Goulart is SCCA’s Youngest National Champion
SCCA returned to Road America for the 60th anniversary of the National Championship Runoffs. With more than 500 drivers arriving at the the 4.048-mile, 18-turn circuit in Wisconsin, the stage was set for some heated competition to claim the trophies.
Coming out on top, and making history, was New England Region’s Ethan Goulart. At 15 years and 174 days old, Ethan became the youngest driver to win a SCCA Runoffs, and he did it in one of the most competitive of classes – Spec Miata.
But that wasn’t the first history making event for SM that week. If you remember, last year SM had the first ever co-National Champions when the top two drivers tied at the finish line crossing in a photo finish together. This year, SM had another tie for the record books. Ethan and his father, Elivan Goulart, tied for the top qualifying time and Pole Position for the race. Tied down to the thousandths of a second – 2:41.106! To determine whether father or son claimed the P1 position to start the race, officials had to revert to the second fastest qualifying time, which went to the younger Goulart.
The SM race was one of the highlights of the week, however it was tainted with loss of top drivers Jim Drago, Danny Steyn and Charles Mactutus who were involved in a serious incident during qualifying. All three drivers are currently recovering, thankfully.
Justin Adakonis Takes 3rd in Runoffs SMX and Wins Super Tour Championship
Another young driver making a splash this week from the New England Region was Justin Adakonis. In his SMX, he not only finished on the Runoffs podium with a 3rd place trophy, he also claimed the 2024 Spec MX-5 SCCA Super Tour Championship at the same time. With five wins to his name in this incredibly competitive field, he took home a grand prize of $30,000, courtesy of Mazda Motorsports.
Beautiful Weather but Messy Racing
Over the course of the 10 days of testing, practice, qualifying and racing – the skies over Wisconsin remained clear and sunny – meaning drivers kept their rain gear and rain tires packed away. Towards the end of the week, the wind picked up, which dropped and cooled the temperatures. Unfortunately, even dry tracks could not prevent some of the messy racing that was seen throughout the week. From practice to racing, the number of incidents on track – both small and big – left way too many cars and drivers damaged. The yellow flags, full-course cautions, and pace car sessions were far too high for championship racing. Post-event discussions of the causes, and how to remedy the situation before the 2025 Runoffs next year are already being thrown around. Too many of the races ended with the pace car taking the checker flag.
All that said, of the 23 NER drivers that took the time to travel to Road America to compete, 11 of them (almost half) came home with Top 10 finishes. Another fantastic showing by our club racing program.
Joseph Stadelmann, Steward of the Year
During the annual Worker of the Year awards on Friday night, our own Joe Stadelmann was honored as the Steward of the Year. As an active driver, Joe is described as exceptionally thorough and prepared, bringing his driver experience and perspective to his Stewarding work. His insight and ability to analyze on-track situations allows him to communicate with drivers in a way that leaves them with a better understanding and assessment of all points of view. We’re very proud of this national recognition of Joe’s hard work and the value he brings to the Steward program in our region, and the Super Tour program that he’s been supporting.
