60th Anniversary of SCCA Runoffs

For the 60th anniversary, SCCA Road Racing wrapped up it’s two-year run at Virginia International Raceway to crown the 23 National Champions in the pinnacle of amateur motorsports competition.

Unlike the hurricane that hit last year, 2023 brought beautiful weather for the week-long event. Unfortunately, the clear skies and sunny temperatures did not translate onto the course, as there were multiple incidents all week long, including one red flagged session.

This year, the SCCA also partnered with the Spec MX-5 Challenge Series to host its final two races of the season alongside the Runoffs as an exhibition class. Next year, MX-5 becomes an eligible class for Runoffs that will take place at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. Currently, NER driver Christian Sarnecki is a nominee for the 2023 MX-5 Shootout. Stay tuned to see if he becomes one of the 12 finalists.

All 23 trophy races, plus the 2 exhibition races, are available on the SCCA YouTube channel if you missed all the action.

Runoffs Highlights

Here’s a few highlights and notable events from the week at VIR.

  • In a “never before happened” event, there was a photo-finish tie at the checkered flag, resulting in Spec Miata co-champions!
  • T4 had a margin of victory of just 0.075 seconds.
  • NER dominated the T4 class, with 4 drivers finishing in the Top 10. Nick Leverone started 3rd on the grid, and Raymond Blethen held the 3rd place position for a brief time at the end of the race. Both were consistently in the mix battling for podium positions through the entire race, with Blethen narrowly missing the podium.
  • Former NFL player Jared Odrick won the GT2 title and gave one of the most memorable pit lane victory interviews ever.
  • Defending B-Spec champion Steve Introne was forced off track at turn 1, lap 1 leaving him at the back of the pack and taking away his chance at a repeat. Not one to just call it quits, he hard-charged his way from 23rd up to 9th place over the course of the next 14 laps.
  • Starting 6th on the grid, Thomas West leaped to the 3rd place position at the start of the AS race. Unfortunately, he could only hold on to it through lap 9, just missing his shot at the podium.
  • Andrew Aquilante claimed his 14th National Championship, making him 3rd on the all time list.
  • Hugh Stewart and Tony Ave went back and forth for all 15 laps in T1, with the AMG eventually besting Stewart’s BMW to place him 5th.
  • Due to attrition from race incidents and broken vehicles during practice and qualifying, the GT1 race was cancelled and did not run.

Travis Washay, T3 – 3rd Place

NER Podiums

While NER did not bring home any championships this year, we did have one podium finish by T3 driver Travis Washay. He started well back of the lead in 9th position on the grid, before making a dynamic run that brought him to a bronze medal finish. From 9th to 3rd also earned Travis the Sunoco Hard Charger award for his VW GTI. This is Travis’s second career podium at the Runoffs, his first back at Laguna Seca in 2014.

Top 10 Finishes

AS – 4th Place – Thomas West

B-Spec – 9th Place – Steve Introne

GTL – 5th Place – Chris Kopley

P1 – 4th Place – Todd Parks

STU – 8th Place – Michal Kuna

T1 – 5th Place – Hugh Stewart

T2 – 10th Place – Brian LaCroix

T3 – 7th Place – Francis Selldorf

T4 – 4th Place – Raymond Blethen

T4 – 7th Place – Nick Leverone

T4 – 9th Place – Richard Astacio

T4 – 10th Place – Stephen Blethen

NER Block Party Honored

The Hagerty “Keepin’ It Cool” Award went to New England Region for their sportsmanship on track and camaraderie in throwing one of our Wednesday evening parties. Known for having plenty of good food and lots of beer, the NER party planners were awarded with the YETI cooler to use at our future race events. Look for it at the final NER road race this weekend at Thompson Speedway.