SCCA National Championship Runoffs

The SCCA National Championship Runoffs is the end-of-year championship race meeting for Sports Car Club of America Club Racing competitors. Divisional champions and other top drivers from the SCCA's 116 regions are invited to participate at the Runoffs. National championships are awarded to the winners of each class.

GT1
Formula Ford
GT1 and Formula Ford racing action at the 2009 SCCA Runoffs

The Runoffs is regarded as the "Olympics of Amateur Road Racing."[1]

History

The American Road Race of Champions (ARRC) began in 1964, as a non-championship round of the SCCA National Sports Car Championship. In 1965 the series was abolished, and national championships were awarded to each regional champion. The champions and other top drivers were invited to the ARRC. Beginning in 1966, only the winners at the ARRC were named national champions.[2] In 1973, the event's name changed to the Champion Spark Plug Road Racing Classic.[3] Valvoline became the primary sponsor in 1985, and the race became known as the Runoffs in 1987.[4] Other primary sponsors of the race include AT&T, Subway, and Garmin.

Sites

For the first six years, the event alternated between Riverside International Raceway on the west coast and Daytona International Speedway on the east coast. The race found a permanent home at Road Atlanta in 1970, staying there until the track's bankruptcy in 1993. The Runoffs moved to Mid-Ohio from 1994 until 2005, then to Heartland Park Topeka from 2006 until 2008. The event moved to Road America in 2009 and was held there through 2013.[5]

In July 2013, the SCCA announced, in a break from tradition, that the Runoffs would begin to move around venues across the country annually, similar to other major sporting events such as golf's U.S. Open and the NFL's Super Bowl. First up in 2014 was a return to the west coast and first time visit to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, which became just the seventh track to host the Runoffs. The event then alternated to the east coast in 2015 and visited Daytona International Speedway for the first time since 1969 before heading back to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2016.[6] For 2017, the Runoffs was held on the combined road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.[7] In 2018, the Runoffs went back west to Sonoma Raceway. This year, the 2019 Runoffs will be held at Virginia International Raceway a track where the race has never been held. For 2020, the Runoffs return to Road America to continue the annual rotation of East, Midwest, and West. The 2021 Runoffs will remain in the Midwest, in the Eastern Time Zone, as it will be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Deadly accidents
YearDriverTrackClassCar
1964 Jim LaddRiverside International RacewayD ProductionAustin-Healey 3000
1989 Scott LieblerRoad AtlantaFormula AtlanticMartini Mk. 53

Race tracks
TrackLocationYears
Riverside International RacewayRiverside, California1964, 1966, 1968
Daytona International SpeedwayDaytona Beach, Florida1965, 1967, 1969, 2015
Road AtlantaBraselton, Georgia1970–1993
Mid-Ohio Sports Car CourseLexington, Ohio1994–2005, 2016
Heartland Motorsports ParkTopeka, Kansas2006–2008
Road AmericaElkhart Lake, Wisconsin2009–2013, 2020
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna SecaMonterey, California2014
Indianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, Indiana2017, 2021
Sonoma RacewaySonoma, California2018
Virginia International RacewayAlton, Virginia2019, 2022–2023

References
  1. Evanow 2005, p. 73.
  2. Krejčí, Martin. "SCCA National Sports Car Championship". World Sports Racing Prototypes. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
  3. England, Nick. "SCCA National Championships Complete Results - The early years 1964-75". VIR History. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
  4. Martin, James A.; Thomas F. Saal (2004). American Auto Racing: The Milestones and Personalities of a Century of Speed. McFarland. pp. 134–135. ISBN 0-7864-1235-6. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
  6. "Runoff Locations Announced for 2014-2016". SCCA. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  7. Indianapolis Motor Speedway To Host SCCA Runoffs in 2017

Works cited
  • Evanow, Pete (October 11, 2005). Z: 35 Years of Nissan's Sports Car. Motorbooks. ISBN 9780760321812.
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