TOPEKA, Kan. (Dec. 5, 2019) -- The Sports Car Club of America® Board of Directors has approved changes to Runoffs® qualifying criteria for the 2020 U.S. Majors Tour season. Highlighted by the return of a point standings performance criteria, the changes will be applied to drivers attempting to compete at the 2020 National Championship Runoffs taking place Oct. 5-11 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.


While the first step toward qualifying for the Runoffs through the U.S. Majors Tour program is to participate in three separate events, for 2020, the requirement for three race “starts” criteria has been replaced with three U.S. Majors Tour race “finishes.” A finish is defined as completing at least half of the laps of the overall race winner.


Also for 2020, performance requirements have been reinserted into Runoffs qualifying criteria for the U.S. Majors Tour path. Those receiving an invite to the 2020 Runoffs must place in the top half of a car class’s Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour Points Championship or a U.S. Majors Tour Conference Points Championship by the end of the “regular” season. For classes with 20 or fewer participants, Runoffs invitations will be offered to those finishing in the top 10 of the class.


“The Runoffs is the culmination of our Summit Racing Equipment SCCA Road Racing season,” said SCCA Road Racing Director Deanna Flanagan. “It is a great celebration for our Club, but also a gathering of the best-of-the-best. Bringing a performance requirement back into Runoffs qualification supports that goal, while also encouraging more competition throughout the year.”


A Divisional Path to Runoffs qualification still exists for the 2020 season and is unchanged from 2019. There, competitors must participate in four Runoffs qualifying event weekends in a single Division in the same class, and finish in the top three -- or top five if competing in Spec Miata or Spec Racer Ford Gen3 -- in a Division’s Point Standings for the class. Divisions may count Regional or U.S. Majors Tour events within a Division toward this criterion. Drivers should check local Division Championship programs for further details.


SCCA Regional events are also still an option for the 2020 Runoffs. For that alternative, one U.S. Majors Tour event weekend may be substituted with participation in two Regional event weekends. However, drivers must still complete the U.S. Majors Tour race finish and point standings portion of the qualification criteria.  Regional events must occur between January 1, 2020, and a date not less than two weeks prior to the start of the Runoffs (September 22, 2020) and may be in any division. Enduros are excluded from this pathway.


There also remains an SCCA Pro Racing provision for 2020 Runoffs qualification. Drivers in specific classes, as defined in GCR 3.7.4.A.1.a, may swap participation in up to two Majors event weekends with SCCA Pro Racing weekend(s). Drivers doing such must still record a minimum number of individual Majors/Super Tour race finishes and also satisfy the U.S. Majors Tour Path point standings requirement.  Drivers must request this replacement via email to runoffs@scca.com by September 16, 2020.


Last but not least, current defending National Champions may enter the 2020 Runoffs in classes being defended, without meeting any of the noted criteria. This provision may not be invoked two consecutive years in the same class, even if a driver repeats as a National Champion.


Full details of the 2020 SCCA National Championship Runoffs qualification process will be available in the January 2020 SCCA General Competition Rules (GCR).  A flow chart is provided on the next page of this issue of Loud Pedal. ​

TOPEKA, Kan. (Dec. 17, 2019) -- SCCA’s Summit Racing Equipment Road Racing program will see two new classes in 2020, one that combines existing cars into a new class, and the other created to invite a different “type” of racecar out to Sports Car Club of America® events.


The SCCA® Club Racing Board (CRB) has created a new Formula X (FX) class intended for winged, open-wheel formula cars of modest power and performance below that of Formula 1000 or Formula Atlantic vehicles. Cars falling within Formula X for 2020 include Formula Mazda, Formula 4 and tube frame USF2000 vehicles. This change means Formula Mazda will no longer be its own car class at SCCA Road Racing events.


Formula X was designed to include cars built in significant numbers, but not quite sufficient enough to populate their own class; as well as those vehicles not constructed to existing SCCA General Competition Rules formulas but which still meet FX class criteria. According to SCCA CRB Chairman Peter Keane, FX will be deployed in 2020 at all Summit Racing Equipment Road Racing Regional, U.S. Majors Tour and Hoosier Racing Tire Super Tour events, and is a Runoffs-eligible class.


“The CRB is tasked with looking after the overall health of all SCCA competition classes, including formula cars,” Keane said. “We see Formula X as a way to enhance formula car participation in Club racing. It serves as a means for cars used in pro series to get involved in SCCA Club events, and can function as an incubator for the growth of new formulas that may one day have a specific competition classification.”


The second new SCCA car class added by the CRB for 2020 is named Prototype X (PX) and will also be deployed at all SCCA Road Racing Regional, U.S. Majors Tour and Hoosier Racing Tire Super Tour events. Similar to the GT-X class created in 2019, PX is open to various prototype vehicles that have been competing in U.S. road racing over the past several years. Deanna Flanagan, SCCA’s Road Racing Director, said examples include Daytona Prototype and Le Mans Prototype cars, as well as older IMSA GTP and Camel Light race cars. The PX class, however, will not be Runoffs-eligible in 2020.


“Across the country there are a number of competition-ready cars, now privately owned, that fall within SCCA’s new Prototype X classification,” Flanagan said. “The idea behind creation of Prototype X is to provide a way for these beautiful machines to participate at SCCA road races. It’s another way SCCA makes itself accessible to motorsports enthusiasts who love to have fun with cars.”


Another change in 2020 for the SCCA Summit Racing Equipment Road Racing program includes Formula Enterprises (FE) now being eligible only at Regional events, a development communicated two years ago with creation of the Formula Enterprises 2 (FE2) class. Also, Formula 1000 (FB) has been folded into the Formula Atlantic (FA) competition class.


The 57th SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, being held Oct. 3-11 at Road America in Wisconsin, will feature three days of testing, three days of qualifying, and three days of racing. Runoffs qualification criteria has changed for 2020, so those intending to compete for a National Championship should check SCCA.com for the latest guidelines. The 26 Runoffs-eligible classes for 2020 are as follows:


American Sedan®     
B-Spec
​E Production        
Formula 500
Formula Atlantic®    
Formula Continental®          
Formula Enterprises 2     
Formula F
F Production         
H Production
Formula Vee       
Formula X
GT-1          
GT-2
GT-3          
GT-Lite
Prototype 1         
Prototype 2
Spec Miata        
Touring 1
Spec Racer Ford Gen3     
Touring 2
Super Touring® Lite     
Touring 3
Super Touring® Under     
Touring 4


Photo - Daytona Prototype by Digital Automotive Depictions

TOPEKA, Kan. (Dec. 20, 2019) -- Sports Car Club of America® has announced the return of a driver-funded contingency program to support competitors achieving success throughout the SCCA® U.S. Majors Tour® in their efforts to attend the National Championship Runoffs®.


Recently approved by the SCCA Board of Directors, the Runoffs Appearance Fund is a re-imagined, modern version of the former “Tow Fund” that existed until 2015 in SCCA’s top road racing program. The Runoffs Appearance Fund is a self-funded contingency program that will pay out to Runoffs participants that finish atop a U.S. Majors Tour Conference points championship or in the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour points standings. Deanna Flanagan, SCCA’s Road Racing Director, said the number of positions paid will be determined by the average car count per class throughout the U.S. Majors Tour season.


Beginning with 2020, $20 from each Majors entry will go toward the fund. At the end of the season, the entire fund will be distributed to drivers based on their finish in one of the six Conference Championships (Northeast, Southeast, Northern, Southern, Mid-States and Western) or the Hoosier Super Tour points standings prior to the Runoffs. Actual payout amount will vary based on one-way distance “as the crow flies” from a driver’s home address to the Runoffs venue, which in 2020 will be Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Drivers within 300 miles of a Runoffs venue will not be eligible to receive a fund payout.


The most significant difference from the new Runoffs Appearance Fund and the former Tow Fund rests in the number of drivers per class eligible for payout. The Runoffs Appearance Fund will pay more drivers for classes that average more entries over the Majors season, thus providing more support to the classes that contributed more to the fund. The number of drivers eligible for the fund per class will be based on the following chart


As an example, if a class averages 8.3 entries per event in 2020, the top five drivers from each Majors Conference and the Hoosier Super Tour (regular season) standings would be eligible to receive a Runoffs Appearance Fund payout based on their one-way mileage to Road America. A driver may only receive one payout per class, so if they finished in the top five in two conferences and the Hoosier Super Tour, they would only receive one payment. As was the case with the previous Tow Fund, the total amount in the fund escrow is divided by the total number of one-way miles of eligible drivers to determine a one-way, per-mile rate. Eligible drivers will receive the payment after the Runoffs event.

Visit the SCCA Contingency Webpage for full details


TOPEKA, Kan. (Dec. 27, 2019) – Contingency registration is now open with partners pledging support for 2020 SCCA U.S. Majors Tour® and Regional Road Racing competitors through contingency sponsorship programs. The group of corporate partners includes automakers, tire manufacturers, brake manufactures and other companies that make and sell motorsports-related equipment.


A full rundown of contingency offerings can be found at https://www.scca.com/pages/main-contingency.  Many contingency opportunities require pre-registration with SCCA and/or with the sponsoring company. Details and instructions to register for each of these programs are available at the SCCA contingency webpage.  It is the responsibility of each competitor to make sure they are in compliance with each program for which they would like to enroll.


U.S. Majors Tour/Hoosier Super Tour Contingency Partners (Updated 12/27/19):


- Hawk Performance, Official Brake Products of SCCA (Select Classes)
1st: $100 Product Certificate     2nd: $75 Product Certificate     3rd: $50 Product Certificate


- Honda Performance Development (Select Cars & Classes)
TBA


- Summit Racing Equipment  (All Classes)
1st: $100 Product Certificate      2nd: $75 Product Certificate      3rd: $50 Product Certificate


- Ford Performance  (Select Cars & Classes)
1st: $500         2nd: $300        3rd: $200
SRF3 Hoosier Super Tour Sun.- 1st: $275   2nd: $250   3rd: $225   4th: $200   5th: $175
Formula F Conf. Points Champs: 1st: $1,000


- Goodyear Tire (Select Classes)
1st: 2 tires       2nd: 1 tire


- Nissan (Select Classes)
TBA


- Pirelli Tire (Select classes)
1st: 2 tires       2nd: 1 tire


- Hoosier Racing Tire  (Select Classes)
Hoosier Super Tour
(Spec Miata) - 1st: 4 tires       2nd: 2 tires      3rd-8th: 1 tire
U.S. Majors Tour (non-Super Tour events)
(Spec Miata) - 1st: 2 tires       2nd-3rd: 1 tire
All U.S. Majors Tour Events
(All other eligible classes) - 1st: 2 tires       2nd: 1 tire


- Carbotech Performance Brakes  (Select Classes)
1st: $100 Product Certificate       2nd: $75 Product Certificate         3rd: $50 Product Certificate


- G-LOC Brakes  (Select Classes)
1st: $100 Product Certificate      2nd: $50 Product Certificate     Highest Finisher: $100 Product Certificate


- Mazda North American Operations (Select Cars & Classes)
(EP, FP, HP, GT1, GT2, GT3, GTL, T1, T2, T3, T4, STU, STL)
1st: $600   2nd: $350   3rd: $150   4th: $125   5th: $100
(Spec Miata, B-Spec, FA, P1, P2)
1st: $525   2nd: $250   3rd: $150   4th: $125   5th: $100
(FX, FE2)
1st: $250   2nd: $175   3rd: $140   4th: $125   5th: $100
For complete program requirements and payout information including Points Championship and STL Majors Bonus payouts please click here.


- SCCA Enterprises (Select Classes)
Hoosier Super Tour SRF3, FE2 Sunday Only
1st: $250 PCV   2nd: $225 PCV   3rd: $200 PCV   4th: $175 PCV   5th: $150 PCV


- Toyota Racing Development (Select Cars & Classes)
TBA


Regional Road Racing Contingency Partners (Updated 12/27/19):


- Hoosier Racing Tire  (Spec Miata Class)
1st: 2 tires       2nd: 1 tire


- Mazda North American Operations  (All Classes)
Divisions with 8 or fewer races: 1st: $500   2nd: $300   3rd: $175   4th: $125
Divisions with 9-13 total races: 1st: $550   2nd: $350   3rd: $200   4th: $125
Divisions with 14-19 total races: 1st: $650   2nd: $425   3rd: $225   4th: $150
Divisions with 20 or more races: 1st: $750   2nd: $500   3rd: $250   4th: $175
For complete program requirements and payout information including Points Championship and Penske Shocks Bonus payouts please click here.


- Toyota Racing Development (Select Events, Cars & Classes)
TBA