Welcome to the SCCA Road Racing media guide. Here, you'll find organization and event information, driver statistics and accolades, and award winners in SCCA's Road Racing program. 

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Sports Car Club of America®, Inc. was founded in 1944 by a group of amateur motorsports enthusiasts and today boasts more than 70,000 members. SCCA® sanctions more than 2,000 amateur and professional motorsports events each year, across multiple programs including Road Racing, Solo® (Autocross),RallyCross®, Time Trials, HillClimb, and SCCA Pro Racing events.

With 115 regional chapters covering the entire United States, Guam and Puerto Rico, SCCA provides true grassroots participation and is the largest active motorsports membership organization in the world. Local events remain the backbone of Club activities. SCCA volunteers provide everything from course marshaling to timing and scoring at both Club and professional events.

SCCA Enterprises, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SCCA, constructs and maintains three cars, the venerable SCCA Spec Racer Ford, new Spec Racer Ford Gen3 — both single-seat, sports racers — and the Formula Enterprises open-wheel machine.

SCCA’s Road Racing program is designed to fulfill the need of the “amateur athlete.” It is a comprehensive, nationwide program featuring events held throughout the year that cater to the driver who perhaps prefers to test his or her skill on a part-time basis, rather than compete full time on SCCA’s professional circuits. Nevertheless, because the competition at the Club level is so fierce, many professionals also participate in this program to further hone their skills and compete at SCCA’s National Championship Runoffs®.

The amateur road racing program is administered by SCCA’s Road Racing Department. A staff of SCCA personnel handles the needs of the amateur racecar driver, including drivers’ schools - to help a new racer earn his or her license, a regional racing program - for those just starting out, Performance Driving Experiences, and both the U.S. Majors Tour® and Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour - the highest levels of amateur road racing in North America.

Road Racing is an integral part of SCCA. Nearly half the membership is involved on the amateur level, either as drivers, crew, workers or officials. More than 7,000 SCCA members hold competition licenses allowing them to compete within SCCA’s Road Racing programs.

The Summit Racing Equipment Road Racing program is the backbone of the SCCA with a program for almost everyone. Road Racing offers the opportunity to experience the excitement by climbing into a racecar and competing against other amateur drivers or working on a corner within inches of all the action.

Workers & Officials

Getting involved as a worker or official is as easy as going to a local event and volunteering to help. Workers are issued a license just like the competition drivers, and can work their way up through the four levels of licenses by participating at different events and gaining the knowledge and experience necessary to hold a national specialty license. SCCA licensed workers help staff most of the motorsport events held in the United States in one capacity or another.

Competition Driving

Club racers begin their racing careers by requesting a novice permit and participating in an SCCA Driver’s School. Upon successful completion of the school, drivers then compete in three races to earn an SCCA Full Competition License. Holders of a Full Competition License can compete in Regional, U.S. Majors Tour and Hoosier Super Tour events. A separate Regional and National license is no longer required.

The Hoosier Super Tour and U.S. Majors Tour are the top levels of amateur road racing in North America. The U.S. Majors Tour featured 34 events in six geographic Conferences during 2019, giving top racers a true season-long point championship to chase. Of those 36 weekends, 11 were Hoosier Super Tour events. The Hoosier Super Tour and U.S. Majors Tour are only one step below SCCA Pro Racing, and many of the Pro drivers in SCCA series, as well as other series, developed from the SCCA Road Racing ranks.

Among the largest Road Racing events held this year were Hoosier Super Tour races at Sebring International Raceway, Circuit of the Americas, VIRginia International Raceway, Watkins Glen International and the June Sprints® at Road America. The biggest event in Road Racing each year is the SCCA National Championship Runoffs.

Road Race Levels

The following are racing categories and classes that compete in SCCA Road Racing’s Hoosier Racing Tire Super Tour, U.S. Majors Tour and the National Championship Runoffs. Many of America’s best race car drivers today, such as J.R. Hildebrand, Scott Sharp, Graham Rahal, Kyle Kirkwood and more participated in SCCA’s Road Racing programs.

Super Touring

Super Touring® was designed to allow late-model production-based cars (like in Touring) more extensive modifications, including wings, splitters and engine swaps. Super Touring Under (STU) is where you’ll find cars like the Lotus Elise and Exige, Mazda Protege and 6, Acura RSX and TSX, and Audi A4, with some sporting forced induction. Super Touring Lite (STL) predominantly features cars with naturally-aspirated motors of two liters or less.

Spec Miata

Making its debut in 2006, the Spec Miata (SM) class is intended to provide the opportunity to compete in low cost, production-based cars with limited modifications, suitable for racing competition. Rules were intentionally designed to be more open than the then-Showroom Stock class but more restricted than the Improved Touring class that runs on SCCA’s Regional level. Five generations of Mazda Miatas are approved for competition, including those built from 1990-’93, 1994-’97, 1999-’00, and 2001-’05, each model with its own set of restrictions.

Production Category

Series produced cars which are allowed a range of performance modifications while retaining their original design, structure and drive layout. There is no age limit, so Production includes cars as old as 50 years and as new as current body styles. The three performance potential based classes include: E Production (EP), F Production (FP) and H Production (HP). EP is the fastest of the Production classes with HP running the slowest in the category. Several cars in the Production classes can be run in more than one class by changing the engine between races. Cars included in Production classes come from a diverse group ranging from the Datsun 510, MGs, Fiat X1/9, Lotus Super 7 and Austin Healey Sprite, to the BMW 325, Mazda Miata, RX-7 and RX-8, Honda Prelude and Toyota MR-2, plus many more.

American Sedan

American Sedan® (AS), comprised of Chevrolet Camaros, Pontiac Firebirds and GTOs, and Ford Mustangs, are production-based chassis with modified suspension and brakes. Engines are traditionally carbureted 302 and 305 CID V-8s that have been balanced and blueprinted, but fuel injection is also permitted.

GT Category

GT cars are purpose-built, highly-modified “silhouette” replicas of series-produced sports sedans. Performance of the permitted tube-frame chassis is equalized by allowing smaller engine cars to compete at lighter weights. GT-1 cars are the fastest of the category, and many have run in the SCCA Pro Racing-sanctioned Trans Am® series. GT-2, GT-3 and GT-Lite cars get progressively lighter and less powerful. Cars include Chevrolet Corvettes, Ford Mustangs, Toyota Celicas, Mazda RX-7s, Nissan 200SXs, Honda CRXs and Austin Mini Coopers, just to name a few.

Formula Category

The formula classes are all single-seat, open-wheel race cars built to detailed specifications for weight, size and engine displacement. The classes are: Formula Atlantic® (FA), Formula Continental® (FC), Formula F (FF), Formula 600 (F600), Formula Vee® (FV), Formula Enterprises 2 (FE2) and Formula X (FX). Many of the winged FA and FC cars, along with several of the non-winged FF cars, are produced by companies such as Lola, Van Diemen, Reynard and Ligier. FA cars have engines that generate as much as 240hp. The FC runs a 2-liter engine with about 150hp while the FF motors make around 120hp. The FE cars use sealed Mazda motors. FV includes many home-built cars, as well as cars built by proven manufacturers, and is one of the most competitive and popular classes in SCCA. FV entries all run 1,200cc VW engines. F600s run small displacement, two-stroke engines or 600cc four-stroke motorcycle engines, and are one of the least expensive classes to run in SCCA. Formula X is comprised of winged, mid- to high-horsepower cars that previously made up Formula Mazda, as well as tube-framed USF2000 cars and Formula 4 cars.

Prototype Category

There are two classes of purpose-built road racing cars with full composite bodies. Underneath, these cars are pure racing machines. The power plants in these cars vary from home-built “pieces and parts” engines and motorcycle engines to sealed identical motors. Prototype 1 (P1) and Prototype 2 (P2) evolved from SCCA’s past C Sports Racing, D Sports Racing and S2000 classes. The P1 and P2 classes feature a variety of chassis including home-built, innovative designs and manufacturer-produced cars. P1 cars are faster, with more aerodynamic aids allowed, while P2 cars are flat-bottom machines.

Spec Racer Ford

Spec Racer Ford Gen3 (SRF3) is a one-design, single seat car utilizing a sealed Ford engine. Produced by SCCA Enterprises, SRF3 is one of SCCA’s largest racing classes and continues to provide cost-effective racing for hundreds of competitors. By limiting the modifications and preparation costs, this class emphasizes driver ability over spending.

The SCCA National Championship Runoffs has evolved into what is now commonly agreed to be the pinnacle of amateur American motorsports. The Runoffs were named by Car and Driver magazine as one of the Top 10 racing events in motorsports and Edmunds called the event “an institution.” This year marks the 60th Runoffs, and a return visit to VIRginia International Raceway.

Several hundred drivers compete for National Championship medals in 26 classes. Every year, the event produces close, competitive racing and provides a glimpse at future road racing stars. Starting in 2014, the Runoffs began a rotation of tracks hosting the event for just one or two years at a time, like golf’s U.S. Open or the Super Bowl. In 2024, the event will return to Road America.

Qualification Criteria

There were two qualification paths to the Runoffs this year, utilizing the U.S. Majors Tour/Hoosier Super Tour path and the Divisional path. The Majors path was dictated on event finishes, with some special allowances in 2021 due to the pandemic. For the Divisional path, drivers had to participate in four Runoffs Qualifier weekends and achieve a top three finish within a class, or top five finish in Spec Miata or Spec Racer Ford Gen3. Defending Runoffs Champions have the option of using a Champions provisional to qualify.

Why go to the Runoffs? 

While the big names make thousands or even millions of dollars a year, Club racers normally compete for trophies. There are a few classes supported by contingency sponsors throughout the season, but most of the time when a Club driver is on the track it is for fun and to test himself/herself against fellow competitors. Winning a National Championship at the Runoffs means defeating the best SCCA Road Racing has to offer, and allows victors to claim, “I am the best in the country.” The long list of past National Champions reads like a who’s who of motor racing: Bobby Rahal, Graham Rahal, Jimmy Vasser, Scott Sharp, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Skip Barber, Boris Said, Michael Galati and Paul Newman are just a few of the familiar names. For many of these drivers, a National Championship was just a stepping-stone on their way to making a name for themselves in auto racing. A National Championship looks good on the racing resume and can help with sponsorship proposals for the following year. Securing a sponsor can help with a bigger and better season the following year, be it in Club or Pro Racing.

SCCA National Championship History

From 1951 through 1964, Sports Car Club of America determined its amateur road racing National Champions on a nationwide point basis from the United States Road Racing Championship, a select series of National races run throughout the country. In the first three years, only one overall champion was named. From 1954 on, champions were named in each of the SCCA amateur classes. In 1964, it was decided that a better way would be to gather the best amateur road racers in one place to compete against each other in an Interdivisional Championship Event. In the first two years, the winners were not officially recognized as the SCCA National Champions. 1966 was the first year the event was officially designated as the SCCA National Championship event. In retrospect, The Runoffs winners of 1964 and 1965 are similarly recognized. Therefore, in 1964, there were two Championships - the final year of the point series and the first year of the Runoffs.

Runoffs History

Over the years, the name has changed, as well as the method of qualifying for the event. But the idea has remained the same: gather the best amateur road racers in one place and let them compete against each other. For the first six years, the Championship event alternated between Riverside International Raceway in California (1964, 1966 & 1968) and Daytona International Speedway in Florida (1965, 1967 & 1969). For the next 24 years, the Runoffs were held at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. The Runoffs moved to Lexington, Ohio and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course from 1994 to 2005. In 2006, the Runoffs added a fifth track to its resume, that of Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas, followed by Road America in 2009. In 2014, the Runoffs started an alternating schedule. To begin this new rotation, SCCA selected one of the country’s most historic road courses west of the Mississippi: Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. This marked the first time the Runoffs took place out west since the event’s final visit to Riverside International Raceway. Since then, the Runoffs has visited Daytona International Raceway (2015), Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (2016), Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2017), Sonoma Raceway (2018), VIRginia International Raceway (2019) and Road America (2020) before returning to Indianapolis in 2021. The Runoffs called VIR home for 2022 and 2023, and in 2024 and 2025, the Runoffs headed back to Road America.

During the early years, the event was known as the American Road Race of Champions (ARRC). The first year at Riverside saw 183 cars entered in 13 races for 17 classes. Practice began on Wednesday with qualifying Thursday and Friday followed by races on Saturday and Sunday. In 1973, when Champion Spark Plugs signed on as the event sponsor, the name became the Champion Spark Plug Road Racing Classic (CSPRRC). In 1983, the words “The Runoffs” were added to the Champion Spark Plug Road Racing Classic. Then in 1985, Valvoline Oil took over as sponsor of the event and it became the Valvoline Road Racing Classic - The Runoffs (VRRC). 1987 saw the name shortened to just “The Valvoline Runoffs,” which was used until 2005 when Kohler was named as the presenting sponsor. The 2007 event was sponsored by AT&T, with Subway presenting the 2010 event.

Many Road Racing drivers are not interested in becoming a professional racer and are content to test themselves annually at the Runoffs, which makes for many return entries each year. During the 24 years that the Runoffs were held at Road Atlanta, many of the competitors gathered quite a following of local fans.

The number of entries has grown over the past 30 years. The race in 2004 eclipsed 700 drivers for the first time, and 709 drivers started in 24 class races at Road America in 2014. But that record was reset in 2017 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with 969 entries. The biggest race in Club Racing has always been supported by the workers from across the country. Each year the event attracts workers from as far away as Hawaii and Canada.