SCCA: Who Will Win the 2015 National Championship Runoffs, Pt 1

Just days away is the start of the most prestigious amateur road racing championship in North America: the SCCA National Championship Runoffs. This year taking place Sept. 21-27 at Daytona International Speedway, 2015 marks the first time the Runoffs has been at Daytona since 1969. The Sports Car Club of America's annual winner-take-all competition sees in excess of 500 road racers take to the track in the hopes of claiming gold – or at least make the winners earn their prize.

What follows is a listing prepared by SportsCar magazine, SCCA's official member magazine and sister publication to RACER magazine and RACER.com, containing the racers SportsCar's editors believe will stand atop the podium come the Sept. 21-27 race weekend.

To keep up on the action during Runoffs week, keep an eye on RACER.com. Also, head to www.scca.com/runoffs where you'll find a Runoffs race schedule and a link to the free, live video stream of all the races.

E Production, F Production, H Production
WORDS J. Michael Hemsley
IMAGE John Wilmoth

Toby Grahovec has been racing BMWs in various classes for a while but wanted "to try a class that had fierce competition," he tells us, so this year he built a BMW Z4 for E Production. Its slick shape should be an advantage at Daytona, despite the fact that he's bucking the system running the roadster with a windshield and hardtop. Despite this, he's our pick to win.

If fierce competition is what he wants, he's sure to get it in E Prod. "I think the competition is going to be tough at the front of the grid, with defending Champ Matt Reynolds, Joe Moser, Jon Brakke, Chris Dryden, and Eric Powell," says Grahovec. He might want to add former champion Greg Ira to that list, as we figure he will be Grahovec's main competition this year, and regular podium finisher Aaron Downey.

Meanwhile, in F Production, "I want to do Daytona to experience it," multi-time National Champion Joe Huffaker and our FP pick to win told us. "I remember my dad going to Daytona and Riverside." Huffaker has never raced at Daytona, but he's coming this year and will contend in FP and GT-Lite. He recognizes that his FP MG Midget is down on power compared to the Miatas, in particular, and Kent Prather's MGA, but he hopes his car's light weight and a good drafting partner will overcome his power disadvantage.

Huffaker has spent this year refining his car and says he has found more power. He's broken track records in his last four races. "It's been a rocket ship this season," he says. Still, he suggested that, "You'll see my feet working under the car trying to get more speed on the banking."

With the exception of Prather, Huffaker expects Mazda drivers to be his principle competition: Eric Prill, Charlie Campbell, and Ken Kannard. Kevin Ruck is fast in his Integra and will also be a challenger. And then there's Steve Sargis, should he decide to bring his Spitfire. Our money? It's on Campbell for second and Prather in third.

In H Production, Aj Hulse holds the Daytona track record – his home track – in a VW Cabriolet. Maybe it's because his car is somewhat unconventional, but we just couldn't resist picking him to win this year.

A former ITB racer, Hulse and his father decided to build a cabriolet in 2001 when the car was classified in four classes, and he's got trophies from all four. According to Hulse, "The Cabriolet seems to have the best of both worlds at a track like Daytona. The 1.8L LP engine makes enough horsepower and torque to pull through the turns and get down the straights. The shape of the car is still a brick, but instead of two bricks stacked, I have one brick to get through the air."

He'll change the final drive for Daytona "so the engine doesn't run out of revs before Turn 1." As for his primary competition, he's raced against Jay Griffen and knows he will be fast in his Honda. Then there's Jason Isley (our pick for second place in an equally unconventional car), Will Perry (who we think will finish third in the more traditional H car), and Sam Moore, against whom he's not raced, but all of whom are likely to be trying to show up that "one brick" VW on the banking.

GT1, GT2, GT3, GT-Lite
WORDS Sydney Davis
IMAGE John Wilmoth

Mike Lewis will be returning with his 15-year-old Jaguar to battle for the GT1 title. With seven National Championships under his belt, he's our pick to win at Daytona this year. "If we hit our marks and run clean we should have a good chance," Lewis says. "The key to winning will be to minimize mistakes – and weather will be a big deal too, probably."

Lewis has prior experience at Daytona, but not much. "I ran the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in a Porsche Cup Car about 14 years ago," he says. "But with the exception of the Regional weekend back in May, I don't have that much experience [there] in the Jag."

Lewis is looking forward to stepping on the top stop again, but be sure to keep an eye on Doug Peterson and Simon Gregg who will be charging for the front as well.

In GT2, we believe John Kachadurian will make it to the checkered flag first. This will be Kachadurian's sixth time attending the Runoffs, but having never been to Daytona, Kachadurian will have to rely on the knowledge and setup up provided by his team at Fall-Line. "Fall-Line always preps a championship-winning car, and I think a podium finish is possible, but a lot of things have to fall in line for that to happen," he tell us.

But don't count out Pete Peterson for the win. Word on the street is that he will be bringing his tube-frame Celica and a GT3 Cup car, running whichever proves faster during testing. And, despite the fact that Andrew Aquilante isn't planning to run in the class, he has already qualified for T1 on points, and as the defending GT2 Champion he has his provisional in his back pocket. If he decides to run, he'll probably win.

Rob Warkocki is continuing his 26-year streak of attending the Runoffs and is this year's pick to win GT3. The two-time champ will be running his Mazda RX-7 in an attempt to redeem himself after a rough time at Mazda Raceway. "I have never raced at Daytona before," Warkocki says, "but this is a great opportunity to race on such an iconic track for the chance at the National Championship."

Warkocki feels that his chances are good depending on who shows up, but don't count out Mike Henderson or Bill McGavic, both of whom will be on his bumper.

Nine-time Runoffs Champ Joe Huffaker, our pick to win GT-Lite, will be performing double duty again running both GTL and FP, but both will be in his MG Midget (last year he won GTL in his Mini). "I can plan around the schedule," Huffaker says. "I get plenty of track time, but I may not have it optimized during qualifying. However, there will be plenty of time to get the car ready for each race."

Others in the GTL fray include Peter Shadowen and Charles Leonard, but don't count out T. Troy Ermish, Michael Kamalian, and Kyle Disque.