By alley - Sep 27, 2015, 1:04 PM ET

Runoffs: Schader takes T3 win

Bob Schader, of Lafayette, Colo., drove his No. 8 Hoosier Tire/Boulder Nissan Nissan 350Z to a Touring 3 win to open the final day of racing on Sunday of the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Daytona International Speedway. Tom Wickersham, of San Ramon, Calif., and Jason Ott, of Littleton, Colo., joined Schader on the podium.

Schader broke away from the small but stout field early in the race, with the biggest drama coming on Lap five when he made contact with a slower Touring 2 car in the combined race. Schader's final margin of victory was by more than a lap after the faster Touring 2 class winner Kurt Rezzetano lapped second-place Wickersham at the stripe, leaving Schader without a challenger for his final circuit.Schader averaged 97.375 mph on his way to the full lap victory, aided by the timing of the overall leader."I got a good jump on the start," Schader said. "Scotty and I hit the gas at the same time, but I guess I got a little bit of a leap and managed to pull a couple of car lengths into Turn One, and then I just started pedaling as hard as I could to get away from those guys before they were going to eat me."The only incident I had on the track was with that T2 guy coming through the [International Horseshoe]. I guess he was not aware that I was there, but I was going around the inside of the corner and he turned sharply and collected me on the left side, but I didn't have time to stop and talk to him. We kept going because Tom was coming right up on top of me. It was kind of busy."Wickersham finished second in the No. 01 BFGoodrich/Maine Straight Racing Ford Mustang, shaking free of a battle with Ott and Tire Rack polesitter Scotty White's No. 0 BFG/Knight Transport LLC Ford Mustang in the closing laps to hold onto second place. Wickersham's fast lap of 2:08.363 (99.842 mph) was the fastest of the race."It started out good," Wickersham said. "Bob got a jump and was never to be seen again. Trying to hold of Scotty and Jason was a little hectic at times, and they got me on a lap and shuffled me back. I put my head down and got back up, and those guys raced a lot behind me and fell back racing each other."Ott's No. 09 Hoosier Race Tires/BimmerHaus/Alpine BMW Z4 took the third spot, ahead of White."It was a lot of fun," Ott said. "The track was really slick on the infield today, I hadn't experienced that all week. It was a fun race, and we raced really hard from the beginning but I thought it would be embarrassing with five cars if we all piled it into each other in [Turn] One. So I took it a little easy through there, and tried to get my rhythm in. I was hanging on to the lead couple of cars for a little bit and then made a mistake going through the bus stop. I fell back, and put my head down, and caught back up to Tom. He had a great race and was able to pull away from me, and Bob drove an absolute great race and I watched him set sail at the front. "While the live broadcast of all 27 National Championship were available live at SCCA.com, each race will be on demand in the coming weeks.Provisional results for Sunday's SCCA Touring 3 race at the 52nd SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB at Daytona International Speedway, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car and laps complete.1, (2), Bob Schader, Lafayette, CO, Nissan 350Z Nismo, 14.2, (4), Tom Wickersham, San Ramon, CA, Ford Mustang V6, 13.3, (3), Jason Ott, Littleton, CO, BMW Z4 M Coupe, 13.4, (1), Scotty B White, Auburn, WA, Ford Mustang, 13.5, (5), Tom Brady, Bradenton, FL, BMW M3 Convertible, 13.Length of Race: 50 milesOverall Time of Race: 30:42.613Margin of Victory: 1 lapAverage Speed: 97.375 mphFastest Race Lap: #01 Wickersham, 2:08.363 (99.842 mph)Lap Leaders: #8 Schader, laps 1-14Sunoco Hard Charger: #01 Tom WickershamImage: Shawn Lumley