SCCA Runoffs notebook: Wouldn't miss it

No one would have blamed B-Spec driver Jason Huepenbecker if he'd stayed home in Winter Park, Florida, instead of coming to the SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB.

"I had plans to be here last week, but I hurt my back pretty severely two weeks ago," Huepenbecker says. "It was touch-and-go all the way up until Wednesday, when I decided I was going to go. On Monday of this week, I couldn't even walk."

Huepenbecker made it to Mid-Ohio on Thursday, in time to take part in the final qualifying session of the week in his No. 23 Dynasty Automotive Honda Fit.

"My teammates (Darren Seltzer and Chi Ho) are giving me some road notes, because I've never been here before," Huepenbecker says.

It turns out that driving his racecar is the best therapy for Huepenbecker's back.

"Once I got in the racing seat, it cradled me. I think I'm safer in my car," he says.

Huepenbecker's a natural jokester, but give him a moment and he turns serious.

"I don't want to miss this opportunity," he explains. "I think life is all about opportunity and you have to take them when you've got them. Every time we go racing, it's about friends, situations, experiences, and you know what? I wouldn't miss it for the world."

50 Years with the Mini Cooper

If the Austin-Healey Sprite and the MGB were the bread and peanut butter that kept the SCCA going from the 1960s until the advent of the Mazda Miata, then the Mini Cooper was the jelly in that classic sports car sandwich.

The Mini was an unlikely racecar. As one of the first front-wheel-drive cars on the market, the Mini carried a series of economical, small-displacement engines. The car didn't even have a proper suspension. There are no springs in an original Mini – just a set of rubber cones that compress.

Yet for all that, the Mini was a real giant-killer. The little car offered true go-kart handling and its little engines were quick-revving and reliable. Many drivers in supposedly faster cars found themselves wondering what just happened when the Minis went by in the corners.

Ward Barbour has been racing Minis almost since the beginning of the line.

"I've been in it since 1964," Barbour says. "I joined SCCA in 1965. I raced for about 10 years and then I raised a family. So I was out of it for a while, but back in 2001 my friend Brian was racing, so I got back into it."

Barbour is known nationwide as an expert on the diminutive racecars, now most commonly found in SCCA's GT-Lite class, or in Vintage racing. Barbour participates at both levels. This week at the Runoffs, Barbour was working as pit crew for Ted Phenix of Hawkesbury, Ontario.

"I had an airplane ticket back here," Barbour relates, "and I was just going to come back and help out, but he had a bit of a problem with the cylinder head. I was supposed to bring a new head in my luggage, but then they ran the engine on the dyno and ended up with copper in the oil. We had a bearing issue, so I took the motor out of my own race car and drove from Oregon to Ohio with it."

Most mechanics would charge a fortune for service like that, but Barbour does it for the love of the cars and of racing.

"I told him, just pay for the gas and hotels and such," Barbour admits. "I thought it sounded like fun. I'm not in this to make money."

Historic Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Mid-Ohio is without a doubt one of the most popular locations for the SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB. After a 24-year stretch at Road Atlanta, SCCA held in the Runoffs at Mid-Ohio for 12 years from 1994 to 2005. In the modern era, the Runoffs have returned to Mid-Ohio in the third year of a new program of rotating the event among the best destination tracks in America.

True to its name, Mid-Ohio is located in central Ohio, about 90 minutes northeast of Columbus and 90 minutes southwest of Cleveland. The facility is set among rolling wooded countryside dotted with scenic farms.

The Mid-Ohio race course was built and paved in 1962 by a man named Les Griebling. The original intent was for amateur club racing. But in 1981 the facility was purchased by Jim Trueman and upgraded as a venue for professional sports car racing. The Trueman family maintained ownership of Mid-Ohio until 2011, when the course was sold to Green Savoree Racing Promotions, who remain in control of the facility today.

Over the decades, the track has hosted Champ Car, American Le Mans Series, NASCAR, Grand-Am, IndyCar, AMA, SCCA Trans-Am and many more professional and amateur racing organizations. No less a figure than Chris Economacki called Mid-Ohio "the showcase of U.S. motor racing."

The Runoffs use a course configuration of 13 turns covering 2.258 miles. Critical turns include Mid-Ohio's famous Keyhole hairpin, which comes off the second-longest straight, and leads onto the longest straight at the course. Also critical to racing success are the complex of esses known as "Madness" and the challenging Carousel Turn 12.

Future plans for the Runoffs have not been announced past 2017, but it's certain the SCCA's signature event will return to Mid-Ohio in the years to come.

• Click here to stream the live broadcasts of the 53rd running of the 

  SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB

  from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. Races run Friday through Sunday.