SCCA: White claims Spec Racer Ford Gen3 Runoffs win

ABOVE: Cliff White grabbed en route to his first
SRF3 Runoffs championship. (Mark Weber photo)

With three previous SCCA Runoffs championships in Spec Racer Ford, Cliff White from Huntsville, Ala., has emerged as a force in that class. On Sunday at the 2016 SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB, White let everyone know he plans to be a player in Spec Racer Ford Gen3, too, as he claimed his first Runoffs title in that relatively new class.

After two waved-off starts, the 41-car SRF3 battle started with contact in the first two turns that took out second-place starter Patrick Byrne, of Spokane, Wash., in the No. 02 ProDrive/FlatOut racecar, and sent to the grass favorites Mike Miserendino, of Bakersfield, Calif., in the No. 11 MBI Racing vehicle and Scott Rettich, of Columbus, Ohio, in the No. 8 Alliance Autosport/pdiarm.com machine.

Emerging from the fray with the lead was Tire Rack pole sitter John Black, of Olympic Valley, Calif., in the No. 17 CSR Performance SRF3, followed by the No. 58 of White, who jumped up from seventh. Those two hooked up and set off as a number of competitors argued for the third spot. By lap five, Bobby Sak, of Mattawan, Mich., in the No. 19 Elite Autosport/Revolution10 Breaks vehicle managed to secure the third position, but was being hounded by Tordy Acker, of Santa Clarita, Calif., in the No. 62 MBI Racing car.

On lap 8, White was able to slip by Black into Madness after the long back straight. But two laps later, a full-course yellow came out and bunched up the field behind the pace car. When the green flew again, only a couple laps remained in what was to become a timed race. Black got back around White, but the positions swapped again on the penultimate lap. With White leading, Black went into Turn 1 on the last lap and developed a push that placed his right-side wheels into the dirt. That gave White the advantage he needed to bring home his first SRF3 Runoffs win on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

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"Don't screw up. Just don't screw up," White admitted to thinking as he ran the last lap on way to the checker. "On the grid, there were six former national champions within the first ten starting spots. It's just a stacked field in this class. It was a great, great race."

Black was able to hold on to second. Not what he wanted from the weekend, but it's another podium finish added to his illustrious Runoffs career.

"This is pretty much a disappointment, unfortunately. But sometimes racing just doesn't work out the way you want it to," Black said after the race. "This is actually my ninth Runoffs podium. I would rather have won, but I'll take second."

As for Sak, who had two previous Runoffs podium appearances, Acker made life difficult for the entire SRF3 battle, but he was able to keep things together for a third-place finish.

"This is pretty awesome after starting ninth," Sak said. "Acker was really fast. If he really wanted to force it, he probably could've had the position. But I was just strong enough through the back portion of the course to keep him off. It was a really good race and I'm happy to be here in third."

Bringing it home fourth was Acker. Tray Ayres, of Gainesville, Ga., in the No. 7 Ayres Racing machine finished fifth.

Taking the Sunoco Hard Charger award was Matthew Gray, of Chaska, Minn., in the No. 64 Ryan Companies US Inc. SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen3. He finished 17th after starting back in the 34th position.

• 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.

While the live broadcast of all 28 National Championships is available live at SCCA.com, each race will be on demand in the coming weeks.

Provisional results for Sunday's SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen3 National Championship at the 53rd SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car and laps complete.

1, (7), Cliff White, Huntsville, AL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

2, (1), John Black, Olympic Valley, CA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

3, (9), Bobby Sak, Mattawan, MI, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

4, (4), Tordy Acker, Santa Clarita, CA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

5, (10), Tray Ayres, Gainesville, GA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

6, (5), Brian Schofield, Lakeland, FL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

7, (12), Robeson Russell, Spartanburg, SC, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

8, (11), Umberto Milletti, Hillsborough, CA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

9, (8), Todd Harris, Portland, OR, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

10, (18), Jeff Beck, Ingleside, IL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

11, (6), Scott Rettich, Columbus, OH, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

12, (24), David Anzalone, Glen Head, NY, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

13, (19), Robert Breton, San Francisco, CA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

14, (3), Mike Miserendino, Bakersfield, CA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

15, (28), Robert J Kaminsky, Homer Glen, IL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

16, (32), Joseph Wolf, East Nassau, NY, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

17, (34), Matthew Gray, Chaska, MN, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

18, (29), Scott Monroe, Seabrook, TX, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

19, (27), Chris Current, Silver Spring, MD, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

20, (22), Steven Introne, Oxford, CT, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

21, (21), Scott Peterson, Normandy Park, WA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

22, (17), Whitney Strickland, Houston, TX, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

23, (30), Tom Miserendino, Beverly Hills, CA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

24, (33), Lee Douglas, Portland, OR, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

25, (15), Thomas Burt, Woodway, WA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

26, (39), Steven Kramer, Heath, TX, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

27, (37), Peter Jankovskis, Lisle, IL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

28, (23), Andre Perra, Portland, OR, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

29, (36), Joel Parris, Fishers, IN, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

30, (38), Matias Bonnier, New Albany, OH, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

31, (40), J Wendling, Wharton, NJ, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

32, (41), Timothy Gray, Minneapolis, MN, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

33, (31), Mark Hutchins, Lincoln, NE, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 20.

34, (20), Paul Marino, Chatsworth, CA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 8.

35, (16), Max Grau, Port Byron, IL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 8.

36, (26), Dave Lancaster, Chardon, OH, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 8.

37, (14), David Schacht, Noblesville, IN, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 6.

38, (13), Jack Willes, Palm Desert, CA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 3.

39, (2), Patrick Byrne, Spokane, WA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 2.

40, (25), Colin Kaminsky, Homer Glen, IL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 0.

DNS, (35), Jean-Luc Liverato, Milton, GA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3,

Overall Time of Race: 40:47.856

Average Race Speed: 66.416 mph

Margin of Victory: .804 second

Fastest Race Lap: Cliff White, 1:34.947 (85.614 mph)

Sunoco Hard Charger: #64 Matthew Gray

Lap Leaders: Laps 1-8, #17 John Black; 9-14 Cliff White