View source for SCCA National Championship Runoffs

{{short description|Championship road racing series}}
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The '''SCCA National Championship Runoffs''' is the end-of-year championship race meeting for [[Sports Car Club of America]] Club Racing competitors.  Divisional champions and other top drivers from the SCCA's 116 regions are invited to participate at the Runoffs.  National championships are awarded to the winners of each class.
The Runoffs is regarded as the "[[Olympic Games|Olympics]] of Amateur Road Racing."{{sfn|Evanow|2005|p=73}}
==History==
The American Road Race of Champions (ARRC) began in 1964, as a non-championship round of the [[SCCA National Sports Car Championship]].  In 1965 the series was abolished, and national championships were awarded to each regional champion.  The champions and other top drivers were invited to the ARRC.  Beginning in 1966, only the winners at the ARRC were named national champions.<ref>{{cite web|last=Krejčí|first=Martin|title=SCCA National Sports Car Championship|url=http://wsrp.ic.cz/nationals.html|work=World Sports Racing Prototypes|access-date=29 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603122858/http://wsrp.ic.cz/nationals.html|archive-date=3 June 2010}}</ref>  In 1973, the event's name changed to the [[Champion (spark plug)|Champion Spark Plug]] Road Racing Classic.<ref>{{cite web|last=England|first=Nick|title=SCCA National Championships Complete Results - The early years 1964-75|url=http://www.virhistory.com/cars/arrc/index.htm|work=VIR History|access-date=29 May 2010}}</ref>  [[Valvoline]] became the primary sponsor in 1985, and the race became known as the Runoffs in 1987.<ref>{{cite book|last=Martin|first=James A.|title=American Auto Racing: The Milestones and Personalities of a Century of Speed|year=2004|publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]]|isbn=0-7864-1235-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fMa00GzXeJMC&pg=PA134|author2=Thomas F. Saal |access-date=29 May 2010|pages=134–135}}</ref> Other primary sponsors of the race have included [[AT&T]], [[Subway (restaurant)|Subway]], [[Tire Rack]] and [[Garmin]].
===Sites===
For the first six years, the event alternated between [[Riverside International Raceway]] on the west coast and [[Daytona International Speedway]] on the east coast.  The race found a permanent home at [[Road Atlanta]] in 1970, staying there until the track's bankruptcy in 1993.  The Runoffs moved to [[Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course|Mid-Ohio]] from 1994 until 2005, then to [[Heartland Park Topeka]] from 2006 until 2008.  The event moved to [[Road America]] in 2009 and was held there through 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scca.com/pages/runoffs-archive|title=Runoffs Archives|website=Sports Car Club of America|date=22 November 2023 }}</ref>
In July 2013, the SCCA announced, in a break from tradition, that the Runoffs would begin to move around venues across the country annually, similar to other major sporting events such as golf's U.S. Open and the NFL's Super Bowl.  First up in 2014 was a return to the west coast and first time visit to [[Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca]], which became just the seventh track to host the Runoffs. The event then alternated to the east coast in 2015 and visited [[Daytona International Speedway]] for the first time since 1969 before heading back to [[Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course]] in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|title=Runoff Locations Announced for 2014-2016|url=http://www.scca.com/news/index.cfm?cid=51460/|work=SCCA|access-date=10 September 2013}}{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> For 2017, the Runoffs was held on the road course at the [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sccabracketenduro.com/articles/1998236-indianapolis-motor-speedway-to-host-scca-runoffs-in-2017|title=Indianapolis Motor Speedway To Host SCCA Runoffs in 2017|website=Sports Car Club of America}}</ref>  In 2018, the Runoffs went back west to [[Sonoma Raceway]]. The 2019 Runoffs were held at [[Virginia International Raceway]] a track where the race has never been held.  For 2020, the Runoffs returned to Road America to continue the annual rotation of East, Midwest, and West. The 2021 Runoffs remained in the Midwest, being held at the [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway]].
As a result of changes announced starting in 2022, each venue will host the Runoffs for two consecutive years.  [[Virginia International Raceway]] hosted the Runoffs for 2022-23.  Because of transportation issues, the SCCA intends to only host the event east of the [[Mississippi River]]. The Runoffs will return to Road America in 2024–2025.<ref>{{cite web |last=Burke |first=Brian |title=Road America to host the 2024 and 2025 SCCA National Championship Runoffs|url=https://fox11online.com/news/state/road-america-to-host-the-2024-and-2025-scca-national-championship-runoffs|work=[[WLUK-TV]] |date=January 21, 2023}}</ref>
==Fatalities==
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Driver !! Track !! Class !! Car
|-
| 1964 || {{flagicon|USA}} [[Jim Ladd (racing driver)|Jim Ladd]] || [[Riverside International Raceway]] || D Production || [[Austin-Healey 3000]]
|-
| 1989 || {{flagicon|USA}} [[Scott Liebler]] || [[Road Atlanta]] || [[Formula Atlantic]] || [[Automobiles Martini|Martini]] Mk. 53
|}
==Race tracks==
{|class="wikitable"
! Track !! Location !! Years
|-
| [[Riverside International Raceway]] || [[Riverside, California]] || [[1964 SCCA National Championship Runoffs|1964]], 1966, 1968
|-
| [[Daytona International Speedway]] || [[Daytona Beach, Florida]] || [[1965 SCCA National Championship Runoffs|1965]], 1967, 1969, 2015
|-
| [[Road Atlanta]] || [[Braselton, Georgia]] || 1970–1993
|-
| [[Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course]] || [[Lexington, Ohio]] || 1994–2005, 2016
|-
| [[Heartland Motorsports Park]] || [[Topeka, Kansas]] || 2006–2008
|-
| [[Road America]] || [[Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin]] || 2009–2013, [https://www.scca.com/events/1995744-2020-scca-national-championship-runoffs 2020], 2024–2025
|-
| [[WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca]] || [[Monterey, California]] || 2014
|-
| [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway]] || [[Speedway, Indiana]] || 2017, 2021
|-
| [[Sonoma Raceway]] || [[Sonoma, California]] || 2018
|-
| [[Virginia International Raceway]] || [[Alton, Virginia]] || [https://www.scca.com/events/1992861-2019-scca-national-championship-runoffs 2019], 2022–[[2023 SCCA National Championship Runoffs|2023]]
|}
==References==
{{Reflist|}}
===Works cited===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Evanow |first=Pete |date=11 October 2005 |title=Z: 35 Years of Nissan's Sports Car |publisher=Motorbooks |isbn=9780760321812}}
{{refend}}
==External links==
*[http://www.scca.com/runoffs SCCA Runoffs]
{{commons category}}
[[Category:Sports Car Club of America|National Championship Runoffs]]
[[Category:Auto races in the United States|Scca National Championship Runoffs]]
[[Category:Sports car races|Scca National Championship Runoffs]]
[[Category:Touring car races|Scca National Championship Runoffs]]
[[Category:Formula races|Scca National Championship Runoffs]]
[[Category:SCCA National Championship Runoffs]]