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Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
9/21/23 12:03 p.m.
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September 23-October 1 marks the 60th SCCA National Championship Runoffs, this year taking place at Virginia International Raceway.

Follow this thread updates throughout the event, and feel free to chime in with your own updates, comments or questions.

Click here for the event schedule and click here for live timing. You can also watch the action for free over at …

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Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
9/21/23 12:04 p.m.

Is anybody here on their way to VIR?

BumpHeadRacing
BumpHeadRacing GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
9/26/23 8:15 a.m.

In reply to Colin Wood :

I'll be down there with some friends Saturday (9/30)

RacingComputers
RacingComputers GRM+ Memberand Reader
9/26/23 9:06 a.m.

May Show Up Sat   My Ex-Boss is engineering on a GT3 car

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
9/26/23 12:11 p.m.

Today, September 26, is the first of three qualifying sessions.

Results can be viewed here: 2023 Runoffs Qualifying Days – Qual 1

Kendall_Jones
Kendall_Jones Dork
9/26/23 12:46 p.m.

I am here racing this week - if you're in the area stop by & say hi.  HP #80, green & yellow spridget. 

SoonToBeDatsun240ZGuy
SoonToBeDatsun240ZGuy MegaDork
9/26/23 1:16 p.m.

For some reason I'm working from home on Friday.....I love watching it on the computer 

hobiercr
hobiercr GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
9/26/23 1:27 p.m.

Mike Ogren and family are there with the Red #99 HP Scirocco.

 

sevenracer
sevenracer HalfDork
9/28/23 8:03 a.m.

I'm here as well racing in my first runoffs after racing regional for years. 

STL #65 - 2nd gen rx7 white with black and green stripes. 

 

I'm paddocked just outside the Mazda area if anyone wants to stop by. Always good to meet GRMers in person. 

 

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
9/28/23 8:50 a.m.

It's almost race day. Anybody else getting excited?

I don't know how much I'll be able to watch while I'm working, but I'm hoping to tune in for a least a few minutes.

trigun7469
trigun7469 UltraDork
9/28/23 9:44 a.m.

It's really cool that the video's are available, I hope they bring it back in 2026 to Mid-O. Good luck to everyone involved this year. 

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
9/28/23 2:27 p.m.

A few updates from the SCCA:

Decisive Tire Rack Pole Day

The last day of Runoffs qualifying each year is today: Tire Rack Pole Day. By day’s end, we’ll know starting grids for the three upcoming Hagerty Race Days, and we’ll know the 24 Tire Rack Pole Award winners, each of which gets $500 to spend at Tire Rack, as well as some prestigious swag.

Starting on pole can have both a competitive and psychological advantage as racers take to the track for their 15-lap or 40-minute contests that decide SCCA National Champions for the year. History shows things can sometimes get “interesting” through the first couple turns during race starts at VIR. When the green flag flies, drivers on pole may have a cleaner run through those opening corners, and that can make all the difference.

Tire Rack, the Official Tire Retailer of SCCA since 1995, was established more than 40 years ago by an SCCA member with a passion to find the right tires, wheels, and now brakes and suspension products for racers and enthusiasts. Along with the Runoffs Pole Award, Tire Rack also supports SCCA’s National Solo program, Time Trials Nationals and National Tour, and Track Night in America.

Tire Rack Pole Award winners will be celebrated at the end of the day in victory circle. First, however, all the SCCA volunteers making the Runoffs happen behind the scenes will be treated to lunch Thursday thanks to Tire Rack.

Bringing a Cadillac to a Gunfight

It’s not really “knife to a gunfight” territory, but John Heinricy’s run to a 17th National Championship comes with more question marks than his past efforts.

While Touring 2 is full of proven monsters – the 996 and 997 generations Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars, the power of the Dodge Viper, the BMW M2, the Ford Mustang, and the C5 Corvette, to name a few – Heinricy is bringing a Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing that was released as a street car for the first time in 2022. And it’s in a class loaded with names that could start a Who’s Who discussion of SCCA road racers – Mark Boden, Kurt Rezzetano, and Scotty B. White are all annual contenders for the podium.

So can the Cadillac, sporting a bevy of stock parts, compete? If anyone can make it happen, it’s Heinricy. Though the 75-year-old veteran would become the second-oldest to claim a crown if he won this year, he’s just two years removed from his last title. And as one of the engineers on the team that launched Cadillac’s V-Series line in the early 2000s, he knows his way around the car. We’re not going to count the “Heinrocket” out yet.

 

MauryH
MauryH GRM+ Memberand New Reader
9/28/23 2:57 p.m.

Heard Heinricy say yesterday in a SCCA inteview that he is 77!

RacingComputers
RacingComputers GRM+ Memberand Reader
9/28/23 6:17 p.m.

Interested in the GT3 race

 

By Ex boss and his team are Q2 for the Race

 

 

Thanks

RacingComputers
RacingComputers GRM+ Memberand Reader
9/28/23 6:23 p.m.

In reply to MauryH :

 

John  and I rook part in  the Same Driving School in 19 0- E36 M3 at Nelson's Ledges.  

FWIW, I beat him in the race at the end of the school,  Pass him coming out of the last Turn (Carousel)  heading on to te the Front Straight to the Start Finish Line.

Glorious Day for the 1983 Shelby Charger

John want to Gm and Road Racing I went to NASCAB

 

What might have been

LOL

grafmiata
grafmiata UltraDork
9/29/23 2:15 a.m.
RacingComputers said:

Interested in the GT3 race

 

By Ex boss and his team are Q2 for the Race

 

 

Thanks

I assume you're talking about Barry and Jeff?

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
9/29/23 8:10 a.m.

It's race day No. 1, and the action should be kicking off shortly.

 

RacingComputers
RacingComputers GRM+ Memberand Reader
9/29/23 12:15 p.m.

In reply to grafmiata :

Yellow GT3 Toyoya

 

Hoyt Overbaugh engineering

hobiercr
hobiercr GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
9/29/23 1:09 p.m.

Spec Pinãta started at 1 and we're already under a black flag! Shocking!

Tom1200
Tom1200 PowerDork
9/29/23 1:17 p.m.

In reply to hobiercr :

Looked a bit nasty hope everyone is OK.

Miatas are not supposed to fly that high.  frown

hobiercr
hobiercr GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
9/29/23 1:29 p.m.

In reply to Tom1200 :

Yep, but thankfully no one hit the car that spun back into traffic. The flip looked pretty impressive. Hope they had their HANS device properly attached.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
9/29/23 1:42 p.m.

Yeah, just saw the carnage from Spec Miata. I heard that the barrier has to be replaced. 

Screen grab from FB:

 

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
9/29/23 1:42 p.m.

Also, no GT1 race due to low car count? That’s a bummer to hear. 

Tom1200
Tom1200 PowerDork
9/29/23 1:43 p.m.

In reply to hobiercr :

It's an awfully long delay; I'm not getting a good vibe.

EDIT: I posted before the barrier comment so hopefully the driver is fine.

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