1994 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

After twenty-four years, the Sports Car Club of America’s National Runoffs moved from Road Atlanta to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The new venue attracted 620-competitors for the thirty-first running of the event.

There are National Championships for twenty-four different classes. These race groups fall into one of five different categories:

Production Category – There are four classes in the production category – E Production (EP), F Production (FP), G Production (GP) and H Production (HP). These production-based vehicles are grouped according to their performance potential. Sports cars such as the MGB, Porsche 914, Alfa Romeo Spider, MG Midget, etc., are most often associated with this category.
Grand Touring Category – Five classes are identified as Grand Touring – they include Grand Touring 1 (GT1), Grand Touring 2 (GT2), Grand Touring 3 (GT3), Grand Touring 4 (GT4) and Grand Touring 5 (GT5). These vehicles are also grouped according to their performance potential. The quickest class, GT1 features cars such as the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Corvette, while at the other end of the spectrum, GT5 includes the Mini Cooper and Honda Civic. These vehicles are allowed a larger number of modifications than the production category.
Showroom Stock – Four Showroom Stock categories, Showroom Stock (SSGT), Showroom Stock A (SSA), Showroom Stock B (SSB), and Showroom Stock C (SSC), were created by the SCCA to accommodate performance street cars with a minimum amount of modifications required to race. Changes to these vehicles are for safety purposes.
Sports Racers – These are purpose-built closed-wheel race cars. There are four classes within this group – Shelby Can Am (SCA), Spec Racer (SR), C Sports Racer (CSR), D Sports Racer (DSR) and Sports 2000 (S2). Sports Racers include a variety of chassis’ which may be constructed by the competitor or a race car manufacturer. With the exceptions of Sports 2000, which must use a 2.0-liter Ford engine and the spec racer categories (Shelby Can Am and Spec Racer), which is tightly regulated, there is a wide range of engine and chassis options used by the teams.
Formula Category – These are also purpose-built race cars. This category includes five classes – Formula Atlantic (FA), Formula Continental (FC), Formula Ford (FF), Formula (F440) and Formula Vee (FV). There are a variety of rules that govern these open-wheel cars.

After changing weather conditions during practice and qualifying, the races were contested under warm sunny conditions.

Twenty-four E Production competitors round the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course’s Keyhole turn in anticipation of the Starter’s flag. On the pole and setting a new qualifying record is the No. 23 Mazda Miata of Terry McCarthy. On the outside of the front row and also eclipsing the previously established time is Jerry Hinkle in the No. 66 Lotus Super 7. Immediately behind the leaders are Eric Krueger and Pratt Cole.

Terry McCarthy capitalized on the problems encountered by his competition during the week to capture the E Production pole. Driving the No. 23 Mazda Miata, McCarthy set a new qualifying record for the class. At the start of the race, he was passed the defending champion Eric Krueger, Jerry Hinkle and Pratt Cole. McCarthy moved into second and chased Krueger until lap-15, when he passed him for his first title.

The two-time GT5 champion, Jeff Werth, added another gold medal to his collection at this year’s Runoffs. Werth qualified second fastest in the No. 45 Nissan 210. He battled with the pole-sitter, Joe Huffaker, until lap-5 when Huffaker lost oil pressure. Then Werth had to contend with Richard Noonan. However, Noonan had to defend against Bill Gilcrease. Contact between the two allowed Werth to gab the victory.

Flip Groggins had a couple of GT1 National Championship podiums on his racing resume, but in 1994 he would finish on the top step of the rostrum. In preparation for the Runoffs, Groggins competed and won both races earlier in the season at Mid-Ohio. At the end of the two qualifying sessions, Groggins had put the No. 88 Oldsmobile Cutlass on the pole. He would lead the contest flag-to-flag to secure the victory.

Charles Billington has competed in eighteen Runoffs and collected four C Sports Racer championships. Before the event, he was chosen by the experts to earn his fifth title. Billington qualified fourth fastest in the No. 18 Tracer TR2, but he shot into the lead on the first lap. However, late in the event, he was caught by Greg Harrington and contact between the two resulted in a second-place finish for Billington.

Leading the field of thirty-three GT3 drivers to the Starter’s flag is the No. 96 Mazda RX-7 of the 1992 champion and pole-sitter, Michael Lewis. On the outside of Lewis is Don Meluzio in the No. 99 Manheim Auctions Toyota Paseo. The second row is occupied by the No. 76 King Motorsports Honda CRX Si of local racer Michael Cyphert and Pete Peterson driving the No. 98 Toyota Motorsports Toyota Paseo.

In the GT3 event, Duane Ablamis was the beneficiary of his competition’s misfortune. He started the nineteen-lap contest in the seventh position. The retirements of Michael Lewis, Don Meluzio, Pete Peterson and Michael Cyphert allowed Ablamis to move the No. 72 A&M Motorsports Mazda RX-7 into the lead on lap-14. He would win by a margin of 7.804-seconds. Using the same car, Albamis finished sixth in GT2.

Richard Grupp was one of the few GT3 title contenders that were able to finish the race – albeit with a door issue, which slowed his straightaway speed. The Downing / Atlanta employee qualified fifth fastest in the No. 25 MazMart sponsored Mazda RX-3. Like the winner, Duane Ablamis, he benefitted from the retirements of the quicker competitors. He was no match for Ablamis and captured the runner-up spot.

The 1994 Runoffs was Bill Gilcrease’s ninth start in a National GT5 Championship event. Gilcrease was gridded fourth in the No. 64 Mini Cooper S for the nineteen-lap race. An off-course excursion slowed his progress early in the contest. However, he recovered and in the closing stages, Gilcrease was in third and closing on Dick Noonan. On the final lap, there was contact between the two allowing Gilcrease to grab second-place.

Duane Davis entered the 1994 Runoffs with three consecutive GT2 National titles. Davis’ best time during the qualifying sessions gave him the fourth starting position. In the race, he battled with Jim Goughary and Tom Patton. Davis got by Goughary and passed Patton when he encountered brake issues. Davis pushed the No. 1 Toyota Celica but was too far behind the leader Dave Finch and finished second.

Formula Ford competitor Jared Lozano qualified second fastest in the No. 8 Lozano Brothers Swift DB-1. He was just 0.286-seconds slower than the pole-sitter, John Fillipakis, also in a Swift. The two traded the top spot three times during the race. The third and final full-course caution period ended the contest one lap early, with Fillipakis leading when the checkered flag flew. Lozano would finish in the runner-up position.

Twenty Showroom Stock GT competitors head through the Mid-Ohio Sport Car Course’s ‘Esses’ for lap one of the National Championship race. Leading the field is the No. 0 Good Year sponsored Chevrolet Camaro of the pole-sitter John Wall. Wall would lead the first eight laps before contact resulted in a flat tire. At the checkered flag, it was his son, Bryan, who started sixth that earned the National Championship.

GT4 competitor Russ Theus put his No. 37 Dunn’s Welding Toyota Tercel on the class pole. Unfortunately for Theus, he had a bad start and lost positions to David Schlueter, Eric Van Cleef, Richard Grant and Thomas Drake. By lap-5, he was in second place, passing everyone except Schlueter. However, Theus could not match the leader’s pace and finished in the runner-up position by a margin of 18.070-seconds.

In 1984 the Sports Car Club of America debuted a new class called Sports Renault, renamed Spec Racer in 1989. The division proved very popular with the membership and attracted large competitive fields. Another version of these cars, called Spec Racer Ford, was introduced in 1993. This year’s Spec Racer Ford category was won by Warren Stillwell. Neil Tibor driving the No. 8 Spec Racer Ford finished third.

1992 F Production National Champion, Joe Huffaker, was favoured to capture this year’s GT5 gold medal. As predicted, Huffaker qualified on the class pole by a margin of 0.250-seconds. Early in the race, he found his hands full with the second-fastest qualifier, Jeff Werth. Huffaker led laps one, two, four and five. However, he pitted the No. 11 Fortech Mini on the sixth circuit after he lost oil pressure.

CLASS	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE
GT1	Flip Groggins / Olds Cutlass	Duke McLaughlin / Olds Cutlass	Thomas Volk / Chevrolet Camaro
GT2	David Finch / Porsche 944	Duane Davis / Toyota Celica	Jim Goughary / Porsche 944S
GT3	Duane Ablamis / Mazda RX-7	Richard Grupp / Mazda RX-3	John Pettit / Honda CRX Si
GT4	David Schlueter / Toyota Tercel	Russ Theus / Toyota Tercel	Eric Van Cleef / Toyota Tercel
GT5	Jeff Werth / Nissan 210	Bill Gilcrease / Mini Cooper S	Dick Noonan / Toyota Starlet
E Production	Terry McCarthy / Mazda Miata	Eric Krueger / MGB	Austin Britton / Lotus Super 7
F Production	Craig Chima / MG Midget	Harold Flescher / A-H Midget	Jim Saurino / MG Midget
G Production	Victor Skirmants / Porsche 356	Steve Sargis / Triumph Spitfire	Kent Prather / MGA
H Production	Bob Weber / A-H Sprite	Ray Stone / A-H Sprite	Steve Hussey / A-H Sprite
Formula Atlantic	Stan Wattles / Ralt RT-40	Dan Carmichael / Ralt RT-40	Thomas Meyer / Reynard 92H
FormulaContinental	Allan May / Van Dieman	Jon Horgas / Van Diemen	Mike Borkowski / Van Diemen
Formula Ford	John Fillipakis / Swift DB-1	Jaret Lozano / Swift DB-1	Brian Forster / Swift DB-1
Formula 440	David Elliott / KBS MK-5	Jim Elder / Dolphin 440	Rusty Cook / KBS MK-5
Formula Vee	Bill Noble / Caracal C1	Jeffrey Loughead / Citation 92C	Jon Adams / Adams Aero
C Sports Racer	Greg Harrington / Toyota CSR	Chuck Billington / Tracer TR2	Thomas Sedivy / Ralt
D Sports Racer	David Kaiser / LeGrand MK25D	Bruce Sunseri / Cheetah SR1	Dick Colburn / HenTech
Spec Racer	John Collier / Spec Racer	Tom Van Camp / Spec Racer	Keith Scharf / Spec Racer
Spec Racer Ford	Warren Stilwell / SRF	Sean Sholtis / SRF	Neil Tibor / SRF
Shelby Can Am	Mike Davies / SCA	Bob Gardner / SCA	Gene Harrington / SCA
Sports 2000	Thomas Schwietz / Lola 87/90	Andrea Kasiewicz / Lola 88/90	Robert Sollenskog / Shannon 93PS
Showroom Stock GT	Bryan Wall / Chevrolet Camaro	Steve Kelso / Chevrolet Camaro	Joe Kent / Chevrolet Camaro
Showroom Stock A	David Daughtery / Nissan 300ZX	David Helmick / Toyota Supra	Bob Henderson / Toyota Supra
Showroom Stock B	Tony Suever / Toyota MR2	Rob Jones / Nissan 240SX	Terry Coates / Toyota MR2
Showroom Stock C	Michael Galati / Mazda Miata	Randy Pobst / Mazda Miata	Gene Harrington / Dodge Neon

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