The Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour (HST) opening round for 2025 has come to a close. Hosted by SCCA’s Central Florida Region Jan. 10-12, Sunday’s action was a humdinger at Sebring International Raceway.
Part of the Summit Racing Equipment SCCA® Road Racing program, the day’s HST contests were either 14 laps or 35 minutes for each of the eight run groups under sunny skies with temperatures topping out in the mid 60-degree range. After traversing the challenging 3.7-mile circuit, those who earned victory podium spots were rewarded with adulation and a commemorative bottle of Mazza sparkling wine.
Adapting to Change
For 2025, GT-Lite (GTL) is no longer a HST competition class. Instead, those cars have been merged into the F Production (FP) field as a way to address the number of classes competing at the Runoffs® each year.
Chris Bovis, 50, of SCCA’s Chicago Region, is a three-time GTL National Champion and grabbed the class’s silver medal last year at the Runoffs. The recent reclassing of GTL, however, has not scared him away from top-tier SCCA Road Racing competition. His participation at the Sebring HST stands as evidence of that for sure.
“The primary change to the GTL cars entering FP is the removal of the rear wing,” Bovis stated. “Time will tell who is competitive and who is not, but I expect the consolidation to be generally positive.”
As a former E Production and F Production racer in different cars during the late 1990s and early 2000s, Bovis is very familiar with the Production community and its drivers. He’s equally familiar with his No. 178 Hart Marx Advisors/Goodyear Honda CRX, which he has piloted for several years.
“Until the last couple years, we’ve run the Honda CRX without a wing,” Bovis said. “So, we know the setup pretty well and it’s not that big of a deal for us.”
Because his car is pretty well optimized already, Bovis said there won’t be any major vehicle development throughout the year. Maybe some small adjustments here or there, but the bulk of the effort will be refocusing his driving style.
“I’ve got to get my head back in to driving the car without a wing,” he added in conclusion. “It is going to be an interesting year.”
Things went pretty well for Bovis Saturday at Sebring as he finished in second place. On Sunday, he experienced a mechanical issue and dropped out of the contest. Ken Kannard, in the No. 51 Northwest Cable Construction/Hoosier/JPM/Carbotech Acura Integra, was in fine form all weekend and won both FP events.
Some Smart Advice for Newcomers
Each January HST meetup at Sebring sees a good-sized cadre of contestants. That includes a healthy crop of youngsters and newcomers. Some are attending their first HST event, and others are experiencing their inaugural trip to Sebring. There are even plenty of drivers on site making their first foray into car racing after leaving the kart scene.
At the other end of that spectrum is J.R. Smart, 71, of SCCA’s Milwaukee Region. It was 1978 when he first joined the Club after going through a race driver’s school two years earlier, which means he’s nearing 50 years of commitment to the sport. Every year for the last decade he has made a trip south to Florida in January to escape wintry weather and have #funwithcars. That tradition continued this weekend in Sebring where he was part of the Formula Atlantic (FA) field driving the No. 06 Pabst Racing Swift 014a.
Smart started out in Production classes, but soon moved over to Formula F, Formula Continental, and now extremely quick FA cars. With so much seat time and a varied experience to his credit, he has some sage advice for those just entering SCCA Road Racing at any level.
“I see quite a lot of carnage with the newcomers,” Smart began. “I would probably advise them to back it down a little bit, especially during testing and practice sessions. Obviously, you’ve got to go for it in qualifying and the race; but learn your craft and just be patient while you’re coming up.”
Even though he has been at it for nearly five decades, Smart still has a great deal of passion for auto racing. The level of excitement is unmatched, as are the friendships constructed over years when respect is shown to others on track.
“Aside from the adrenaline rush; the competition, camaraderie and the community are second to none,” Smart noted. “I’ve met and maintained lifelong friendships throughout my career in this sport. They are tremendously supportive, and I certainly appreciate all the help I’ve received along the way.”
Auto racing is a challenge, which keeps Smart coming back time and time again. Unfortunately, his HST weekend at Sebring was very difficult due to mechanical gremlins that haunted him both Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday race, however, went well for FA winner Larry Howard in the No. 51 Epic Electric Service/RCR/K-Hill Motorsports/Medical Imaging Swift 016 sled; and Sunday saw James French emerge victorious in FA driving the No. 6 Swift 016a racecar.
Track Records Set and Reset at Sebring
Drivers and cars involved in HST competition seem to get faster year after year. That notion is supported by the fact that a number of track records were established or lowered this weekend at Sebring,
Two new classes, GT3U and Prototype, made HST debuts in Florida – meaning track records would be set for the first time. The GT3U honor went to Tony Ave after he produced a lap of 2:20.101 on Saturday in the No. 44 Honda Civic. The Prototype high mark was established by Todd Vanacore on Sunday with a 2:01.528 lap in the No. 19 Comprent/Halifax PlantationElan DP02 car.
Four more track records were set Sunday. The new Spec MX-5 record is now Camden Gruber’s thanks to a 2:29.437 lap in the No. 24 Planet Miata/RP Performance/CGR Mazda MX-5 racecar. American Sedan has a new record as well thanks to Thomas Ellis’ lap of 2:23.124 in the No. 51 Palm Express Racing Ford Mustang.
Touring 2 drivers visiting Sebring have a new benchmark due to a 2:19.576 lap executed Sunday by Bruce Griffin in the No. 125 Planet Fry/Apex Wheels/KNS Brakes Chevrolet Corvette Z06. And Tony Ave added another record to his weekend’s effort Sunday with a 2:01.694 produced in GT-1 driving the No. 74 Ave Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro.
Sunday Race Winners
Below are provisional race winners from Sunday’s Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour at Sebring International Raceway with Class: Name, SCCA Region and Car. An asterisk (*) denotes drivers with a weekend sweep in the class.
*American Sedan®: Thomas Ellis, Florida Region, Ford Mustang
B-Spec: Stewart Black, North Carolina Region, Chevrolet Sonic
E Production: Doug Piner, North Carolina Region, BMW Z3
*F Production: Ken Kannard, Atlanta Region, Acura Integra
*H Production: Mike Ogren, Central Florida Region, VW Scirocco
Formula Atlantic®: James French, Milwaukee Region, Swift 016a
*Formula Continental®: Robert Allaer, Central Florida Region, Van Diemen RFR02
*Formula Enterprises® 2: Charles Russell Turner, Washington DC Region, SCCA Enterprises FE2 Mazda
GT-1: Tony Ave, Central Carolinas Region, Chevrolet Camaro
GT-2: Jared Odrick, Susquehanna Region, Ford Mustang
GT3U: Jeff Dernehl, Atlanta Region, Mazda RX-7
*GT-X: Jacek Mucha, Florida Region, Cadillac Dallara
*Spec Miata: Ethan Goulart, New England Region, Mazda Miata
*Spec MX-5: Matthew Novak, Central Illinois Region, Mazda MX-5
Spec Racer® Ford Gen3: Brian Schofield, Central Florida Region, SCCA Enterprises SRF3
*Prototype: Todd Vanacore, Central Florida Region, Elan DP02
*Prototype 2: Bart Wolf, Milwaukee Region, Ligier JS51
*Super Touring® Lite: Jon Sewell, Florida Region, Acura Integra R
*Super Touring® Under: Jose Osiris Pena, Central Florida Region, Honda CRX
*Touring 1: Mark Boden, Chicago Region, Mercedes-Benz AMG
Touring 2: Bruce Griffin, Central Florida Region, Chevrolet Corvette Z06
*Touring 3: Juan Carlos Leroux Jr., Florida Region, Subaru BRZ
Touring 4: Devin Anderson, North Carolina Region, Subaru BRZ
New Circuit Awaits HST in California
That’s a wrap on HST action from Sebring for another year. Next up on the calendar is something sort of new taking place Feb. 22-23, 2025, during a meetup hosted by SCCA’s Cal Club Region in the southern portion of California’s Central Valley.
Buttonwillow Raceway Park (BRP), situated midway between San Francisco and San Diego, is the first of only two West Coast stops on the 2025 HST schedule, with the second site being Oregon’s Portland International Raceway in May. A special challenge awaits competitors in the Golden State this year as racing is scheduled to take place on the recently completed 2.579-mile, 10-turn Circuit at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. Driver and worker registration will open soon for this two-day experience, so make plans now for this historic, first-ever HST competition on the new Circuit.
As always, fun from BRP will be presented live, online and for free thanks to the popular HST video broadcast. Before then, the Sebring weekend can be revisited with on-demand video playback at the SCCA YouTube channel. Also find Sunday victory podium celebration videos at the SCCA Road Racing Facebook page.
Photo: The Sebring Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour saw Ken Kannard take two F Production victories in a class now including former GT-Lite machines.
Photo by Dave Green