October 28, 2020
Established in 2009, the SCCA® Road Racing Super Sweep is the most demanding feat a Club racer can achieve. To warrant the Sports Car Club of America® award in 2020, competitors had to win a U.S. Majors Tour® Conference Championship, a Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour Nationwide Points Championship, and a National Championship Runoffs race at Road America—all in a single class.
Only twice before have seven drivers managed to claim this high honor in a single season. That mark was matched in 2020 as Bobby Sak, Jesse Prather, Preston Pardus, Joe Moser, Michael Borden, Mark Boden and Robert Allaer all claimed Super Sweep awards, the first for each of them, after winning their Hagerty Race Day events at the Runoffs.
Bobby Sak, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, drove the No. 19 Elite Autosport SCCA Enterprises Spec Racer Ford Gen3 (SRF3) to his first National Championship after a thrilling last-lap Runoffs battle with multi-time champion Mike Miserendino. Midway through the final lap, Miserendino had the lead, but Sak moved to the lead after Canada Corner and held on for the win, securing the SRF3 Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points Championship. A member of SCCA’s Detroit Region, Sak claimed the U.S. Majors Tour Northern Conference Championship in the class with regular season wins at Blackhawk Farms Raceway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Road America.
Putting last year’s frustrating National Championship race behind him, Jesse Prather confidently led flag-to-flag for an E Production (EP) Runoffs win after claiming the Tire Rack Pole Award in the No. 34 JPM/Hoosier/Carbotech/Sunoco BMW Z3 car. That cinched the EP Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points Championship for the racer from Topeka, Kansas and member of SCCA’s Kansas Region. Prather also showed dominance during the regular season, claiming the U.S. Majors Tour Mid-States Conference Championship in the class with weekend sweeps at LaJunta Raceway, World Wide Technology Raceway and Heartland Motorsports Park.
Spec Miata’s (SM) Preston Pardus worked hard at this year’s 57th National Championship Runoffs after falling from seventh to 13th at the start. Positioned again in seventh to begin the final lap of his 2020 Hagerty Race Day challenge, Pardus’ No. 42 Danus Utilities/East Street Racing Mazda Miata exited Turn 5 in fourth place. That momentum carried the driver from New Smyrna Beach, Florida into third as the last lap progressed, putting him in position to take the lead exiting Canada Corner. With that, Pardus clinched a Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points Championship in SM. During the regular season, the Central Florida Region racer also earned a U.S. Majors Tour Southeast Conference Championship with wins at Sebring International Raceway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, as well as a weekend sweep at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It was a worrisome Runoffs for Joe Moser, of Wilmette, Illinois, who had to rebuild the engine in his No. 36 Hoosier/King Motorsports/Carbotech Honda CRX Si after qualifying. But that hiccup didn’t stop, or even slow him down, en route to a National Championship in Super Touring Light® (STL). Another Super Sweep winner this year from SCCA’s Detroit Region, Moser’s win locked down a Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points Championship in STL to go with his U.S. Majors Tour Northern Conference Championship. A win at Road America in August, as well as weekend sweeps at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and the WeatherTech Chicago Region® June Sprints®, went far in claiming that conference championship.
It was a year of “firsts” for Michael Borden, a Milwaukee Region member. The racer from Greenfield, Wisconsin claimed his first U.S. Majors Tour Northern Conference Championship in Touring 4 (T4) after weekend sweeps at the June Sprints, Blackhawk Farms Raceway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and Road America in August. Then, in his first appearance at the Runoffs, Borden skillfully drove his No. 42 Coinigy/Advanced Autosports Mazda MX-5 back into contention for a T4 Hagerty Race Day win after falling to fourth. An amazing move with only a couple laps remaining, Borden went three-abreast into Turn 5 while battling two previous T4 national champions. He exited with the lead, and claimed his first Runoffs victory. To cap off an astounding year, he also earned the T4 Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points Championship and Super Sweep honors, both of which are also “firsts” for Borden.
Mark Boden, of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, is no stranger to winning, but until 2020 the Super Sweep award had eluded him. He checked off that box after taking the Touring 2 (T2) Runoffs win at this year’s Runoffs. Boden, a member of SCCA’s Chicago Region, was third in the No. 80 Fall-Line Motorsports Porsche 996 when the second place T2 runner left the race. Soon after, the leader’s car experienced mechanical troubles, gifting the top spot and victory to Boden—his second win during this year’s Runoffs after winning the Touring 1 class earlier in the weekend. But T2 was special as he shared the podium with his son, Joe, who finished third. The Runoffs T2 win also confirmed Boden’s Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points Championship in the class to go with his U.S. Majors Tour Northern Conference Championship made possible thanks to wins at the June Sprints, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Road America in August, and a weekend sweep at Blackhawk Farms Raceway.
Completing the list of 2020 Super Sweep recipients is Formula Continental® (FC) racer Robert Allaer from Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. Another Central Florida Region member to reach the distinguished honor this year, Allaer is the only one to have secured two conference championships. With weekend sweeps at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Sebring International Raceway, as well as a victory at Circuit of the Americas, he garnered FC prominence in the U.S. Majors Tour Southeast Conference and U.S. Majors Tour Southern Conference. Dual conference championships, however, didn’t faze fellow FC competitors at the 57th annual Runoffs where Allaer, who earned the Tire Rack Pole Award, found himself sitting third after the start of his Hagerty Race Day. Undaunted, Allaer—in the No. 52 Martini/Chandon/LTD Motorsports Van Diemen RF02—fought back to reposition himself at the front of the field and arrived first to the checkered flag. The win also cemented Allaer’s Hoosier Super Tour Nationwide Points Championship in the FC class.
Congratulations to each of these drivers on the incredible season, masterful performance and tremendous accomplishment.
Photo Credit: Jay Bonvouloir and Rick Corwine
