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[h=2]SCCA: Harris snags SRF championship[/h] Saturday, 24 September 2016


Above: Todd Harris leads nine laps on the way to his first SCCA national championship. Credit: Jay Bonvouloir
Todd Harris drove 2,400 miles from his Portland, Oregon home to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB. The last 2.258-miles were the most nerve-wracking, but after near misses dating back to 2005, the long-time Spec Racer Ford stalwart can claim a National Championship. Mike Miserendino, from Bakersfield, California, and Scott Rettich, from Columbus, Ohio, pushed Harris to the checkered flag.
Though there were five cars in tight formation, a back-and-forth battle looked to be firmly in Harris' hand with two corners to go when the lead pack caught traffic. Harris was able to navigate the lapped cars, bringing his No. 42 Pro Drive Racing/Flat Out Racing Spec Racer Ford across the finish just 0.287-second ahead of Miserendino and 0.337-second ahead of Rettich.

Harris averaged 80.302 mph for the distance, leading nine laps during the 23 laps of green flag racing.
"It was a thrill," Harris said. "I've been working really hard to win one of these National Championships. It feels great to feel what both Scott and Mikey feel. I've been wanting this National Championship for a long time. I'm 49, so at least I got it in before I turn 50."
Though he started second, Harris bobbled the start and fell out of the top five, swallowed up by the field. Miserendino's No. 11 MBI Racing Spec Racer Ford led the way in a pack that was 10 deep early in identical cars.
"I did race here in '96 and '97, and I hadn't been back until this year," the newly crowned Champion explained. "We did one Majors race, and then we came here. This has been a tough track for me to learn, honestly. There's a lot of nuance to it. So I felt pretty good on the front row, and then I blew it right at the start. That's the only time in my 25-year career it didn't go into gear at the right moment. They were just filing past. It might have helped, I just had to put my head down and race."
Miserendino made a run at the title, leading from the beginning and moving to the front in alternating laps with his West Coast friend and rival once Harris caught the lead pack. In total, the four-time champion led 14 laps of the race across the finish line – just not the most important one.
"That was vintage Spec Racer Ford racing, back and forth," Miserendino said. "Todd was faster in some places, I was faster in some places, and we just went back and forth. We both wanted to lead, it's the Runoffs, and you never know what's going to happen. You never know when you're going to catch lapped traffic at the wrong spot, or a full course yellow, or something. You want to lead one lap, and that's the last one. I didn't quite get there today, but had a fantastic run. It was a lot of fun. I race Todd a bunch back home, and it felt like that. I'm happy to be on the pole, happy to be on the podium. I came up a little short, but another Runoffs podium – I'm happy with that."
While Harris and Miserendino were the only two drivers who led laps, Rettich's No. 17 Alliance Autosport/PDIarm.com Spec Racer and Matt Harper's No. 77 Spec Racer Ford were in the mirrors the entire time, meaning each had to pick a part of the track to try to advance, while knowing that any mistake could cost two positions.
"There were spots that we were a little quicker, and then there was more lapped traffic than I ever thought possible," Harris said. "I thought, were they just feeding cars out? Right down to the last lap, I had to go by three of these guys, and you could almost hear Mike and Scott cackling that I had to deal with this. It was rough."
Miserendino was also aware of that strategy.
"This place is really tough to pass," Miserendino said. "If you get a run out of Turn One, you can get them in the keyhole, but really the passing opportunity is down the straightaway. Todd was just a little bit better than me coming out of the Keyhole, and that was the difference today."
Rettich's podium was bittersweet, following a Formula Enterprises National Championship early in the week on his home track.
"The race was a ton of fun," Rettich said. "Everybody raced clean. It was an awesome race. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to, but one year it will be my year.
"You can never be disappointed with the podium in a class as strong as SRF. Obviously, I wanted to win with my home track. We had an excellent car, it just didn't work out that way. The opportunity was there, I was getting pretty close, but I just wasn't able to make any moves there on the last lap."
Harper crossed the stripe in fourth in his second Runoffs visit. Byron Mead, whose No. 01 Mead Construction SRF hung with the lead pack until encountering traffic in the final circuits, finished fifth.
Mark Peyser drove his No. 04 Shick SRF from 23rd to 16th at the finish, improving seven positions to earn the Sunoco Hard Charger award.