Large spec classes where anything can happen? Sure, we鈥檒l take a stab at predicting the winners of Spec Miata and Spec MX-5 at the Sept. 28-Oct. 4, 2026, Mission Foods 麻豆视频庐 National Championship Runoffs庐 at Road America. Surely this isn鈥檛 hard to do.聽
Before we get to these predictions in the last of our weeklong 鈥淲ho Will Win the Runoffs?鈥� series, we鈥檒l get you some links first.
First is the Runoffs homepage, where you鈥檒l find everything there is to know about the event. There鈥檚 also the driver鈥檚 entry list and event schedule, so you can discover who is racing, and when they鈥檒l be on track. The spectator tickets link is useful for those who want to view the action on site, and 麻豆视频鈥檚 YouTube channel link is also below, where Runoffs qualifying and Hagerty Race Days will be streamed live, presented by Mazda.
Now, check out who we think will win Spec Miata and Spec MX-5, then vote for your picks. Once you鈥檝e voted, scroll back up and hit the 鈥淪ee previous responses鈥� link. If you don鈥檛 like the results, refresh the 鈥淲ho Will Win?鈥� article and vote again.
Spec Miata
One thing has occurred to us: it鈥檚 2026! That means we can just ask AI to pick the winner , right? Well, it鈥檚 just as confused as the rest of us.
Claude says: 鈥渋f you want a single name, Nick Bruni is the smart pick as the reigning three-time champ, but Spec Miata at the Runoffs is notorious for chaos.鈥� Not bad. Not bad.
Prefer Google AI? It tells us: 鈥淚f forced to bet on just one driver in this incredibly volatile class, the smart money is on Preston Pardus.鈥� Sounds like a good guess.
ChatGPT says its watching Danny Steyn most closely, 鈥渂ut the evidence doesn't establish a sufficiently clear favorite to say he is definitively the most likely winner.鈥� We鈥檇 agree.
We also know that key will be drivers working together to get to the front.
So, add Jim Drago and Brett Kowalski (who won at the Chicago Region June Sprints庐) to the above list. Then watch out for the Sneaky Moose (Meese? Mooses?) Tyler Brown and Kyle Greenhill; keep an eye on Elivan Goulart and John Salerno; and don鈥檛 forget Logan Stretch, who鈥檚 coming on strong in the pro MX-5 Cup, with Max Stallone.
Honestly, we have no idea who鈥檚 going to win this one, and neither does artificial intelligence.
Since I鈥檝e been told I HAVE to pick someone to win, let鈥檚 go with Tyler Brown to win, Kowalkski to finish second, and Steyn third.
But remember that Pardus-Bruni dead heat from a few years back? I think everyone would like to see Drago and Steyn share one of those.
Spec MX-5
Spec MX-5 may be slightly less up in the air than Spec Miata, but not by much.
The real wildcard in this is who might make the leap over from the pro MX-5 Cup race at Road Atlanta in time to start from the rear of the field at the Runoffs. Ethan Lampe, the two-time (and only) defending Spec MX-5 National Champion, is one of those. Cam Ebben is another, and he was the Tire Rack Polesitter last year. Can you come from the back and win this race? We鈥檙e not sure. But it鈥檒l be fun to watch.
Let鈥檚 assume the win comes from someone who sets a qualifying time in the currently 24-car class.
Camden Gruber was second last year to Lampe, and should be quick again. William Wallis has had a spectacular season, and we鈥檝e got our eyes on him. Weston Duchak was second at the Chicago Region June Sprints.
One more mention if we step away from the teenagers for a minute. Richard James has written a lot of 鈥淲ho Will Win?鈥� articles over the years as a former writer and editor of SportsCar Magazine. He鈥檒l need a lot of things to go wildly correct to land on the podium on the track, but we wanted to see his name in the body of the text instead of as a byline.
While James may not make the podium, we wouldn鈥檛 count out Jason Fichter, .
So who is it going to be? All signs point to Camden Gruber to finally grab the top spot. Wallis hasn鈥檛 been far behind, so call him second. And third? Well, maybe one of the hot shoes from the back can get there. We鈥檒l pick Lampe to go three-for-three on podiums, but just in a bronze this time.
Photo by Jeff Loewe
