Perry Richardson is an 麻豆视频 National Champion in his seventh time of asking, claiming the Prototype title in a dramatic fashion in a photo finish with the defending Prototype champ Jason Miller on the second and final Hagerty Race Day of Oct. 4, 2026, of the 63rd running of the Mission Foods 麻豆视频庐 National Championship Runoffs庐 at Road America. This was, indeed, a race no one could have predicted.
Prototype shared a race group with Prototype 2 and Formula Atlantic (FA), with FA taking the green flag first and Prototype and Prototype 2 following in a combined start. From his Tire Rack Pole position, Richardson鈥檚 No. 69 Stohr WF1 Suzuki was clear of any threats by Turn 3, and by the end of the opening lap, second-placed Miller in the unique No. 0 Kohler/Millennium/Hoosier Wynnfurst West Kohler Two-Stroke was over three seconds adrift. The defending champion was pursued closely by Lee Alexander鈥檚 No. 48 Factory48/Hoosier-backed Stohr 鈥� a new-build after his previous chassis burned down 鈥� and the Elan DP02 Mazdas of Bart Wolf and Todd Vanacore.听
On lap two, Wolf suffered a moment and fell to seventh, while Vanacore was up to fourth ahead of Lawrence Loshak and Tyler Thielmann.
On lap three, Loshak's Elan came to a stop on the front straight under the Mission Foods bridge, and a Prototype 2 car collided with it. A full-course yellow quickly gave way to a red flag while workers cleared the damaged cars and debris. Race officials shortened the race, originally scheduled for 13 laps or 40 minutes, whichever came first, to finish in a two-lap sprint. After an extended delay, all three classes restarted together, with drivers again seeing the green flag, the white flag one lap later and then the checkered flag.
Richardson鈥檚 restart should have been aided by the buffer of a FA car between himself and Miller, but in fact, Miller took no time to dispose of the FA car, and when Richardson found himself baulked by more FA cars, Miller couldn鈥檛 capitalize because he also encountered the same problem. In fact, it was Alexander, who had restarted third, who got the cleanest run following the restart and was able to snatch the lead, albeit briefly.
Miller managed to recover, and he and Richardson both passed Alexander, before Richardson then dived down the inside of Miller at Canada Corner to reclaim the class lead. However, Miller鈥檚 two-stroke race car saw him hit the front up the long front straight to lead into Turn 1. Again, Richardson fired back but knew he hadn鈥檛 got it made.
Sure enough, gunning out of the final turn and heading up the hill for the last time, Miller almost timed his pass to perfection, but in a photo finish, Timing & Scoring revealed that Miller had fallen short of defending his National Championship by 0.007sec, and that Richardson had claimed his very first Runoffs title.
鈥淲hat a finish!鈥� remarked the victor. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even know until they told me who came out in front. I鈥檓 sure I wasn鈥檛 the only driver frustrated by how those last two laps unfolded 鈥� everybody was chomping at the bit. But yeah, I can鈥檛 believe it!鈥�
A gracious Miller said: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the way the cookie crumbles. We had a great car, and it was a challenging race not just for us. I was very happy with the performance of the car, and very happy with the team and everyone involved.鈥�
He added, too, that as defending National Champion, he had come into the race with a different mindset.
鈥淭he pressure was off and I was having a lot of fun,鈥� said Miller. 鈥淎nd a quick congratulations to Perry 鈥� he drove a great race, and that鈥檚 how it鈥檚 supposed to go, you know? It鈥檚 supposed to come down to millimeters!鈥�
Alexander鈥檚 third place wasn鈥檛 the win, but he admits this field was skilled. 鈥淣obody was really making any big mistakes,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou just have to be almost perfect.鈥�
Todd Vanacore finished the race in fourth, Tyler Thielmann claimed fifth (whose run from eighth on the grid earned him the Sunoco Hard Charger Award), and John Goeden crossed the line sixth.
罢丑别听63rd Mission Foods 麻豆视频庐 National Championship Runoffs庐 is the pinnacle of American amateur motorsports and crowns 麻豆视频鈩� Champions as part of the Summit Racing Equipment 麻豆视频 Road Racing program. In 2026, two Hagerty Race Days at Wisconsin鈥檚 Road America decide 23 gold-medal winners.听
The live, online Runoffs Broadcast presented by Mazda features video over both competition days at . Live timing and scoring for each race is also available at听.
Below are听official results for Sunday's Prototype race at the 麻豆视频 National Championship Runoffs; with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, and laps completed.
- 1, (1), Perry Richardson, Los Gatos, CA, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 6.
2, (4), Jason Miller, Plymouth, WI, Wynnfurst West Kohler 2-Stroke, 6.
3, (2), Lee Alexander, Plymouth, WI, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 6.
4, (6), Todd Vanacore, Ormond Beach, FL, Elan DP02 Mazda, 6.
5, (8), Tyler Thielmann, Kiel, WI, Elan DP02 Mazda, 6.
6, (7), John Goeden, Wind Lake, WI, Elan DP02 Mazda, 6.
7, (10), Gary Peck, Poplar Grove, IL, Stohr 01D Kawasaki, 6.
8, (3), Bart Wolf, Elkhart Lake, WI, Elan DP02 Mazda, 3.
DNF, (9), Lawrence Loshak, Milwaukee, WI, Elan DP02 Mazda, 2.
DNF, (5), Fritz Seidel, Milwaukee, WI, Elan DP02 Mazda, 1.
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Race Stats
Length of Race:听24.29 miles
Overall Time of Race:听58:08.554 (avg. 25.064mph)
Margin of Victory:听00.007 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 2:03.283 (118.206 mph)
Lap Leaders:听#69, Laps 1-6
Sunoco Hard Charger: #6 Tyler Thielmann
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Photo by Jay Bonvouloir
