Miserendino Earns First National Championship in Spec Racer Ford

TOPEKA, Kan. (Oct. 14, 2006) – Mike Miserendino, of Los Angeles, mastered a field of 48 cars to the win Spec Racer Ford at the 2006 SCCA National Championship Runoffs Presented by Kansas, As Big As You Think. Jon Black, of Olympic Valley, Calif., and Todd Harris, of Portland, Ore., completed the podium.

No. 11 Miserendino seized the lead early, beating the polesitter, No. 17 Black, to Turn One on the start. Black stayed within Miserendino’s draft and by lap four the pair had opened a sizeable gap on the rest of the field. Not ready to settle into his runner-up position, Black made a move for the lead on lap six, passing Miserendino in Turn Two.

Black would stay ahead of Miserendino until the closing laps when the two commenced a fierce late-race battle. The action began with a lap 16 pass by Miserendino for the lead in Turn One. Black fired back on the final lap, running side-by-side with Miserendino through Turns One and Two. Despite the valiant effort from 2003 SRF National Champion Black, Miserendino had the speed coming out of the Carousel and held his lead to the checkered flag.

“Oh man, I got a great start,” Miserendino said. “John was a little bit asleep and I took advantage of it. I had a couple car lengths lead at the beginning, but then John caught up. About lap five, he went around and I figured I’d cruise for a while, but he began to pull away a little bit and I got a bit nervous. I settled-in and drove the best that I could to stay with him. Then he slipped just a little bit and I got by and held him off for my first win.”

No. 24 Harris finished third after getting around No. 54 Chris Funk, of Kansas City, Mo., on lap seven. Funk would go on to finish fifth, behind the No. 5 of Wade White, from Vail, Colo. No. 23 Mark Jurczyk, of Chicago, Ill., earned the Sunoco Hard Charger award for advancing 24 positions in the race, from 49 to 25.

Now in its 43rd year, the SCCA National Championship Runoffs Presented by Kansas, As Big As You Think annually crowns the best amateur road racers in North America as Champions. More than 750 competitors have gathered this year to battle for 25 class titles, with nine races on Friday and eight Saturday and Sunday. This marks the first year that the Runoffs is held at Heartland Park Topeka.

Celebrating its 62nd anniversary, Sports Car Club of America is a 55,000 member organization that sanctions and promotes grassroots and professional motorsports events in a variety of disciplines, including road racing, Solo, road rally and rallycross.