See below for write-ups on the nominees. Voting will close on November 30th at 11:59 EST.
James Miller
Jim Miller raced H-Production for over 25 seasons and was one of the most successful in that era. His 3 Runoffs wins are second to only Randy Canfield (5), Tom Feller (4), Adam Malley (4), and now Steve Sargis (4) after 2025. He also had 4 Runoffs poles and 9 top 5's in a span from 1974 to 1999. Throughout the years, Jim had several fierce battles during the NEDIV seasons with the likes of Canfield, Bartell, Collishaw, and others, but it was probably his 1983 Runoffs race with Randy that will be remembered by most. After a back and forth battle for the first 12 laps, Jim took the lead for good and went on to win by a 2.8 margin.
Ron Bartell
Ron Bartell and the famed "Valvoline Midget" were a staple in H-Production for a 40 year span. In that time, Ron amassed many national wins, track records, and was a true competitor. Out of 27 Runoffs starts, Ron had 19 top 10 finishes, and he qualified on the front 2 rows 16 times. He was the back to back National Champion in 2000-2001, nearly pulling off the 3-peat in 2002.
In his racing career of over 50 years, he has two National Championships, 6 total Runoffs podiums, somewhere north of 75 National wins, many Divisional Championships, 6 Runoffs poles, and was the 2001 Northeast Division Driver of the Year. He set lap records all around the country including tracks like Watkins Glen, Sebring, Lime Rock, Mid Ohio, and Bridgehampton, and had 10 active lap records when he retired in 2019, including one at VIR during the Runoffs on his last lap at speed.
Ron was always working for the British roadsters in H Production, petitioning the CRB for adjustments to achieve parity and providing a basis for comparison when the former G Production cars were brought into H. For example, after blowing a freshly rebuilt 948 race motor at the 2005 Runoffs he made an impassioned plea to the CRB to allow the limited prep version of the 1275 motor in the full prep chassis, a configuration that is still used today. This allowed the British roadsters to remain competitive in H and contributed to the health of the class as we know it today.
Adam Malley
"That DAMNED Honda!" were words uttered by dozens of longtime H-Production racers when Adam Malley came into the class. Winning three in a row from 1997-1999, and then coming back for a swan song in 2005, Malley in some ways paved the way for the present "tin-top domination" of H-Production. His 4 Runoffs wins are tied with Tom Feller for second most, trailing only the legend, Randy Canfield.
Malley was the first driver to “three peat” by winning 3 years in a row, 1997-1999. His spin and win in the rain in 1999 ushered in a new era of HP and his iconic Rising Sun livery foreshadowed the beginning of the Japanese hatchback era. It is a Sun that has yet to set and now is a dominant platform. Malley paved the way for Gauper, Loshak, Isley, Schaafsma, and Prather to continue the tin top dominance that the class has been seen for the last 25 years.
Tom Feller
Someone once said "Tom Feller is the racer you want to hate, but you can't... cause he's such a great human being." Driving the same yellow Spitfire that his father Chuck drove for years, Tom came onto the scene early in his life, first in GP and then in H. Winning a record 4 in a row from 2004-2007, Feller's 4 wins come second only to Randy Canfield's 5. He very well could have had 5 in a row if it weren't for a mechanical in 2008 while battling hard with Dan Collishaw for top honors. He was known for being a very hard, but clean racer, and the yellow spit seldom had any visible damage. Tom hung up the helmet for almost a decade following the 2008 "Big Dance," but came out of semi-retirement in 2016 to have a crack at #5 at Mid-Ohio. After putting the car on pole with a then-lap record, Feller led the first 12 laps in a nose to tail battle with Jason Isley, Ron Bartell and eventual winner, Brian Linn. He then suffered a mechanical, but was able to limp the car home to a 6th place finish.
Steve Sargis
Steve Sargis is arguably the most successful Spitfire racer in SCCA history. Starting his racing career in GP and winning his first 3 Runoffs Championships in that class, Steve then moved to FP and GTL for the next 16 years, winning 4 championships in that timeframe, including a one-off in HP at Road America in 2010. Sargis moved to HP full time in 2018 and since then, he has never started lower than 3rd on the Runoffs grid, amassing 7 podiums in 8 Runoffs starts in H. His 2025 triumph (pun intended!) at Road America put him in a 3 way time with Tom Feller and Adam Malley for the second most H Production championships in history, one shy of the all time record of 5 championships held by the legendary Randy Canfield.
Dan Collishaw
Dan Collishaw went to drivers school in1979 where he borrowed a car from a guy that he had been crewing for and turned faster laps than the owner had ever turned right out of the gate. Dan was tough to beat but always raced clean and seldom made any contact with another racer. His quirky and witty sense of humor made him a real pleasure to talk to in the paddock and he was often joking around and having a good time with everyone. Collishaw is a two time Runoffs champion in his 17 starts, between 1988 and 2008 and he has 4 other podium finishes in that timeframe. His 2008 battle with 4-time and defending champion Tom Feller remains one of the all-time epic HP Runoffs battles, ultimately with Dan coming out on top. This would be the final time a 948cc engine was successful at the Runoffs, ending a 40+ year long run for the mighty BMC power plant, and as a proper sendoff, Dan's longtime crew chief Peter Vorhees coined the phrase "the little engine that could" in his post race interview.
John Salisbury, Sr.
John Salisbury started his SCCA racing career in 1962 sharing a Lotus Super Seven. He was based out of a Pittsburgh suburb and campaigned the car in C Production on tracks in the Northeast. In 1968 a career opportunity saw him move to the Chicago area where he purchased a "Race Ready" Bugeye Sprite starting his passion for H Production. In the mid 90's when entry numbers started to decline he started a web site (www://H-Production.com) to help HP racers around the country keep informed and in touch with each other, and that website is what spawned the production forums that are still used today. He worked with members of the Production Car ad Hoc committee Mike Cummings, Randy Canfield and Jim Creighton and together they formulated the initial HP Limited Prep engine specification. He worked with Barry Sale at PHP Race Engines and completed Dyno Testing. His initial Limited Prep Engine won it's first race at the last chance National Labor Day Weekend 2000 at Blackhawk Farms Raceway. When the participation numbers continued to decline he worked with the officials in the consolidation efforts that saw G Production being split with cars either moving up into FP or down to HP depending on projected performance potential. Suffice it to say, John in many ways saved HP from extinction.
He continued to race into the 2000's where he had the opportunity to race on track with both his son and Granddaughter at the same time all in H Production sprites. Shortly after that event, health issues forced him to retire from active racing but he continued to participate in Production Car forums on the current web site.
Brian Linn
Brian Linn inherited the qualities to reach the HPHOF. From his mother, he inherited his artistic sense toward graphic design. From his father, he received the attraction to road racing. We are not sure where he got his determination, but by the time he was 12, attending the SCCA Runoffs as crew for his Dad, he was already hooked for life.
Brian’s accomplishments in HP have not come easy, though. For years, he was the bridesmaid, finishing 2nd at the Runoffs four times. However, the 2nd place in 2007 caught the attention of the Road Racers Drivers Club, who awarded him the prestigious Mark Donohue award, for "the outstanding performance of the weekend in terms of personal spirit and performance behind the wheel."
Brian won his first Runoffs gold in 2015, but it was the 2nd gold at Mid Ohio in 2016, that was recognized by the stewards of the meet for the highest award given to Club racers, the Presidents Cup, “presented to the driver demonstrating ability, competitiveness and success at the National Championship Runoffs.”
In addition to his on track accomplishments, Brian has offered his artistic skillset to the H Production Nationwide Points Championship, creating amazing posters each year, and creating the logos for the Mike Cummings H-Production Invitational event and the HPNPC series itself.
To this day, Brian remains the only H-Prod driver to receive both the RRDC Donohue award and the SCCA Presidents Cup award.
Mike "Captn Mikee" Cummings
Captn Mikee Cummings was a long time H Production competitor with over 30 years of racing in the class. While he was never the fastest Spridget at the track, Mikee had one of the biggest hearts in the paddock. He and wife Geneen would always stay at the track in their RV, and were constantly inviting people to stop by for stories, food, and good times. He made a mean chili and always have some obscure beers to pair it with, fostering an education in the world of craft beer before it became common in society, and just to mix things up, he was often seen in the world's ugliest checkered flag shorts... Mikee was also the chief instructor at the local SCCA driver's school for many years, and some of the big names we hear about on the West Coast were his students at the driver's school.
Mikee's biggest impact on H-Production was off of the track, servicing on the production ad-hoc for several years. He was instrumental in creating the balance of performance for full prep and limited prep spec lines when they were first introduced two decades ago, and was among those who led the charge to bring in the tin-tops and save H-Production from its dwindling numbers.
In 2022, the H-Production Nationwide Points Championship held it's first HP Invitational event, as a mid-season Runoffs style event for the class and drawing 30+ cars for each year of the event, and the committee voted to name the event after Mikee so that his grassroots legacy will live on forever. As the 2026 season starts to shape up, the Mike Cummings H-Production Invitational will be back for it's 5th year, and will draw another 30-40 cars yet again.
Donna Mae Mims
Donna Mae Mims definitely preferred pink.
Mims, the first woman to win a Sports Car Club of America national championship and a participant in the original ‘Cannonball Run’ that became the subject of a 1981 movie starring Burt Reynolds, liked to drive pink cars and was known as ‘the Pink Lady.’ Mims, 82, died Oct. 6 from complications after a stroke, and following her wishes, her body was seated behind the steering wheel of a 1979 pink Corvette for visitation hours.
Mims was famously quoted saying "Chivalry is dead at the racetrack. You're out there for only one thing. To win. Nobody remembers second place." And win she did, in her Think Pink Bugeye Sprite in 1963 SCCA National Competition. With 2 wins and 3 second place finishes during the 10-race season, Mims became the SCCA H Production national champion, one year before the first "winner-take-all" SCCA Runoffs was held at Riverside.
Anatoly Arutunoff
Anatoly Arutunoff is a renaissance man. His SCCA exploits began when he purchased a Porsche Carrera Speedster GS in 1958, and soon after a $25 SCCA membership. In what can only be described as a bargain, Toly watched the lifetime membership price increase to $120 and purchased the membership before it could go up again. To date, that works out to one dollar and eighty-five cents per year – and his experience has been well worth that cost.
As a driver, Toly began lining up on SCCA grids in the 1960s, and through the years competed in Cannonball Runs, Pikes Peak Hill Climbs and multiple times in Italy’s Targa Florio. His crowning achievement as a driver came during the 1981 SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, when he started 11th in the H Production race, climbed to the lead at lap six, and held on for the final 12 laps to win the Championship and the President’s Cup.
His most well-known contribution to the Club, and to road racing as a whole, is a favorite son of Mid-States drivers. Armed mostly with a bulldozer and his racing knowledge, Arutunoff laid out and built the Hallett Motor Racing Circuit near Tulsa, Oklahoma. The resulting 1.8-mile, 11-turn track can be run in either direction to this day, and is enjoyed by driving schools for its series of unique corners.
Though mostly a Club Racing track, Hallett hosted IMSA, Trans Am®, and the final ever Can-Am race in 1986.
Off the track, Arutunoff’s automotive collection is revered amongst car lovers for its uniqueness, stepping off the traditional beaten path for cars that he personally finds interesting. Just like the man steeped in his own interesting adventures, those cars are often one of a kind.
Toly Arutunoff was inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2024.
