2006 Star Mazda Championship

Ron White takes the victory at Road Atlanta

September 28, 2006. Braselton, Georgia. On a picture perfect day at Road Atlanta, Ron White, of Santa Clara, California, rolled to his third consecutive victory of the season in the #69 Ross Smith Racing Mazda in Round Eleven of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Joining White on the podium were Mark Wilkins, in second place, and Kevin Lacroix in the third position.

Starting alongside Wilkins on the outside of the front row, White jumped into the lead on the opening lap and was engaged in a race-long duel for the top spot, losing the position for six laps before being able to jump back out front for good on lap seventeen. "I can't ask for a lot more than this today, Mark and I were both driving the wheels off our cars out there today and the yellows that came out went our direction today," White explained. "On the start and the first restart I was able to guess when Mark was going to get on the gas and was able to get a good run on him going into the first corner. The car has been working great and we're going to keep trying to chase down the drivers ahead of us with more points."

Making his fourth start of the season in the #3 AIM Autosport Bluetooth Mazda, Mark Wilkins has returned to the front-running for he displayed in 2005 before a boating accident cut short his season winning the pole position on Thursday and battling throughout the race for the victory. "It was a great race for myself and the AIM Autosport team today," the Toronto, Canada resident said, "Ron was able to get around me on the start, I was able to get back by for a while, and then he retook the lead and I kept the pressure on him hoping for a mistake. I was a little rusty when I first got back in the car at Trois-Rivieres but everything is working great now and I'm looking forward to going to Laguna Seca for the end of the season."

Keeping his championship hopes alive with a third place finish, Lacroix, from St Eustache, Canada, was pleased to return to the podium after a string of fourth place finishes in the #74 John Walko Racing Uni-Select Auto Parts Mazda. "I've had some bad luck the past few races so it feels good to be back on the podium," Lacroix commented. "I moved from fifth to third on the opening lap and was chasing Ron and Mark and hoping they would make a mistake. I tried to pass Ron at one point but had to back out and play it a little safe because if I had crashed it would've taken me out of the points race."

While the action at the front was tight the drive of the race belonged to fourth place finisher Logan Gomez, pilot of the #23 Velocity Motorsports INDYana Kid Mazda, who raced his way through the field from seventeenth place on the grid to finish just ahead of championship points leader Adrian Carrio. "We had a difficult time in qualifying as I couldn't get a clean lap when the track was drying so I had to start deep in the field," the Crown Point, Indiana native explained. "My car was really good on the opening laps when the tires were cold and my engineer Rick Cameron and the Velocity team gave me a great car. The caution periods hurt today as it killed the time ont he clock and if we had some green flag laps at the end I know I would've finished on the podium."

With one race remaining the championship battle as been narrowed down to a two driver competition with Carrio, in the #14 World Speed Motorsports Rockford Fosgate Mazda holding a 35 point advantage over Lacroix, who has clinched the Rookie-of-the-Year title with his finish today. Ryan Justice, from Portland, Oregon, sits in third place in the championship.

In the Expert Championship, for drivers aged 30-44, Gerardo Bonilla locked up the championship with his eighth class victory of the season in the #9 Andersen Racing Team Skip Barber Mazda. The battle for second becomes the focus as heading to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca as Brian Thienes sits in second with 152 points while Dan Tomlin III holds third place with 142 points.

In the Masters Championship, for drivers aged 45 and older, John Faulkner in the #93 Phenom Racing Group Molecule Mazda turn captured the class victory with a thirteenth place finish overall and turns up the heat on points leader Doug Peterson, who had climbed into the top ten overall before getting caught up in an incident in turn seven. With one race to go Peterson holds first with 160 points while Faulkner sits in second place with 153 points.

In the Team Championship John Walko Racing stretches their lead with 223 points, while World Speed Motorsports has a tough climb to retake the lead with 208 points. Strong finishes by Justice and Phil Fogg Jr have propelled Northwest Autosport from fifth to third in the team championship with 159 points.

The series now heads to Monterey, California, for the season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the spiritual home of the championship, alongside the American Le Mans Series at the Monterey Sportscar Championships on October 19-21. Round Eleven of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is scheduled to air on Speed Channel at 1:00 PM Eastern Time on Saturday, October 14th. For more information please visit www.starmazda.com

Mark Wilkins captures pole position in soggy qualifying at Road Atlanta

September 28, 2006. Braselton, Georgia. Taking to the Road Atlanta circuit immediately following a heavy downpour, Mark Wilkins, of Toronto, Canada, mastered the elements to capture the pole position in a soggy qualifying session for Round Eleven of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Joining Wilkins on the front row for tomorrow's race will be Ron White, of Santa Clara, California.

Driving the #3 AIM Autosport Bluetooth Mazda, Wilkins took advantage of a drying track to capture his first pole position of the season with a lap of 1:30.107 (101.479 MPH), "We knew that the track conditions were getting better as the session went on and that the driver that got a clean lap at the end of the session would probably be on top," Wilkins explained. "I was frustrated as I got stuck behind a slower car but was able to get around him and everything worked out. The crew at AIM Autosport has given me a fast car all weekend and we were looking forward to put it on pole in the dry so I think we're in great shape for the race tomorrow."

Coming off two consecutive wins in the championship, White, who posted a time of 1:30.595 (100.933 MPH) in the session, was pleased to be starting out front again. "With the drying conditions it was getting faster and faster, the lap times were dropping like two seconds a lap," the pilot of the #69 Ross Smith Racing Maxwell Paper Products Mazda explained. "My teammate Dan Dileo and I were going back and forth with the fast lap for most of the session. On my best lap at the end I had to pass another car so I lost a couple of tenths but I'm happy to be starting second, especially as some of the other drivers that were fast in the dry are starting farther down the grid."

Ross Smith Racing driver Dan Dileo, the 2004 Star Mazda Rookie-of-the-Year, will line up third on the grid as he fills in for Ross Smith in the #8 Maxwell Paper Products entry after setting a time of 1:30.713 (100.801 MPH). "It's great to be back at the top of the sheets where I think I belong," the Toronto, Canada resident revealed. "The rain is the great equalizer and it definitely helped us out this session. We still have some work to do to make sure that the car is working fine but I'm happing to be starting up front as anything can happen in the front two rows."

Joining Dileo on the second row will be Daniel Herrington, who had posted the fastest time of the weekend earlier in the day before the thunderstorms swept through. Joining Phenom Racing Group for the final two races of the season, the former championship points leader lapped the 2.54-mile circuit in a time of 1:31.032 (100.448 MPH) in the #92 Phenom Racing Group Molecule Mazda.

Round Eleven of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, the penultimate round of the 2006 season, is scheduled to get underway at 12:45 PM Eastern Time on Friday, September 29th at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.

Daniel Herrington fastest in final practice at Road Atlanta

September 28, 2006. Braselton, Georgia. Daniel Herrington, from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, led the final practice session at Road Atlanta for Round Eleven of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, setting the fastest time of the weekend at 1:20.507 (113.580 MPH) ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session.

Forced to miss the last three races after leading the championship early in the season, before a string of racing incidents forced him to the sidelines with budget woes, Herrington was recently signed by team owner and fellow series competitor Michael Guasch and his Phenom Racing Group organization for the final two races of the season. Driving the #92 Phenom Racing Group Molecule Mazda, Herrington has picked up where he left off at the front of the field.

Also climbing up the time sheets in this morning's practice session was Russell Walker, pilot of the #28 John Walko Racing Maxwell Paper Products Mazda. Walker, from Dallas, Texas, posted the second fastest time of the session with a lap of 1:21.043 (112.829 MPH) around the 2.54-mile circuit. Success turned to adversity late in the session for Walker, however, when he spun in turn one and backed into the tire wall. After a brief checkup in the infield medical center, Walker has been cleared to participate in the qualifying session.

After setting the fastest time on the first day of official practice, championship points leader Adrian Carrio could only muster the third fastest time this morning with a lap of 1:21.091 (112.829 MPH) in the #14 World Speed Motorsports Rockford Fosgate entry.

Thirty-five drivers posted times in the thirty minute session, which was run under partly cloudy skies and mild temperatures. Qualifying for Round Eleven of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM Eastern Time.

Adrian Carrio fastest in afternoon practice at Road Atlanta

September 27, 2006. Braselton, Georgia. Championship points leader Adrian Carrio, from Monument, Colorado, set the pace in this afternoon's thirty minute practice session for Round Eleven of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Driving the #14 World Speed Motorsports Rockford Fosgate Mazda, Carrio improved on his time from the opening session, posting a time of 1:20.960 (112.945 MPH) around the 2.54-mile Road Atlanta circuit.

Mark Wilkins, from Toronto, Canada, was also able to lower his lap time in the afternoon session to claim the second fastest time of the day with a lap of 1:21.121 (112.721 MPH) in the #3 AIM Autosport Bluetooth Mazda. Ron White, winner of the previous two rounds at Road America and Mosport International Raceway, was third fastest in the afternoon session with a time of 1:21.498 (112.199 MPH) which was good for the ninth fastest time on the day.

While Carrio and Wilkins posted their fast laps in the afternoon session, the majority of the front-runners were faster in the cool of the morning. Kevin Lacroix, from St Eustache, Quebec, was fourth fastest this afternoon but his time from the opening session of 1:21.125 (112.715 MPH) in the #74 John Walko Racing Uni-Select Auto Parts Mazda was good for third fastest on the day. Rob Bunker, in the #18 AIM Autosport Thrupoint Mazda, and Daniel Herrington in the #92 Phenom Racing Group Molecule Mazda were fourth and fifth fastest on the day respectively.

With sunny skies and mild temperatures, conditions were excellent for the day as thirty-two drivers posted times in the two sessions. With the top twelve drivers lapping within a second of each other the penultimate round of the 2006 championship promises to be intense. The on track action continues on Thursday, September 28th at 9:15 AM Eastern Time with a final practice session ahead of qualifying in the afternoon.

Round Eleven of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, being held this weekend in conjunction with the American Le Mans Series Petit Le Mans, is scheduled for Friday, September 29th at 12:45 PM Eastern Time.

Kevin Lacroix leads opening practice at Road Atlanta

September 27, 2006. Braselton, Georgia. Kevin Lacroix, of St. Eustache, Quebec, topped the time sheets in the first official practice session for Round Eleven of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear being held at Road Atlanta this weekend. Driving the #74 John Walko Racing Uni-Select Auto Parts Mazda, Lacroix, who currently sits second in the championship, lapped the 2.54-mile road course in a time of 1:21.125 (112.715 MPH) to lead the thirty-two drivers that participated in the morning session.

While Lacroix would lead at the end a fellow series rookie, Rob Bunker, from Bridgewater, New Jersey, would hold the top spot for most of the session with a time of 1:21.245 (112.548 MPH) in the #18 AIM Autosport Thrupoint Mazda, followed closely by Daniel Herrington who set a time of 1:21.252 (112.539 MPH) as he makes his return to the series behind the wheel of the #92 Phenom Racing Group Molecule Mazda.

The drivers were greeted by clear skies and temperatures in the low sixties as they took to the track for the first of two thirty-minute practice sessions scheduled for the day. Phil Saville, of Oakbrook, Illinois, caused a red flag to be thrown briefly on the session as the safety crews had to remove his #99 Andersen Racing Team NVG Mazda from the gravel trap in turn one.

Practice continues for the penultimate round of the championship with another thirty minute session scheduled to get underway at 2:45 PM Eastern Time.

Petit Le Mans Practice Sessions Underway, Carrio fastest in Unofficial Practice

September 26, 2006. Braselton, Georgia. After a three week hiatus the drivers of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear have taken to the Road Atlanta circuit as practice begins for Round Eleven, the penultimate round of the 2006 championship. Under sunny skies, a marked contrast from their race at Mosport as the remnants of tropical storm Ernesto swept through, thirty-six competitors participated in today's three unofficial practice sessions, with championship points leader Adrian Carrio posting the fastest time of the day.

Driving the #14 World Speed Motorsports Rockford Fosgate Mazda, the seventeen-year old Carrio lapped the 2.54-mile, twelve turn circuit in a time of 1:20.908 (113.017 MPH) in the first of the day's three practice sessions. Ron White, from Santa Clara, California, topped the final session, posting the second fastest time of the day with a lap of 1:21.065 (112.798 MPH) in the #69 Ross Smith Racing Maxwell Paper Products Mazda. Mark Wilkins, led the second practice session and finished with the third fastest time overall at 1:21.531 (112.154 MPH) in the #3 AIM Autosport Bluetooth Mazda.

The championship welcomes back several competitors as Daniel Herrington and Brad Jaeger are both returning to the series this weekend. Herrington, who led the championship early in the season before accidents at Montreal and Portland forced him to the sidelines, has joined Phenom Racing Group for the final two races of the season and clocked the fifth fastest time of the day in the #92 Phenom Racing Group Molecule Mazda. Jaeger has finally recovered from injuries sustained on the opening lap of Round Five at Montreal and returns to the #2 Andersen Racing Team entry.

Official practice kicks off on Wednesday, September 27th at 8:30 AM with the first of two thirty minute practice sessions on the day. Round Eleven of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will be held on Friday, September 29th in conjunction with the American Le Mans Series Petit Le Mans weekend at Road Atlanta.