THE ROCKET ROOKIE CHECKS OUT -- JOEL MILLER WINS FROM THE POLE AT SEBRING IN ROUND ONE OF 2008 STAR MAZDA CHAMPIONSHIP

Sebring, FL (March 14) – Joel Miller, the new Rocket Rookie of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, checked out to a 6.6-second margin of victory in his first race driving the #20 JDC Motorsports/Skip Barber/K&N Mazda. Finishing 2nd was the #2 qualifier, Charles Hall of Sheffield, U.K., at the wheel of the #77 Andersen Racing/Pardoes Solicitors/Allied Mazda. In 3rd was Irishman Peter Dempsey, piloting the #21 Andersen Racing/Allied Mazda, who moved up from his 6th-place qualifying spot.

Winning the Expert Series (for drivers aged 30 to 44) was Vancouver, B.C.’s Chris Cumming who qualified 18th in his #16 World Speed Motorsports/Inviro Medical Mazda and finished 17th overall. Winning in the Master Series (for drivers 45 and older) was Chuck Hulse of Yorba Linda, California who qualified 21st in the #12 JDC Motorsports/Silicon Salvage Mazda and moved up to finish 18th overall. The top finishing female racer, of the three in the 27-car field, was rookie Kristy Kester, the distaff half of the unique Kester Racing brother/sister duo. Kester, from College Station, Texas, qualified 11th in the #48 Kester Racing/Texas World Speedway/Unifirst Mazda and moved up to finish 8th overall in a remarkable first race.

Full Race Story

Rocket Rookie Joel Miller on Pole for Round One of 2008 Star Mazda Championship at Sebring

Sebring, FL (March 13) – The Rocket Rookie – perhaps not an official nickname yet, but certainly an apparently appropriate one. Under discussion is Joel Miller, the 2007 Skip Barber Champion and Star Mazda rookie who took the pole by more than a second in this afternoon’s 40-minute qualifying session for tomorrow’s Round One of the 2008 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear at Sebring.

Miller, who is racing the #20 JDC Motorsports/Skip Barber/K&N Mazda courtesy of a fullseason sponsorship from the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder, turned a lap of 2:00.451 (110.584 mph) around the historic 17-turn, 3.7 mile Sebring International Raceway. It was not his fastest lap of the week – that being a 1:59.653 in testing on Tuesday morning – but it was more than a second clear of the 2nd-place qualifier, Charles Hall, of Sheffield, England, who set his time of 2:01.542 (109.592 mph) with a banzai run in the #77 Andersen Racing/Pardoes Solicitors/Allied Mazda on the final lap of the session.

Full Qualifying Story

Some Things the Same, Some Surprises In Final Star Mazda Championship Practice Session Before Sebring Qualifying This Afternoon

Sebring, FL (March 13) – The final 40-minute round of Star Mazda Championship practice prior to this afternoon’s qualifying session produced both familiar and different results.  As previously, 2007 Skip Barber Champion and Star Mazda rookie Joel Miller set the pace with a lap of 2:00.332 (110.694 mph) in the #20 JDC/Skip Barber/K&N Mazda.  In second, a little over 6/10ths of a second back, was Tom Gladdis, who turned a lap of 2:01.007 (110.076 mph) in the #5 Andersen Racing/Law Firm of Marrache & Co./Allied Mazda.  And rounding out the top-3 was Peter Dempsey, who piloted his #21 Andersen Racing/Allied Mazda to a lap of 2:01.388 (109.731 mph).

That was the end of the predictable part of the session.  Moving up into 4th after showing occasional flashes of speed earlier in the week was Brazilian Ernesto Otero, who turned a lap of 2:01.735 (109.418 mph) in the JDC Motorsports/Brazilian Green Beef Mazda.

Complete Final Practice Story

Rookie Joel Miller tops the time sheet in Wednesday
Star Mazda Championship practice at Sebring

Sebring, FL (March 12) -- The first ‘official’ practice session at Sebring, after two days of ‘promoter testing’ leading up to Round One of the 2008 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, was mercifully free of incidents – just one short red flag in the 40-minute session, and a few spins, rookie mistakes and finger-wagging by officials.

When all the tire smoke cleared, the time sheet bore a remarkable resemblance to the promoter test times with rookie Joel Miller of Hesperia, California coming out on top – albeit with a slower lap time than he turned in the fast Tuesday morning session.  Yesterday, a 1:59.653 (111.322 mph) in the #20 JDC/Skip Barber/K&N Mazda put him on top, but today it only took a 2:01.151 (109.945 mph) to take the top spot.

Full Wednesday Practice Story

Coming to Grips With Grip – Drivers and the Radial Tire Learning Curve

Session three of the promoter test days at Sebring leading up to Round 1 of the 2008 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is still a tight battle among the group that established itself as the front runners during Monday’s sessions – but with a pair of drivers now down into the 1:59s, its obvious that some are mastering the radial tire learning curve just that little bit quicker.

Joel Miller, the 2007 Skip Barber Champion racing with JDC Motorsports in the 2008 Star Mazda Championship courtesy of a full-season sponsorship from the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder was in the top-3 in both sessions on Monday, but moved to the top of the time sheets during the overcast Tuesday morning session with a lap of 1:59.653 (111.322 mph) in the #20 JDC/Skip Barber Mazda.  Second, also a top runner yesterday, was 16 year-old driver Tom Gladdis of Gibraltar, U.K. with a lap of 1:59.984 (111.015 mph) in the #5 Andersen Racing/Law firm of Marrach & Co./Allied Mazda.

Full Tuesday Testing Story

Dog Fight on Day One – Promoter Test Days at Sebring Produce Close Racing

A dog fight is shaping up on day one of the promoter test days at Sebring leading up to Round 1 of the 2008 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear with the top drivers in the field separated by bare hundredths of a second in both the morning and afternoon sessions.

The first session, taking the green at 8:05 am with the sun just barely risen, was intended as a way for new drivers to feel their way around the track and take the measure of the brand-new Goodyear radial racing tires that are making their debut at this event. Instead, the young hotshoes had the pedal to metal pretty much from lap 1. After an hour of track time, and three red flags in quick succession in the closing laps, Nick Haye, the second-year driver who finished 4th in the 2007 championship, wound up on top with a lap of 2:00.141 )110.870 mph) in his #4 JDC Motorsports/Quantum Sphere Mazda.

Full Monday Testing Story

DIVERSITY GOES ZOOM-ZOOM – UNIQUE MIX OF DRIVERS
TO TAKE THE GREEN FLAG AT THE STAR MAZDA SEASON OPENER

When the cars competing in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear take to the track for the opening race of the 2008 season at the 56th annual Mobil1 12 Hours of Sebring, the drivers under those colorfully-painted helmets will represent a diversity of nationality, gender, age and family relationships totally unique in the world of auto racing.

Included in the mix are racers from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Ireland and Gibraltar.  There are two fast young female drivers, drivers ranging in age from 16 to 64, a father/son team and a brother/sister team.  

Full Event Preview Story