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There are 3 rounds left in the 2010 season and it looks like the points race for season podium positions is getting tight for certain classes. It’s now going to get even more interesting as Miata Challenge heads back to the self-proclaimed premiere time attack track in California, the Race #13 configuration of Buttonwillow Raceway.

This being a very popular track, expect the registration to sell out very quickly as we have to share the track with the S2000 Challenge and other non-challenge drivers, so please register ASAP to ensure you’ll have a spot to enter the Miata Challenge for Round 8!!



Per usual, Speed Ventures credits on rewarded to the podium finishers of each class.

• 1st: $30
• 2nd: $20
• 3rd: $10

And remember, you guys are starting this year fighting for the season grand prizes, as per the 2009 season finale.

• 1st: $200 SV credit AND 1 set of 949Racing 6UL wheels (Gen 2)
• 2nd: $100 SV credit AND choice of either a $200 949Racing voucher towards $1000+ purchase or $100 gift certificate
• 3rd: $50 SV credit AND choice of either $100 949Racing voucher towards $700+ purchase or $50 gift certificate

Round 8 registration link: Sun, September 26th
(Note: TRANSPONDERS ARE REQUIRED. Please order one during online registration.)

2010 Rules and Regulations link: PLEASE READ
It is the competitor’s responsibility to read and understand these rules in their entirety.

Current Standings: As of Round 7


Round 7 @ AAA Auto Club Speedway Summary:

Mazfest 2010 and AAA Auto Club Speedway played host for the hot and sunny battleground of Round 7. With only 4 rounds remaining, it was the crucial point of the season for many competitors. A strong run toward the end of the season would insure anybody’s claim on the season points podium. This round was especially important because it had an auto-x special round in addition the ROVAL road course time attack, allowing more points to be gained to help make the class points race even more interesting. More interesting than the double-header weekend was the number of Street and Modified class competitors that came to protect or steal class positions from each other; 18 competitors total showed up during the course the weekend.

It was business as usual for the Unlimited class with Andrew Kidd and Gordon Jennings duking it out head-to-head during the time attack. What weren’t usual are the mechanical problems for Gordon throughout Saturday’s ROVAL time attack. It seemed that between every session, he had something to fix. Fortunately, he was able to run laps in every session to get a fast lap time of 1:50.693. Unfortunately, it was not good enough as Andrew showed that he was in charge with a 1:49.099 lap time. Sunday’s auto-x added two more competitors to the mix, but still the two giants raged on ahead. Again, Andrew was victorious with a 0.5 second gap against Gordon. Though Andrew’s been on a winning streak lately, he is still 17 points behind Gordon for the season with 3 rounds to go.

In Modified class, Brian Wood felt the urgency to defend his lead during Saturday’s time attack, especially after he took a 1 round hiatus. Brian responded accordingly with very dominant victory with his 1:58.530 lap time, a massive 5.2 seconds over Edward Krisher’s 2:03.707. Grant Heathman is also in the hunt for a possible season win, but fell short this round with his 2:08.216 lap time. On Sunday’s auto-x, the story there was Grant’s as he shocked all the Miata Challenge drivers when got his very first win with the fastest run time of day, and was a 1.6 seconds faster than Brian Wood. However, it was later found that Grant had miscounted his points for the auto-x because of his tire choice for Sunday, potentially rendering Grant’s Modified class auto-x entry (and subsequent victory) null and void. An official ruling of this is still be decided by the Miata Challenge rules committee.

Street class featured the most drivers entered since Round 1 with 7 drivers, with 5 of drivers representing a local SoCal car group, KINOD. And within the group, a friendly rivalry had brewed from the weekend as all 5 KINOD drivers now occupy the top 5 spots in the class for the season. With different levels of car prep and driver experience spread throughout the field, this made it the hardest class to predict the winner going into the weekend. At the ROVAL on Saturday, it was mainly a close, hard battle between current class leader Derek Dicker and Sonny Watanasirisuk. However, it was a tough loss for Derek as he was 0.6 seconds slower than Sonny’s 2:08.265 class winning lap time. For Sunday’s auto-x, it was a crazy 3-way battle for the win as the gap between 1st through 3rd was a mere ¼ of a second. Again, Sonny came out on top with a slim 0.187 second victory over Leonard Patterson, which Leonard’s victory over Derek is an even slimmer 0.079 second.