MILLVILLE, N.J. - After a month-long hiatus, the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup is back in a big way, with a doubleheader and live TV at New Jersey Motorsports Park, June 12 – 14, as part of the Mazda Formula X weekend.
The non-stop action of MX-5 Cup racing heads to New Jersey Motorsports Park this weekend (Al Merion photo).
The timing couldn't be
better for the first-ever live TV broadcast of MX-5 Cup on HDNet. This weekend
offers not one, but two thrilling races on a track still fresh to the road
racing world. New Jersey
Motorsports Park
is only in its second season, and with the ever-changing damp conditions MX-5
Cup competitors faced last year on their first visit to the track, it"s
unlikely any team walked away with a firm grip on car setup.
Team MER earned their first
podium sweep at New Jersey
Motorsports Park
last year, with Robert Huffmaster taking the win, followed by Eric Foss and
Ryan Schimsk. With Foss off to World Challenge and Huffmaster and Schimsk not
on the roster this season, it will be up to point leader Marc Miller and
teammates Zach Ply, Nick Mancuso, Chris Rhoades, Jeff Mosing and brothers Mike
and Mark Jenkins to repeat.
Though he may not have had
the seat time last year, Miller still knows a thing or two about the track,
serving as lead engineer for Team MER since 2007. Driving the No. 28 MOCA/RaceNowforAutism/Sparco
MX-5, Miller can learn more about the track’s nuances from Mark Jenkins, who
finished fifth in New Jersey
last year. Jenkins recently topped that career-high performance in the No. Traxxas/BFG/Simpson/Amsoil
MX-5 at Road Atlanta, where he stood next to Miller on the podium.
Following the trio of Team
MER driver across the finish line at New
Jersey Motorsports Park last year was Ara Malkhassian,
owner of ALARA Racing. Malkhassian is off to a slow start this season. Though
he’s qualified on the front row for Rounds One and Two, the driver of the No.
11 ALARA Racing MX-5 has had difficulty translating his qualifying success into
race results. With a 10th-place finish at Road Atlanta and a trip to the sand
trap at Mazda Raceway, Malkhassian is currently 10th in the standings, but has
an excellent point scoring opportunity this weekend with the doubleheader.
Fellow ALARA Racing driver
Justin Piscitell has wasted no time demonstrating why he was selected as this
year’s MAZDASPEED MX-5 Cup Shootout winner. Piscitell has piloted his No. 89
DAMGRacing/Mazdaspeed/ALARA MX-5 to a podium finish in Round One and a
sixth-place result in Round Two. The 20-year old arrives in New Jersey just 18 points behind
Championship leader Miller.
ALARA Racing has also found
success with Lyonel Kent, driver of the No. 13 ALARA Racing eData Solutions
MX-5, who qualified on pole in his first MX-5 Cup race at Road Atlanta. Gearbox
problems regulated Kent
to a seventh-place finish in that race and he crossed the finish line at Mazda
Raceway with another top-10 performance. Kent currently sits sixth in the
Drivers’ Championship.
A former New Jersey resident, Brett Smrz enters
Rounds Three and Four of the 2009 season, still searching for his first win.
The 18-year old has been impressively quick since his first MX-5 Cup outing in
2007 and not even having a portion of his left leg amputated after a trampoline
accident in April of 2007 has slowed him down. With two top-five finishes
driving the No. 6 SmrzRacing/InTouchPhysicalTherapy MX-5 for Atlanta
Motorsports Group, Smrz is currently third in the Championship, chasing
Piscitell.
In only his second MX-5 Cup
appearance, Todd Lamb took the field by surprise in Round Two at Mazda Raceway,
qualifying on the pole and taking the win for Atlanta Motorsports Group behind
the wheel of the No. 84 AMG/Traqmate/Luna-C Racing MX-5. Though Lamb missed
Round One, MX-5 Cup points allow for one drop, so he is by no means out of the
Championship.
A third-place at Mazda
Raceway wasn’t the win Stan Wilson was gunning for, but it nearly felt like one
for Wilson and
Hale Motorsports, who celebrated the team’s first podium finish in MX-5 Cup.
Coupled with a top-10 finish at Road Atlanta, Wilson, driver of the No. 92
Patron/NetEvidence/Alliance 1 MX-5, finds himself fifth in the Championship
heading into Rounds Three and Four this weekend.
The teams still have a lot
to learn about New Jersey
Motorsports Park
as well as each other with only two rounds under their belts. A doubleheader
weekend means there’s no room for error and time is of the essence. Whoever
makes the most of their track time and keeps their nose clean, could walk away
with the Championship lead in their hands.
Race fans can watch it all
unfold live on HDNet, Saturday, June 13, at 1 p.m. (EDT) and Sunday, June 14,
at 1 p.m. (EDT). Those without access to HDNet can follow live timing and lap
notes on www.mx-5cup.com or catch the
rebroadcast on several syndicated cable and satellite networks.
