Todd Lamb, of Atlanta, Ga., captured his record-extending sixth-straight SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup win in the final race of the Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase weekend at Elkhart Lake’s Road America. Marc Miller, of Holland, Mich., and Zach Ply, of Joliet, Ill., completed the podium.Lamb started second in the No. 84 AMG Racing/Traqumate/Luna-C Racing MX-5 and spent the first portion of the 17-lap, 84.416-mile race trading the lead with Miller and polesitter Justin Piscitell, of Patterson, N.Y. Those three were also joined by Stan Wilson, of Mt. Juliet, Tenn., and Ply to complete a five-car breakaway from the field.On lap 11, Lamb took the lead for good and held off one last attempt by Wilson’s No. 92 Hale Motorsports/NetEvidence/Alliance 1 MX-5 in Turn Five on lap 12. Three laps later, Wilson and Miller made contact in Turn Six, with Miller going into second and Wilson dropping to fifth. The battle allowed Lamb to break away from the pack and cruise to his sixth series win in his sixth attempt.”The start was kind of what we expected,” Lamb said. “The cars on the inside helped each other. The outside line didn’t go as fast as we hoped, but we knew we were going to get shuffled toward the back a bit. I just waited to come back around for the first lap, then passed a couple guys and got back to the front.”To stay up front at a track like Road America, you’ve got to hit every corner perfectly. My biggest help was being able to get a gap out of the Carousel and through the Kink, down into Canada Corner. That kept the cars behind me far enough back on the front straight as well. That was the key for us. “AMG had the car set up beautifully as usual, and we just kept getting faster and faster as the race went on. I think we turned some of our fastest laps at the end.”Lamb hypothesis was correct; he turned the fastest lap of the race, a 2:40.901 (90.570 mph) on lap 15.Miller started third in the No. 28 Team MER/MOCA/Race Now for Autism/MMP MX-5 and never fell out of the top five. The point leader entering the weekend, Miller shuffled to the front and back of the lead pack as he found the right drafting partners.”The car was fantastic, but you’ve got to have teammates here to work with,” Miller said. “Nick [Mancuso] was with me for a little bit, but he fell out. Then, Zach [Ply] worked his way up and was really helpful toward the end of the race. Justin [Piscitell] worked really well with us, he always does, but he made a mistake in five and I went to the inside of him.”On the final lap, Miller held off his drafting partner to finish second, keeping a perfect podium record in MX-5 Cup competition. Miller was pleased with his finish in the physical race, but disappointed he didn’t get a chance to challenge Lamb for the win and extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship.”It was like bumper cars out there,” recalled Miller. “There were a lot of late-braking maneuvers and contact that wasn’t necessary. I feel lucky to come away with a second-place finish, but unfortunately it let Todd get away for the win. Overall, this is the type of racing we have at Road America. We knew that coming in. It’s a real barn-burner, drafting track. You just have to come in with an open mind and work well with people.”I’ve got to thank the MER team. I definitely had a winning car today. Zach and Nick both had winning cars, but when it comes down to it, you need luck and when you don’t have the luck, you end up second. I’m still leading the points, but didn’t get enough points to really be happy with the weekend.”Ply started his No. 27 Team MER/Insight Beverage Co MX-5 10th, but was in the top five by lap three. “I had a great start,” Ply said. “The second the green flag came out, I got my car to the left and saw a lane to go down. I tried to get past as many cars as I could before Turn One. I slotted in and ran a smart race from there. Luckily, I was with some teammates, so we all worked together and one-by-one, I was working my way to the front.”On the final lap, the four-car battle for second heightened and Ply delivered a healthy bump to teammate Miller in Turn Five. They pair continued to complete the podium.”We were all trying to go as deep as we could on the last lap,” Ply said. “I went to the inside. I saw a lane open. My pedal went pretty much to the floor and I held on for dear life. I gave Marc a tap. I though I would have had a run on him up the hill, but I said 20Marc, let’s go! Let’s Go! Let’s finish this out!’ I followed him to the finish line and it made for an exciting race.”Ply’s run from 10th to third garnered the Carbotech Hard Charger award for the most positions gained in a race.Wilson showed his prowess in the deep Road America brake zones to finish fourth. Inches off his bumper at the finish was Piscitell, who brought the No. 89 ALARA Racing/DAMG Racing/Mazdaspeed MX-5 home fifth.Jamie Slone finished sixth in his first MX-5 Cup race, followed by Tim Probert, Keith Verges, Mark Jenkins and Nick Mancuso.Miller’s lead over Lamb in the Drivers’ Championship has shrunk to 21 (404 to 383). Piscitell remains third with 367 points. All MX-5 drivers will get to drop their lowest scoring race from their final point total. If dropped races were factored in following Round Seven at Road America, Lamb would be leading the points.Today’s race will air on syndicated cable and satellite networks. A full schedule is available at http://www.mx-5cup.com. The series has a healthy break before Round Eight when it heads to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, Sept. 17 — 19. For more information visit http://www.mx-5cup.com. ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Results from Saturday’s 17-lap, 68.815-mile SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Round Seven race, part of the Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase at Road America, with finishing position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, laps, distance behind winner and reason out (if any).1. (2), Todd Lamb, Atlanta, Ga., MX-5, 17.2. (3), Marc Miller, Holland, Mich., MX-5, 17, -5.701.3. (10), Zach Ply, Joliet, Ill., MX-5, 17, -5.729.4. (4), Stan Wilson, Mt. Juliet, Tenn., MX-5, 17, -6.015.5. (1), Justin Piscitell, Patterson, N.Y., MX-5, 17, -6.098.6. (6), Jamie Slone, Tucson, Ariz., MX-5, 17, -8.915.7. (12), Tim Probert, Houston, Texas, MX-5, 17, -13.678.8. (11), Keith Verges, Dallas, Texas, MX-5, 17, -19.536.9. (14), Mark Jenkins, Fairview, Texas, MX-5, 17, -43.846.10. (5), Nick Mancuso, Mettawa, Ill., MX-5, 17, -2:14.873.11. (13), Richard Fisher, Fairview, Texas, MX-5, 17, -2:15.696.12. (8), Lyonel Kent, Powell, Tenn., MX-5, 17, -2:39.586.13. (7), Dennis Trebing, Cape Coral, Fla., MX-5, 13, Mech.14. (15), Chris Brown, Portsmouth, N.H., MX-5, 11, Engine.15. (9), Jeff Mosing, Austin, Texas, MX-5, 4, Tire.16. (16), Pat Womack, Burr Ridge, Ill., MX-5, 0, DNS.17. (17), Jeff Parnell, Lake Forest, Ill., MX-5, 0, DNS.Time of race: 46 minutes, 02.078 seconds.Average speed: 89.692 mphMargin of victory: 5.701 SecondsLap leaders: Laps 1-1, #89 Justin Piscitell; laps 2-8, #84 Todd Lamb; laps 9-9, #28 Marc Miller; laps 10-17, #84 Todd LambFastest race lap: #84 Todd Lamb, 2:40.901 (90.570 mph)Fastest qualifier: #89 Justin Piscitell, 2:39.596 (91.310 mph)Carbotech Hard Charger: #27 Zach PlyCautions: NoneSCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Drivers ChampionshipAfter Seven of 10 RoundsPos., Driver, Points (wins)1, Marc Miller, 404 (1)2, Todd Lamb, 383 (6)3, Justin Piscitell, 367

After Eight Rounds of SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT competition, Tony Rivera, of Missouri City, Texas, became the first repeat winner of the 2009 season, taking the Road America Grand Prix Presented by StopTech. Eric Curran, of Easthampton, Mass., and Dino Crescentini, of Manhattan Beach, Fla., completed the podium at Road America, site of this weekend’s Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase. Starting third in the No. 97 Tax Masters/Brass Monkey Racing Porsche 911 GT3, Rivera was the primary beneficiary when the No. 14 Global Motorsports Group Porsche 911 GT3 of polesitter James Sofronas remained motionless on the standing start. Skirting his way around the disabled Porsche, Rivera charged into Turn One side-by-side with the No. 13 Woodhouse Performance Dodge Viper of Canadian Kuno Wittmer, who started second. ” I didn’t expect James not to move, ” Rivera said. ” I almost got into the back of him because I was so focused on the lights. They went out, I looked up and was like 20oh no!’ I got alongside Kuno and I don’t think he knew that I was there. He was trying to protect the right side and I nearly had my right tires in the grass all the way up to Turn One. I decided to give [the position] to him. ” Wittmer exited Turn One with the lead, but a mirror-full of Rivera. After taking several looks, Rivera made the move for the lead in Turn 12. From there, Rivera sped away to his second World Challenge win of the season, winning by 7. 268 seconds and averaging a record 104. 824 mph in the 19-lap, 76. 911-mile race, which ran caution-free. ” I realized later that lap that [Kuno] was just flat holding me up, ” Rivera said. ” I knew he wasn’t going to interfere in our Championship, so I looked inside again down in Turn 12 and he let me have it. ” At that point, I looked in my mirror, maybe two or three times. Any good driving instructor will tell you that where you’re looking is where you’re going to go. It always happens to me — I look in the mirror and then I’m racing with the guys in my mirror. ” I made a conscious effort to look forward the entire race and focus on running hard the whole time while keeping the tires under me. ” En route to victory at the 14-turn, four-mile course, Rivera set the Débaufré Fastest Lap of the Race, a 2: 17. 565 (105. 934 mph). ” I didn’t think this was going to happen, ” Rivera added. ” This is not a Porsche track, although it looked that way this weekend! It just goes to show you what focus, a good team and getting the car set up well will do. ” The win was especially poignant for Rivera, who lost a close friend and fellow racer at Road America back in June. ” I thought about Tom every single lap, ” Rivera said. ” A friend of mine, Tom Thrash, died here a couple of months back. This was the race I wanted to win. I wanted to win if for Tom. ” Starting fifth, Curran briefly lost a position on the opening lap, before commencing a charge to the runner-up spot. By lap five, the driver of the No. 30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette was pressuring Brandon Davis for third. ” The start was pretty wild with Sofronas just sitting still, ” Curran recalled. ” I was behind Tony and he almost got James and I almost got into the back of him as well. I had to check up and Dino got around me on the start. ” We had a good car today. It was a long weekend and I’m glad to finish it up on the podium. I got up to Brandon and put the pressure on him. Brandon’s a close friend of mine and it’s fun to get in his mirrors and push him a little bit. He raced me clean. It would have been nice to see Kuno have a good run but he had a problem. He really slowed up and held Brandon and me up quite a bit and that allowed Tony to get away and really gap us. ” Shortly after Wittmer dropped out of the race from second with a broken knuckle bearing on the right-rear wheel, Curran was around Davis in Turn Five and into second place. With Rivera out of sight, Curran would cruise to his fourth runner-up finish of the season. ” The car was strong all race long, ” Curran said. ” Dino was coming toward the end but we tried to be consistent and finish up where we were. I didn’t really have anything for Tony because he was so far away. Congrats to my teammate Sonny [Whelen] as well for having such a great race. ” Though he was disappointed to see his teammate Sofronas stationary on the grid, Crescentini was happy to finish third in the No. 4 StopTech/GMG Porsche 911 GT3. ” As much as I was concentrating on going forward, my heart sank because James’ car just sat stationary, ” Crescentini said. ” Obviously, he had a huge opportunity this weekend to move up his position in the point standings. I’m so far back in the standings that I’m basically now in full support of what he does and his objectives. I felt bad, that was the first thing. ” The next thing on my mind was 20how do I get to the front?’ It was a great day. It was good, clean racing. We had some troubles with practice and qualifying. But the StopTech/GMG team did a great job preparing the car for the race. I was trying to chase down Eric [Curran] at the end but just didn’t have enough for him. ” Brandon Davis, of Huntington Beach, Calif., held onto his point lead with a fourth-place finish in his No. 10 Applied Computer Solutions/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra. Davis now leads Rivera by 52 points (824 to 772). Sofronas, who went on to finish 15th after his team replaced a broken axle from the start, dropped to third in the standings with 716 points. Jason Daskalos, of Albuquerque, N. M., had a fantastic drive in the No. 5 Daskalos Developments Dodge Viper. Starting 11th, the Mosport race winner picked up four positions on the opening lap alone en route to a fifth-place finish. Defending Champion Randy Pobst overcame the team’s stubborn gearbox issues and brought his K-PAX Volvo home in sixth. Finishing seventh in the No. 23 Lala Motorsports Dodge Viper, Mike Borkowski, of Miami Beach, Fla., was awarded the AutoWeek Move of the Race for his pass on Ritch Marziale in the Kink. Marziale finished eighth. Sonny Whelen, who finished ninth, took home the Sunoco Hard Charger award for advancing eight positions in the race at the wheel of his No. 31 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette. Tony Gaples completed the top 10 in a Chevrolet Corvette. With Rivera’s win, Porsche extended its lead in the World Challenge GT Manufacturers’ Championship Presented by RACER to 11 over Ford (55 to 44). Chevrolet (33) passed Volvo (31) for third. Viper is fifth with 18 points. The Road America Grand Prix Presented by StopTech will air on SPEED, Friday, Sept. 11, at 2 p. m. (EDT). The series next heads to Road Atlanta for the Petit Le Mans weekend, Sept. 23 — 25. For more results, photos and news, visit www. world-challenge. com. The series can also be followed on Twitter @ SPEEDWC. ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Results from Sunday’s 19-lap, 76. 911-mile SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship Round Eight race, part of the Road America Grand Prix Presented by StopTech, with finishing position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, laps and reason out (if any). 1. (3), Tony Rivera, Missouri City, Texas, Porsche 911 GT3, 19. 2. (5), Eric Curran, Easthampton, Mass., Chevrolet Corvette, 19, -7. 268. 3. (6), Dino Crescentini, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 19, -8. 583. 4. (4), Brandon Davis, Huntington Beach, Calif., Ford Mustang Cobra, 19, -24. 432. 5. (11), Jason Daskalos, Albuquerque, N. M., Dodge Viper, 19, -38. 555. 6. (7), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Volvo S60, 19, -54. 381. 7. (9), Mike Bor