ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 17, 2010) - The SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup is back on the track at historic Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., sharing a weekend with the NASCAR Nationwide Series in its series debut at the legendary road course.
The MX-5 Cup enters Round Four of the 11-race Championship with any number of drivers still in the hunt for the title as just 22 points separate first from sixth position.
Leading that charge this week is 21-year-old Justin Piscitell, whose consistent finishes in the No. 89 Team MER DAMG Worldwide Mazda MX-5 have given him 158 points to take an eight point edge in the championship. While last years season runner-up is still searching for his first-career win, two fourths and a third place him in the drivers seat just past the quarter pole.
While Piscitell, who is in just his third season of racing, tops the standings, another young gun is eight points in arrears. Michael Cooper, a rookie to professional racing and another relative newcomer to motorsports, ran an impressive third in the season opener at Virginia International Raceway and has carried that momentum forward in the No. 84 AMG Racing/Bromante Landscaping&Design Mazda MX-5.
While he sits third in the Championship, Brad Rampelberg is probably the driver most likely to break out and remains the favorite in the championship. Rampelberg, in the No. 4 AMG Racing/Mazda/Cobalt Brakes Mazda MX-5, posted a win and a runner-up finish in the first two events and was on his way to a second win in round three at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Contact on the final lap, however, pushed him off the track and to a 17th place finish, costing him a lead in the championship for now.
Nick Evans is the third driver in his early 20s in the top four of the championship. Driving the No. 28 Team MER/Mazda/Sparco MX-5 as a teammate to Piscitell, the Ohio State University student has earned a trio of top-10 finishes and is only 19 points behind.
Mat Pombo earned his first MX-5 Cup win at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, but was docked 30 championship points by the stewards after his contact with Rampelberg. The penalty leaves him 21 points behind in the hunt in his No. 01 PFM Pombo Racing/Range of MotionATL/Carbotech MX-5.
ALARA Racing has a trio of drivers that are contenders at every event. Jesse Combs sits just 22 points out of the championship lead in the No. 77 coolgas.com Mazda MX-5. Teammate Ara Malkhassian is coming off a season-best second-place finish at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the No. 11 ALARA Racing/Bulldog Productions MX-5, while Lyonel Kent is just a race removed from his win at Virginia International Raceway in the No. 13 ALARA Racing/Bulldog Productions machine.
Harrison Williams, in the No. 00 ALARA Racing/Albrect & Associates MX-5, andTim Probert, in the No. 26 machine, also will operate from the ALARA Racing stable this weekend.
Once again joining the prolific MER team is Jeff Mosing, driving the No. 30 Team MER/RaceNowForAutism/Franks International MX-5, who sits seven
