Joel Miller Finishes Third at Portland

Sportsdrink+ athlete Joel Miller finished third in Round 5 of the Star Mazda Championship at Portland International Raceway on Sunday to regain the championship lead by 5 points.

"I wanted to reward my crew by getting on the podium", said Miller.  "Rick Cameron my engineer was coaching me the whole race telling me I was catching third so I kept putting together consistent laps".

In the first five races of the season, Miller has been able to finish on the podium 4 out of 5 times.  "Consistency will win the championship".  "This third place finish gives my team great momentum for the month of August to continue with our consistency", said Miller.

Introducing Chris "The Kid" Fair

Hazardous Pro-Am support team member, Chris "The Kid" Fair took first place at the 2008 National Dragster Challenge in the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Series at Douglas Motorsports Park on Sunday July 20.  On his way to the final round, "The Kid" achieved first and third in the points race alongside three former season champions finishing the day with a win against number two in the points and the defending champion.

"This is just unreal", said Fair.  "I got to the track on Sunday morning with a broken motorcycle worried I would not get a chance to run".  "Somehow we made it to the first round, then the second and third and at the end of the day I found myself in the final for a chance at another National win".  "I am just so grateful for the result and for having Hazardous Sports, Hazardous Fluids, Vickery Motorsports and 1320go.com behind me this season".

Will Power Finishes Fourth in the Honda Indy 200

Sportsdrink+ athlete Will Power finished fourth in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.  Power, who started 12th in the No. 8 Aussie Vineyards/Team Australia car for the 85 lap race, had taken an early call from his race strategist to change from rain tyres to slicks on lap 2 that set him up to be running third by lap 7 when others made the same move.  "We got the car better and better all weekend, made the right choice on tyres early on in the race and had a good race strategy".  "We had the pace to ride at the front and we did", said Power.  "I am just really happy that we got good championship points here and hopefully we can do that again next weekend in Edmonton".

Dave Lewandowski - www.indycar.com

Johnny Lewis Fourth in Supermoto Opener

Johnny Lewis of Team Evolve Moto/AxiomTV competing in his first XTRM/AMA race of the season with a new program, finished fourth in the Lites class.

"I am glad that the first AMA race is in the books after a long off-season", said Lewis who wears number 21.  "Whilst I have raced on the new Yamaha YZ250F in pre-season events and have felt very comfortable on it, this is the first race with the full motor work, suspension and entire set-up".  "I qualified third in my heat race and we came back to make adjustments", said Lewis.  "We went out in the main event and had a solid start and passed into fourth with a few laps left". 

"I want to thank all of my sponsors for stepping in this year".  "They provide great products and without them and my family's support, I wouldn't have been able to compete", Lewis added.

Brian Valin at Grattan Raceway

The third round of the Championship Enduro Series was held at Grattan Raceway.  This road course is the roughest and most challenging track on the CES circuit.  With the temperature reaching 90 degrees on Saturday afternoon, the event provided the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the physical  stamina required to compete in motor racing.  Sportsdrink+ athlete, Brian Valin competed in two back to back 30 minute enduro races, first in the HPV Pro Class and then in the Yamaha SSX Class.  In both classes, Brian set the best qualifying time.  The weekend provided a number of close finishes including the Sprint CIK Yamaha SSX race where he was beaten by Ryan Andrews of Detroit by just 0.026 seconds in a dramatic photo finish.  On Sunday, Brian's third race of the weekend, Brian beat his previous track record and finished in 1st position.

Cadel Evans Scores Yellow Jersey

Australian Cadel Evans pulled on the Tour de France yellow jersey for the first time after a gripping stage 10 mountain top finish.

Evans became the fifth Aussie, behind Phil Anderson, Stuart O'Grady, Brad McGee and Robbie McEwen, to wear the famous yellow jersey just a day after he feared his Tour dream had ended in a crash on a Pyrenean valley road.

Mark Hayes - Herald Sun

Bobby Wilson - Second Place in Nashville

Sportsdrink+ athlete Bobby Wilson finished second in Nashville, his second top five finish of the season after qualifying 8th.  Bobby won at Milwaukee back in June 2008. 

"Pretty much it was just a ride in the park, just trying to work on the leader lap after lap, work through traffic and stay out of trouble", said Wilson.  "My car was really good, we had it dialled in and tried to remain consistent and not make mistakes".  "I think that endurance and consistent racing in these very hot and humid conditions is what got us second", said Wilson.

Matt Jaskol Scores First Super Late Model Win

Matt Jaskol was the surprise winner on the "Night of Fire" at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  Sportsdrink+ athlete Jaskol held off the hard charging Gafforini and went on to score his first win of the year. 

"This is a fantastic result for everyone in our team, we have had some great races going this season and not been able to convert it into a win", said Jaskol.

Sportsdrink+ Athlete - Dane Cameron

Sportsdrink+ athlete Dane Cameron has racing in his genes.  Barely out of High School and racing formula Atlantic in North America, this rising star has already impressed and was selected as Open Wheel Racer of the Year by the Motorsport Press Association.  In addition to winning the 2007 Star Mazda Championship where he was both "Series Champion" and "Rookie of the Year", Dane was the F2000 "Rookie of the Year" and finished second in the championship.

Peppers Racing - Second in the OSS Championship

Mike and George Stancombe set their sights on the Offshore Super Series Powerboat Racing Association's third race of the season.  This race was about E.T, not speed.  "We spent all day Saturday testing new set ups to adjust to the single gear ratio", said Peppers/Lucas Oil throttleman Mike Stancombe.

Sunday morning with the set up decided, they headed to the water.  A last minute change was made, the green flag dropped and the team sprinted to the lead.  The Peppers team established a fifteen second lead when disaster struck, a sea strainer filled with seaweed and overheated the port motor.

"We were locked and loaded for the win, we didn't need this to happen".  "We wanted to show Amsoil's Bob Teague and Paul Whittier who was boss".  "They did get a taste, we will be back on top again", stated driver George Stancombe.

Peppers/Lucas Oil Racing are now in second place in the points for the OSS national championship and are hoping to add the title to their record as two time world champions and three time national champions.

Darren Manning - Second at Watkins Glen

Sportsdrink+ athlete Darren Manning's driving and the A.J Foyt/ABC Supply team's savvy pit strategy led to their season best finish of second in the Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International on Sunday afternoon.

"This strong finish doesn't surprise me because we have proved it every now and then but its nice to validate it on a weekend like this to everyone else", said Manning afterwards.

Jay Howard Back for Watkins Glen

Driving the No. 24 Roth Racing car this weekend in the Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen will be Sportsdrink+ athlete Jay Howard.

"Happy to get back in the car is an understatement", said Howard who competed in the first four races of the season with the team.  "It's hard to describe my feelings when I'm on the sidelines watching".  "More than anything I'm looking forward at this point and not looking at what happened over the last five races", said Howard.  "I'm just going to go out and do what I do best and try to get a good result for the team".

David Lewandowski - www.indycar.com

Tough Weekend for Will Power

Team Australia and Sportsdrink+ athlete Will Power started 16th and never got a chance to move up in this weekends Indy Racing League at Richmond.  The race opened with a yellow flag when Ryan Hunter-Reay spun on the first lap.  During the restart (Lap 7), Power slid into the wall exiting turn four.

"I just got loose on the restart", said Power.  "I think I just got caught in the turbulence and it just took me by surprise".  "To be honest it really did".  " It is unfortunate because Aussie Vineyards/Team Australia really has worked hard", said Power.  "I came to have a clean race and get some points but it wasn't to be today".

Darren Manning - Richmond International Raceway

Sportsdrink+ athlete Darren Manning and A J Foyt's ABC Supply crew made lemonade out of the lemons they were given this weekend at Richmond International Raceway.

Darren was struck from behind on Lap 72 by Ryan Briscoe which caused him to do a quarter spin after which he was hit by Vitor Meira.  The crew inspected the car and saw that the left front lower wishbone was badly bent.  They hustled the car back to the garage and replaced the suspension piece.  Rejoining the race in 20th position brought a cheer from the 400 ABC Supply guests who were on hand for the race.  Manning logged laps to improve his position to 12th.

"It was a real shame to be knocked out early after we made some good calls strategy wise", said Darren.