Joel Miller Leads the Championship

Sportsdrink+ athlete Joel Miller regained the championship lead this past weekend by finishing second for Round 8 at Mosport International Raceway in Canada.

After qualifying 2nd for the race on Saturday afternoon, Miller was poised for a strong run.  "The past few weeks have been really difficult for sure and I am happy to be starting on the front row", he commented before the race.

Too much wheel spin at the start resulted in Miller falling to 4th place but he regained his composure and took 3rd position with a brave move around the outside of Charles Hall into turn 8 before the first yellow.  Making the most of the restart, Miller passed Edwards for second going into turn 1 and set his sights on the leader.  Unfortunately another full course caution appeared with just under 20 minutes left in the race caused by numerous incidents, the result of oil around the circuit.  The race never went green and ended with the field behind the pace car with Miller in second.  "The car was getting better with each lap", said Miller.  "It would have been interesting to see what would have come from a green-white-checkered finish as we were running a lot less wing than everybody else", Miller said after the race.  With another podium finish this weekend, his 5th in 8 starts, Joel Miller regains the championship lead.

Peppers/Lucas Oil Wins Second Race in a Row

Sportsdrink+ athletes, Mike and George Stancombe were ready when the green flag dropped in Heat 1b.  "We headed to the first turn in the lead and never looked back".  "After completing the race in 1st place we went back to the docks to make the boat even faster for race 2, the final race of the day".  "We had to run the boat very loose and on the edge the whole time", said Mike Stancombe.  "This is do or die, the hero or zero race".  "We will loose the national championship if we don't win this one".

The race started with a mad sprint into turn 1 and looked like Popeye's or Amosil might have had the advantage.  Popeye's pushed Amosil into the side of Peppers nearly blowing Amosil over backwards.  "We managed to come out of turn 1 in the lead and win the 2008 "Thunder in the Gulf" race, regaining the championship lead", said Mike Stancombe.  This race sets up another must win situation for the team at the next race on the Lake of the Ozarks, to be held on September 25-28, 2008.

Lightning-Fast Jaskol Wins at the Bullring

"It was a dark and stormy night", literally at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring.  The caution plagued 40 lap Super Late Model/Late Model feature was won by Sportsdrink+ athlete Matt Jaskol.  Gafforini, the current points leader lead the way and found himself hunted by Matt Jaskol, Bear Rzesnowiecky and Jeff Connors.  Gafforini slipped at the halfway point and watched the freight train pass him.  Jaskol was the new leader, followed by Connors. 

The lead pair pulled away from the field with five laps remaining and Connors tried every trick in the book to pass Jaskol for the lead as they negotiated lapped traffic.  The cars made contact in turn 4 with the checkered flag in sight but Jaskol, the nights no. 1 qualifier, held on to earn the victory.

Road America Result Drops Joel Miller to 3rd Place

Sportsdrink+ athlete Joel Miller was poised for another podium finish this past weekend at Road America when a mechanical failure forced him out of contention on the last lap.  Miller started 4th for Round 6 of the Star Mazda Championship and took the lead in the early stages of the race.

A track known for large drafting opportunities, Joel fell to 3rd place before a caution slowed the field.  "Something was going wrong during the second caution period because I felt the right side of my suit becoming wet".  "I knew the radiator was on that side of the car and when I got the alarm on the dash for overheating it confirmed my thoughts", said Miller.  "Also, my radio communication with the team and my electronics for the transmission shorted out due to the water damage, I knew it was a matter of time before I would be forced to stop", said Miller.

Peppers Racing Takes Sportsdrink+ to Victory

The Peppers race boat piloted by Sportsdrink+ athletes, George and Mike Stancombe was ready for the challenge set by Bob Teague and Paul Whittier from Team Amosil.  From the drop of the green flag, Peppers went to the lead.  Out of turn 3 they spun the boat and stood it up on its tail.  Never giving up, the boys set about the challenge of catching the Amosil boat.  "Lap by lap we made up the time lost on the incident", said Mike Stancombe.  On lap 7, a full course yellow controlled the event for two laps and shortened the deficit.   When the flag waved green, the Peppers boat faced another challenge, this time from the Popeye's Famous Chicken race boat.  Team Amosil had dropped way back at the first turn and shortly after returned to the docks.  "Out of the first turn we had the lead again and we were not going to make the same mistake", said Mike Stancombe.   After 3 intense laps, the Peppers boat won the Al Copeland Memorial Offshore Race in Kenner.  "We love winning, but this one was really special".  "Al Senior is one of the reasons we race offshore and to win his race, in his town - WOW", said Stancombe.

Dane Cameron Secures Top 5 Result

Sportsdrink+ athlete Dane Cameron, the 2007 Star Mazda Champion who won his Mazda sponsored drive in the 2008 Atlantic Championship, demonstrated just how well the ladder works by scoring a pair of top 5 finishes this past weekend during the IRL event at Edmonton.  He has now scored three top 5 finishes in a row and moved up from 12th to 7th in the Championship points.

"This was a really important weekend and the start of a really critical series of races since we have another double in two weeks at Road America", said the 19 year old native of Sonoma, California.  "It was a big step forward for the team and for me as an Atlantic driver because we were fast right from the start and running at the sharp end of the grid all weekend".  "This knowledge and confidence will make a big difference at Road America and throughout the remainder of the season", said Cameron.