Region: SFR
Car #: 79
Year : 1990 Posts: 695
Status: Offline
posted
By: Series Staff
Lamb Takes Road America MX-5 Cup Win for Record Sixth-Straight
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. - 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.
Todd Lamb held off a hungry MX-5 Cup field to take his sixth win of the season at Road America (Weber image). 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 'Marc, 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.
Region: Atlanta
Car #: 99
Year : 99 Posts: 342
Status: Offline
posted
Wow,Todd,that is awesome!!Winning an MX-5 race is one thing but winning 6 in a row is incredible.You make it look so easy but I know it's a lot of work.Good luck at VIR, Mike Cottrell
P.S. Even your post race interviews are well done.You do a good job giving AMG and Mazda their due attention for your success.
Region: Atlanta
Car #: 60 65 67
Year : 1990 1999 2002 Posts: 238
Status: Offline
posted
A really big congrats from everyone here at OPM Autosports.Having worked with you for the last 2 years,2- NASA Championships and 1- ARRC Championship I have a first hand appreciation of your attention to detail and your knowledge of race car setup. Both very important in a spec series. 6 straight is incredible and I believe the wins will continue.
Region: mid south
Car #: 2
Year : 1999 Posts: 4275
Status: Offline
posted
I guess I can't get away with crediting the purple car anymore! 6 races in a row is crazy. It was a shame you missed Atlanta, I think you could have run the sweep. What Tom said above, all very true! Congrats Jim
Region: 011
Car #: 47
Year : 94 Posts: 488
Status: Offline
posted
quote:Originally posted by DerekFSU: Wow. Wheel, you are so wrong. It's not boring. He TOTALLY mixed it up by not getting pole and having to start from P2!
Nah, I agree with wheel ... Lamb needs to do as he used to do in Karts ... start at the back, DFL ... just for the fun of it ... and then race to the front for the win. THAT would impress me never met Shaun the Sheep ... but i have seen the dude race ... fugetabout the killer fast Kinetic BMW's that he now runs up front with ... i'm talkin bout those Fenton FWD Acuras from years past, where he had to 'finesse' those things to be at the front ... dude can race
Region: SE Div, Atlanta
Car #: EddieFur
Year : Party like it's ____ Posts: 952
Status: Offline
posted
Thanks guys!
Justin, Stan, and I had a plan in qualifying. It was a crap shoot on who got the killer lap in and Justin did a great job getting pole. Congrats to him!
I can't believe this dream season in Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup. AMG has really sorted out the setup on these cars with the BFG's that are new for this year. Thanks to Jason Hoover, Tony Silva, Mark Woodworth, Jacob/Maria, Ramps, Luna-C, Traqmate, and a host of others that have helped us this year.
It was great working with Stan Wilson - he's going to be back on the podium soon, only contact from another car kept him out of contention at RA. And Dennis Trebing - this kid has a lot of potential. Great to see him come from Skip Barber and jump into a tin top (sans top) for the first time and run with the lead group.
Three more races left in the season (Utah and a double at VIR), and I predict they are all going to be hard fought.
Anyone interested in running a race at the end of the season to get prepped for 2010, now's the time! AMG has a car available.
-------------------- Mazdaspeed // SafeRacer // Traqmate // OPM Autosports // East Street Auto // Cobalt Friction Racers Edge Motorsports Rolex GT RX-8 // i-MOTO Racing Conti Challenge MAZDASPEED3 Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/toddspeed
Boy Todd, save a win for someone else... Glad to see all your hard work finally paying off, remember us little guys when you hit the bigtime.
Stan has had a couple races of contact putting him back otherwise he'd be on the podium more often and a couple more spots higher in the points. Glad to see he is getting a chance to show what he can do.
-------------------- All this has happened before, and will happen again
Region: SFR
Car #: 79
Year : 1990 Posts: 695
Status: Offline
posted
Hey Lamb Chop! Love the new avatar! Were all working really hard at AMG to keep Todd on top. Three more races to go!! If anybody wants to run with us before the end of this exciting season E Mail me. We have a car available. It's probably faster than Todd's since it has not been raced as much as his.
Email this page to someone! | Subscribe To Topic
![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
6 races in a row is crazy. It was a shame you missed Atlanta, I think you could have run the sweep. What Tom said above, all very true!
![[Smash]](graemlins/smash.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
Glad to see all your hard work finally paying off, remember us little guys when you hit the bigtime. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic | Subscribe To Topic