Miata Cup race determined by incredible 0.009s

Oh, where do we start? So much happened and so much to report from round three of the Scottsdale Ferrari Apex Challenge series presented by Coffin & Trout. We probably should begin with this: the closest race finish in Apex Motor Club race history.

It happened in the MX-5 Cup race.

Would you believe nine one thousandths of a second?

That’s less than 13 inches, if you’re doing the math at home. Tom Tait ran the outside line out of the final turn, after chasing down race-long leader Joey Rainey, and the side-by-side drag race and side drafting ensued with Tait taking the photo finish. It was his second straight MX-5 Cup win and gives the Scottsdale-driver the championship lead over Rainey by a mere one point.

“Clean racing, always fun, here at Apex Motor Club we always have a blast,” said Tait post-race. “Racing with such quality guys means a lot to me. We had zero contact. Just a class act.”

That wasn’t the only drama. Oh, there was much, much more!

In Radical Silver, Karl Fredrickson took his first ever race victory of any type after a strong off-pole qualifying. Evan Wolf finished second for the second consecutive race, and rookie Jason Dyer rounded out the podium. Championship leader Ryan Fisher took the pole but race challenges put him well down the order and created a wide open mid-season title fight.

“It was just a matter of staying consistent and letting him make the mistakes, and not worrying about passing, and my competitor spun out in turn 8. It was definitely a battle,” said Fredrickson.

In Radical Gold, Chris McMurry grabbed the pole on the final lap of qualifying and led the Radical class and overall flag-to-flag. But, a post race penalty relegated the championship leader to second, which allowed Jace Bacon to take his first win at Apex. Following an off-course excursion on lap one that led to McMurry’s 5-second post race penalty, Bacon made a marvelous run, not assisted by any yellow flags, from 15th to second, and then first.

“I wanted to get to first as fast as possible, so on the opening lap I hung it around the outside for a couple of corners, side by side, we were racing hard, and a got put off track,” added Bacon. “I had the pace afterwards, the car was on fire and I just worked my way back. I’m always looking for more.”

And that was the story for the largest-ever field of Mazda MX-5 Cup cars at the Scottsdale Ferrari Apex Challenge series presented by Coffin & Trout. The fast growing class witnessed a train of four cars breaking away early and battling within inches for 30 straight minutes.

Joey Rainey and Brannan Hankins continued to dominate the GT4 and GT3 classes, although Rainey was outdueled by Scott Dehlendorf for the GT3 pole in a sign that front-of-the-field fights are nearing. Rainey and Hankins have owned the top podium step through all three rounds. Elsewhere in the GT race, GTX saw Rich Strahota and Ernie Spada earn their first podiums.

Time Attack Street Car was taken by Jordan Sawalqah, out-dueling his wife and championship leader Star Sawalqah who finished third and last year’s champion Jeff Koning in second. Newcomer Joe Cattaneo took a maiden voyage Time Attack Race Car class win.

If you’re interested in becoming an Apex member and racer and getting involved, please email info@apexmotorclub.com. Here’s a look at the season standings:

Radical Gold

73 - Chris McMurry

45 - Jace Bacon

35 - Jason Plotke

33 - Andy Voelkel

32 - Ralph Gilles

Radical Silver

62 - Ryan Fisher

52 - Carl Fredrickson

51 - Evan Wolf

47 - Jason Dyer

40 - Niko Kourouglos

GT3

51 - Brannan Hankins

36 - Chris Hanson

33 - Jordan Darling

30 - Ralf Ludwig

GT4

76 - Joey Rainey

56 - Joe Rainey

42 - Matt Williams

36 - Matt Crandall

35 - Scott Dehlendorf

MX-5 Cup

51 - Tom Tait

50 - Joey Rainey

47 - Jessica Rainey

38 - Joe Rainey

36 - Jacob Rainey

Time Attack - Street Car

61 - Star Sawalqah

45 - Jeff Koning

45 - Jordan Sawalqah

32 - Brett Voelkel

13 - Kent Kirimli

GTX

25 - Richard Strahota

20 - Ernie Spada

17 - Richard Kinsey

Time Attack - Race Car

50 - Joe Cattaneo

25 - Jeff Koning

20 - Rich Gramlich