Spec Miata 2006 Final Double Regional
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It was just a short time ago that we started the 2006 season, and now we arrived at the final double regional sprint race of the year. 22 drivers showed up at Buttonwillow on this sunny, warm and calm weekend to test their skills on the 2.74 miles 14a counter clockwise configuration which incorporated the sweeper and new buttonhook turns.

Coming into this weekend, 3 drivers, Austin Christian, Clement Lee and John Stodt were in contention for the regional championship and were in a tight points race. Their results this weekend could determine the outcome of the championship.
 

Clement Lee, just returning from the first ever Spec Miata National Runoffs held at Topeka, KS, qualified his SM on pole. Fellow runoff driver Jonathan Christian was just 1/10th behind on the outside front row. Sean Neilsen and Grant Westmorland qualified another 7/10th back to fill the next row. Austin Christian only managed to qualify in 5th while Stodt was further back in 9th. Could Jonathan help his brother move up?

Pole sitter Clement Lee led a perfect formation around Sunrise as the starter waited for all the SM to get onto the pit straight before waving the green. All made it through Sunset without any incident with Clement leading Jonathan and Sean around on the 1st lap. Next time around, Jonathan probably thought that he could run away from the group, drafted past to take over the lead from Clement at the end of the back straight. But Clement was taking none of that as he returned the favor and retook the lead back from Jonathan next time around at the same spot. The pair were having so much fun that they swap positions once more. Little did they know that Neilson was sneaking up on them.

Jonathan slowed significantly at the end of lap 4 though he continued around another time. Meanwhile, Clement and Sean decided to continue where Jonathan leftoff and swapped leads a couple times. Finally, the pair decided to run in tandem nose to tail formation so others could not get close as Jonathan dropped out several laps later with Mechanical problems.

About 3/4 of the way into the race, Clement SM drop back slightly on the straights then closed up and dropped back again on the back straight. That continued for several laps. Was Clement trying some kind of new strategy? Expecting a final dice to the finish, Clement dropped back significantly on the pit straight as the 1 lap board was brought out. As Neilson car motored around the back straight, Clement struggled to keep his car moving along. Stodt, running at full speed, closed up the big gap quickly. Rounding the final corner, Clement's car sputtered onto the pit straight as Stodt caught up and cruised pass. Sean Neilson claimed 1st, John Stodt was handed 2nd as Clement Lee finished in a heartbreaking 3rd. Grand Westmorland finished in 4th and Austin Christian in 5th.

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The regional championship hunt for Clement Lee appeared to be over as the problem in his #33 proved to be terminal. Realizing the situation with the points battle, Robert Ebmison of eTix.com, who was running in both ITA and SM race groups, offered his #55 car to Clement to run in the SM race so he could continue the points battle. The only caveat was the the #55 was wounded in previous days' off course excursions and was not handling properly. With the practice and qualifying session combined on Sunday, Clement would have no opportunity to make any adjustments to the car prior to qualifying.

So out they went for qualifying. Jonathan Christian and Sean Neilson ran about the same time as they did on Saturday to qualify 1-2 respectively on the front row. Chuck Matthews and Austin Christian filled the 2nd row, followed by John Stott and Brian Linn in the 3rd row. For 10 laps, Clement tried to get a handle on the #55, but only managed to slot it into 9th on the grid. However, it was worth noting that 4th thru 9th qualifers were seperated by no more than 7/10th of a seconds.

At impound, Clement and Robert were feverishly discussing the handling problem of the #55. They soon solicited assistance from Louis at RushMotorsport.com. Later around their compound, we saw them make some adjustments to the car. Would their changes help? They would soon find out in the race. Robert Edmison had the first go at it in the ITA race. While Robert made it look easy and claimed 1st place in ITA, he continued to complain of the handling wows. With barely enough time to top off and change tires, it was time for Clement to bring the car to grid for the SM race.

Jonathan Christian leds the cars around the pace lap onto the pit straight. As the green flag waved, the group swarmed forward, with one distinct exception. Austin Christian probably missed a shift and was being overtaken like he was standing still. The group cleared the first corners as Clement began making up a few spots. Jonathan led the car around the first lap with Matthews and Neilsen in tow. Stodt, Linn and Lee was right behind nose to tail. On the second lap, Lee had a better run onto the pit straight and made his pass on Linn. Linn didn't want to give up the position and raced Lee into Sunset. Linn turned in tight, bounced off Lee and ran wide into dirt. Stodt saw the opening and motored off, as Lee now came under attack from Staveley.

Staveley hounded Lee all the way around. Lee was on the inside as Staveley pulled even on the pit straight and headed for Sunset. The 2 went side by side through as Staveley managed to pull ahead into the Esses. But Lee did not give up and drafted Staveley down the back straight. Lee made his move at the braking zone and came out ahead of Staveley who fell back in line. In the next short stretch, Staveley made his run on Lee into the Buttonhook and retook the position. In that one lap, they swapped positions 3 times. Lee was definitely struggling with handling problems as he was completely out of shape coming onto the pit straight. Austin Chrisitan took advantage and made his way past Lee.

Meanwhile, right behind, Figueras and Westmorland were having a great battle. Westmorland overtook Figueras at the end of the back straight and the pair immediately began closing the gap on Lee. Wow, cars are battling each other nose to tail everywhere. The front 3 cars, the next 3 cars, and then another group of 3 cars. Austin Christian found his way past Staveley at the end of the back straight and are now right behind Stodt, his other Championship points opponent.

As Lee struggled to get any speed coming onto the pit straight, Westmorland pulled even and made his way past. But that did not last long as Lee got a better line going around Sunset and managed to retake the position back from Westmorland just before the Esses. Meanwhile Austin Christian moved ahead of Stodt as the 3 different groups of cars continued to run nose to tail.

Further up front, Matthews had taken over the lead as Neilson fell backwards. A couple laps later, not sure what happened at the Esses, both Neilson and Austin Christian went off. Neilson recovered quickly, but Austin lost 5 to 6 positions. Then, as the leaders Matthews and Jonathan battled, Stodt began to close the gap. Westmorland managed to find a way back past Figueras but could not close the gap on Lee.

Just as Chuck Matthews was poised to take his first win, John Stodt rocketed past into the lead in the final lap and took home the win. Chuck Matthews finished 2nd about 1/2 second back followed by Jonathan Christian in 3rd. Drew Staveley came in 4th and Sean Neilson finished a distant 5th. Clement Lee managed to bring home the ill handling car just outside the podium in 6th while Austin Christian ended up in 9th.

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Another weekend concluded with 2 exciting races. Now, with the remaining Enduro race coming up in several weeks, we shall soon see how the points end up.

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