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