2008 Star Mazda Championship season

2008 Star Mazda season
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The 2008 Star Mazda Championship Season was a season of the open wheel racing series the Star Mazda Championship. It consisted of a 12-race schedule beginning in March and ending in October, with only the best eleven race results counting towards the championship. As with 2007, the series featured races exclusively on road and street courses. In addition to the main championship that is typically tested by young, developing drivers, there were also additional class titles for older drivers.

John Edwards won the championship ahead of Joel Miller and Peter Dempsey despite missing the first round of the championship.^[1] Edwards won four races, the same as Dempsey, but Dempsey had three finishes of 20th or worse, one of which counted in his points total, while Edwards worst points-scoring finish was 4th. Miller won only once, in the season opener. Noted British drivers Charles Hall and Tom Gladdis also participated in the series and finished fifth and sixth in points, respectively. Each won a single race. British driver Richard Kent won the final race of the season in his series debut, despite not being registered for the championship. Notable international female drivers Natalia Kowalska and Michele Bumgarner also competed in the series despite not being registered for the championship.^[2]

Chris Cumming won the Expert class for drivers 30 and older and Chuck Hulse won the Masters class championship for drivers 40 and older.^[3]

Race calendar and results

Round	Circuit	Location	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Supporting
1	Sebring International Raceway	Sebring, Florida	March 14	Joel Miller	Tom Gladdis	Joel Miller		American Le Mans Series
2	Miller Motorsports Park	Tooele, Utah	May 17	John Edwards	John Edwards	John Edwards		American Le Mans Series
3	Watkins Glen International	Watkins Glen, New York	June 7	Alex Ardoin	Charles Hall	Charles Hall		Grand Am Rolex Sports Cars
4	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	July 26	Tom Gladdis	Tom Gladdis	Tom Gladdis		stand-alone
5			July 27	Tom Gladdis	Tom Gladdis	John Edwards
6	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 9	John Edwards	Peter Dempsey	Peter Dempsey		American Le Mans Series
7	Circuit Trois-Rivières	Trois-Rivières, Quebec	August 17	Peter Dempsey	Peter Dempsey	Peter Dempsey		stand-alone
8	Mosport International Raceway	Bowmanville, Ontario	August 23	John Edwards	Peter Dempsey	Peter Dempsey		American Le Mans Series
9	New Jersey Motorsports Park	Millville, New Jersey	September 13	Joel Miller	John Edwards	John Edwards		stand-alone
10			September 14	John Edwards	Peter Dempsey	Peter Dempsey
11	Road Atlanta	Braselton, Georgia	October 3	Peter Dempsey	Peter Dempsey	John Edwards		American Le Mans Series
12	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California	October 18	Peter Dempsey		Richard Kent		American Le Mans Series

Championship standings

Driver's

Pos Driver SEB SLC WGL POR ROA TRO MOS NJ ATL LAG Points Overall 1 John Edwards 1 6 26 1 2 2 4 1 3 1 2 422 2 Joel Miller 1 3 2 22 3 19 4 2 2 4 2 4 406 3 Peter Dempsey 3 4 4 24 27 1 1 1 3 1 19 3 398 4 Alex Ardoin 4 10 3 2 6 4 3 5 23 2 18 5 365 5 Charles Hall 2 2 1 29 4 3 5 19 6 5 22 342 6 Tom Gladdis 5 5 1 2 5 8 3 5 13 8 334 7 Billy Goshen 10 8 5 3 5 14 19 7 12 6 7 7 324 8 Caio Lara 12 28 22 10 11 8 7 8 16 14 6 6 286 9 Kristy Kester 8 18 13 4 12 7 17 12 13 12 16 10 284 10 Taylor Hacquard 9 6 18 5 10 22 10 20 9 11 10 20 281 11 Scott Rettich 14 24 15 23 18 6 9 21 7 8 5 22 269 12 Chris Cumming 17 15 11 6 8 24 11 13 21 10 17 21 259 13 Jeffery Kester 16 25 20 9 9 20 15 9 8 9 20 19 259 14 Chuck Hulse 18 26 14 13 16 11 12 16 11 15 12 11 259 15 Ernesto Otero 26 13 8 8 7 8 6 6 20 23 243 16 J. W. Roberts 21 19 23 16 20 16 14 14 19 22 14 14 230 17 Rusty Mitchell 19 13 21 20 11 14 18 13 9 203 18 Gerry Kraut 19 17 17 12 28 12 15 11 24 192 19 Rick Rosin 20 14 10 15 16 3 8 176 20 Phil Fogg, Jr. 11 14 14 16 18 13 135 21 Michael Guasch 29 11 22 17 19 16 106 22 Richard Zober 22 16 17 22 17 99 23 Mike Hill 13 9 7 79 24 Eric Freiberg 11 7 21 71 25 Chris Hundley 15 18 45 26 Nick Haye 6 30 27 John Zartarian 7 29 28 Juliana González 15 21 29 Carlos Conde 17 20 30 Cody Jolly 27 14 30 Keith Young 22 14 32 Dan Tomlin, III 23 13 33 Dan Tomlin, Jr. 24 12 34 Yannick Hoffman 25 11 Expert class 1 Chris Cumming 17 15 11 6 8 24 11 13 21 10 17 21 188 2 J. W. Roberts 21 19 23 16 20 16 14 14 19 22 14 14 166 3 Phil Fogg, Jr. 11 14 14 16 18 13 100 4 Richard Zober 22 16 17 22 17 74 5 Dan Tomlin, III 23 14 Masters class 1 Chuck Hulse 18 26 14 13 16 11 12 16 11 15 12 11 192 2 Gerry Kraut 19 17 17 12 28 12 15 11 24 150 3 Michael Guasch 29 11 22 17 19 16 84 4 Chris Hundley 15 18 28 5 Carlos Conde 18 14 5 Keith Young 22 14 6 Dan Tomlin, Jr. 24 12 Unregistered drivers Richard Kent 1 Valle Mäkelä 4 7 21 Kyle Marcelli 4 Patrick O'Neill 16 7 17 18 21 15 Jonny Baker 12 9 23 Court Vernon 9 Natalia Kowalska 12 30 29 13 13 10 Kevin Toledo 10 20 Bobby Caldwell 10 Ron White 12 Michele Bumgarner 27 20 19 27 15 David House 23 15 21 25 Bob Kaminsky 15 Frank McCormick 17 24 17 Dave Mundy 21 18 Michael Gesser 18 25 Stan Kohls 21 20 19 Brian Johnson 25 23 Jason Vinkemulder 23 Pedro Serramalera 28 26

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th–10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Not competing In-line notation Bold Pole position (1 point) Italics Ran fastest race lap

Note: Expert and Masters classes have different point system than the overall championship.

References

1. 2008 Star Mazda Champion: John Michael Edwards, Junior Open Wheel Talent, October 19, 2008, Retrieved 2011-07-25
2. Bumgarner: From karting to formula racing, Manila Standard Today, May 30, 2008, Retrieved 2011-07-04
3. 2008 Star Mazda points, Star Mazda Championship, Retrieved 2011-07-25

External links

• Star Mazda Championship Official website
• Star Mazda Racing Teams