American Le Mans Series
Monterey Sports Car Championships, October 8-11
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, California

DE FERRAN WINS WILD FAREWELL RACE IN MONTEREY
Beats Fernandez in epic dual in 2009 finale

Legendary driver Gil de Ferran rode out on top in his final race Saturday, while Patrón Highcroft Racing had its own special ride as well at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to close the 2009 American Le Mans Series. De Ferran and Simon Pagenaud won the Monterey Sports Car Championships presented by Patrón after the retiring Brazilian's nail-biting duel with Adrian Fernandez in the final 30 minutes of the four-hour contest.

De Ferran beat his long-time open-wheel competitor and Acura teammate by just 0.662 seconds to close his career. The victory was the fifth of the season for the de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-02a and likely the toughest. Twice, the Lowe's Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b entry from LMP2 got around the XM Radio Acura P1 on the final corner, only to have de Ferran's bigger engine give him the lead back on the long front stretch.

The Patrón Highcroft Acura finished second in class and third overall, more than enough to secure the LMP1 driver championship for David Brabham and Scott Sharp, and the team title for Patrón Highcroft. The championships were the first for all.

For the early part of the race, it looked like the de Ferran Acura would walk away with a victory. Pagenaud drove a storming opening stint and led by more than a minute before handing off to de Ferran. Pit strategy and fuel conservation brought the Lowe's Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b to within striking distance in the final hour, and a decision to take four tires on its final stop nearly paid off. The de Ferran car did not take new Michelins on its final stop.

Autocon Motorsports' Tony Burgess, Chris McMurry and Bryan Willman placed third in P1 and fourth overall in the best finish for the team's Lola B06/10-AER this season.

Back in LMP2, Diaz and Fernandez closed their championship year in grand style, tying a class record for victories (8) in a season with their Acura ARX-01b. They combined for seven pole positions and five fastest race laps including one of each for Diaz on the weekend. It made up for a third-place finish two weeks ago at Petit Le Mans.

Team Cytosport's Porsche RS Spyder of Greg Pickett and Klaus Graf finished second in class despite retiring late in the race with suspension problems. Dyson Racing's Butch Leitzinger and Marino Franchitti placed third in their Mazda-powered Lola B09/86.

The GT2 finish was just as frantic as the overall result. Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long won in GT2 for Flying Lizard Motorsports in their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, a victory enhanced by driver championships for the pair and the second straight team title for the Lizards. It also gave Porsche its 100th Series class victory, a first for any manufacturer.

Bergmeister finished 1.037 seconds ahead of Corvette Racing's Jan Magnussen after the two cars banged side-to-side coming out of the final turn. As they beat on each other toward the finish, Magnussen went around hard into the outside wall just before the start-finish line.

It was the last in a number of moments between the two cars in the final hour. The two cars swapped positions numerous times and ran nose-to-tail for much of the final half-hour.

The championships - fourth for Bergmeister and second for Long - were assured when Risi Competizione's Ferrari F430 GT retired prior to the two-hour mark. Pierre Kaffer made contact with Marc Goossens in the RSR Jaguar XKR, an incident that damaged the Ferrari's front end including the radiator.

Farnbacher Loles Racing's Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Wolf Henzler and Pierre Ehret was third in class.

Congratulations go out to Patron Highcroft Racing's David Brabham and Scott Sharp, Lowe's Fernandez Racing's Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz, Flying Lizard Motorsports' Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long, and Acura and Porsche for their new titles. As for next year, the 2010 American Le Mans Series opens with the 58th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida, scheduled for March 20 from historic Sebring International Raceway (MFL photography provided by ALMS, Acura and Fernandez Racing).

MONTEREY SPORTS CAR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, CA

www.americanlemans.com

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
Virginia NHRA Nationals, October 9-11 
Virginia Motorsports Park, Petersburg, Virginia

Brandon Bernstein, Del Worsham, and Mike Edwards enjoyed much-needed wins at Virginia Motorsports Park on a record-setting final day of the Virginia NHRA Nationals, the fourth event of the six-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Countdown to 1 playoffs.

Both ends of the Pro Stock national record were reset and the points scenarios in the nitro classes got a shake up as there wasn't a top-two car in the semifinals of either Top Fuel or Funny Car, and Funny Car's final four was staked out by drivers in positions five through 10.

Top Fuel's top two, Tony Schumacher and Larry Dixon, went to the trailer in back to back races in round two, while Funny Car points leader Ashley Force Hood was a first-round casualty to red-hot Jeff Arend, who beat her for the third time in their last four meetings over the past events, and her teammate, second-place Robert Hight, fell in round two but nonetheless passed Force Hood for the points lead.

Bernstein had been winless for more than two years and eight straight final rounds, since his last title at the 2007 Brainerd event, until Antron Brown smoked the tires in the final. Bernstein, who entered the event in seventh place, reached the fifth spot in points with the win, the 18th of his Top Fuel career. Bernstein sealed the win with a 3.84, 307.09-mph pass while Brown coasted to a nine-second runner-up pass.

Bernstein's path to the final round, the 32nd of his Top Fuel career and his fifth this season, was made quite a bit easier when first-round opponent Scott Weis had to shut off on the line against him in round one and second-round foe Scott Palmer, who had upset No. 3 qualifier Spencer Massey with a fireballing pass in round one, was unable to make it back to the line to oppose the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster. Bernstein then moved past engine-blowing Cory McClenathan in the semifinals on a 3.85 to 3.90 score to reach the final.

Brown, who led the Top Fuel points for 13 of 18 events this year but had won just one round in the first three events of the playoffs and had fallen to fourth place, got a big outing when he needed it. He raced to his ninth final of the year by driving his Matco Tools digger past Chris Karamesines, Schumacher, and Doug Kalitta with a steady blitz of low 3.8-second passes. Brown's win over Schumacher was especially important in Brown's bid for the title and he did it on a holeshot, 3.833 to 3.827 in a race decided by just .004-second.

Schumacher still leads the points battle by 47 over Dixon, with McClenathan third and Brown fourth, just 68 and 81 points, respectively, behind Schumacher.

There were a lot of similarities between Funny Car finalists Worsham and Tim Wilkerson, as both had been shut out from the winner's circle after back-to-back wins earlier this summer, in St. Louis and Bristol for Worsham and in Seattle and Sonoma for Wilkerson. Both needed a good outing to maintain any hope of a championship - Wilkerson entered the event in eighth place, Worsham in 10th - and both got it, but Worsham's turned out just a little better when he beat Wilkerson's fading entry on a 4.09 to 4.179 decision for his 25th career win.

While his opponents were struggling, Worsham's Dickie Venables-tuned Al-Anabi Racing Solara made three passes within two-hundredths of a second, besting tire-smoking Matt Hagan with a 4.10, blower-banging Memphis champ Jeff Arend with a 4.12, and tractionless Ron Capps with a  4.11 to reach the 38th final of his Pro career and his third this season.

Wilkerson reached his 23rd career Funny Car final by moving his Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang past defending event champ Cruz Pedregon, new points leader Hight, and Mike Neff, each time with the best pass of the round: 4.064, 4.097, and 4.107.

Worsham moved up one spot to eighth place, 136 points out of the lead; despite finishing second, Wilkerson ended up in fifth position in points, just 82 markers behind Hight. The top six drivers are separated by just 86 points.

The Pro Stock final had a lot riding on it, too, as it featured the top two points runners, Edwards and Greg Anderson, each shooting for his second win of the playoffs. Charlotte winner Edwards, whose driving had come under fire this year, all but put the lock on his first career Pro championship with a huge win, and surprisingly did it on a holeshot, 6.526 211.43 to 6.522, 212.03 after gaining a .019 to .027 starting-line advantage. With the win, scored by a narrow .004-second, Edwards leads the points by 128 markers, or six rounds, with only eight rounds of racing left.

Although Dallas champ Anderson was 30-7 career against Edwards coming into the final, he was 1-3 this season and Edwards had the better car coming into the money round. Edwards, the No. 1 qualifier at last seven races and 13 of 22 on the season, scored his fifth win of the season and the 20th of his Pro Stock career.

Edwards got his day off to a big start by pounding out a 6.509, the quickest pass in class history and a new national record (backed up by his 6.53 qualifying pass) to dismiss V. Gaines. After running 6.53 in round two, the sixth quickest pass in the history, to trailer Brogdon, Edwards caught a real break when Jason Line red-lighted against him in the semifinals. Edwards' ART/Young Life Pontiac experienced tire shake and got very loose, almost crossing the centerline, but he hauled it back under control and coasted to a 17-second win to reach his 10th final of the season and the 39th final of his Pro Stock career.

Anderson, who was going for his 60th career win in his 87th final, had reached the money round, his fifth of the season, with a strong car of his own. Anderson's Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac had been spectacularly consistent in the first three rounds, running a career-best 6.517 at 212.36 in round one to defeat Dave Northrop and reset the national speed record. Anderson then beat his brother-in-law, Ronnie Humphrey, in a narrow 6.528 to 6.55 battle, and then raced past upset-minded Larry Morgan, the 12th place driver in points, with another 6.528, both of which were the third quickest passes in class history.

The Full Throttle Drag Racing Series takes a three-week break before returning to action on October 29 at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, the penultimate round of both the 2009 season and Countdown to 1 playoff (MFL photography provided by NHRA.com)

VIRGINIA NHRA NATIONALS
Virginia Motorsports Park, Petersburg, VA

www.nhra.com

Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
Grand Prix of Miami, October 8-10
Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida

Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards won their second consecutive victory at Homestead, with Edwards going from fourth to first on the final restart of Saturday's Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season-ending Grand Prix of Miami to seal the team's first GT Class victory of 2009.

While Joao Barbosa and Hurley Haywood also won Saturday, Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney finished fourth to capture their second Daytona Prototype championship.

The race ended under caution following a multi-car spin on a restart with six minutes remaining, when Jared Beyer was turned around in front of a pack of cars - eliminating Beyer while damaging many of the GT contenders. That gave the GT victory to Collins and Edwards in the No. 07 Team Drinkin' Mate Pontiac GXP.R, while Leh Keen and Dirk Werner captured the championship with a third-place finish.

Collins finished the year second in the points (359-334). He entered the race still eligible for the GT title, but was eliminated when Keen ran the 30 minutes needed to score points in the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 to clinch his first title. Werner, who won the title for the team in 2007, ran 30 minutes to join Keen atop the standings following a third-place finish.

Liddell held the lead in the No. 57 Stevenson Automotive/BryanMark Financial Pontiac GXP.R started by Andrew Davis on the final restart, but was bottled up in heavy traffic as Edwards went by. Liddell had led three times for a race-high 37 before finishing second.

Nick Ham won the GT pole in the No. 70 Castrol/Syntec Mazda RX-8, and joined co-driver Sylvain Tremblay in leading three times for 34 laps. However, Ham cut a tire after contact with Liddell while battling for the lead in heavy traffic, and held on to finish fifth. John Potter and Spencer Pumpelly finished fourth in the No. 65 TRG/Magnus Racing Porsche GT3.

In the DPs, Barbosa passed Scott Pruett on the back straight with 28 minutes - or Lap 84 of 100 -  remaining in the two-and-half hour race to score his first Daytona Prototype triumph, while Haywood - a late addition to the Brumos lineup - scored his first victory since winning a pair of races at Homestead and Phoenix in 2003.

It marked the second Daytona Prototype championship for Fogarty and Gurney in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley. They finished six points ahead (337-331) of Pruett and Memo Rojas, who finished second in the No. 01 TELMEX Lexus Riley. Brian Frisselle and Max Angelelli entered the race second in the standings but finished seventh in the No. 10 SunTrust Ford Dallara. They finished the year third in the championship with 325 points.

Fogarty won his fifth consecutive pole and six in seven races in Friday's qualifying, and led twice for 45 of the 100 laps. Gurney took over and ran in position to take the title throughout his run.

Both Rojas and Pruett each took turns in the lead, but Barbosa went by and led the final 17 circuits. Pruett, who shared the 2004 and 2008 Daytona Prototype titles, finished second in the points for the fourth time.

Mark Patterson and Ozz Negri teamed to finish third in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley. It was their eighth top-10 finish of the season and their first podium. Darren Law and David Donohue, winners of the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, finished fifth in the No. 58 Brumos Porsche Riley.

The race was slowed by six cautions for 25 laps, slowing the winning average speed to 90.766 mph.

Cheers to Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty and the entire GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing team for a successful Daytona Prototype season, as well as Grand Touring's Dirk Werner, Leh Keen and Farnbacher Loles Racing for their victorious efforts in 2009. The 2010 chase begins anew for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series where it does every year, at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, January 30-31 at Daytona International Speedway in Florida (MFL photography provided by Grand-Am Media).  

GRAND PRIX OF MIAMI
Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, FL

www.grand-am.com

Skunk2 and Compass360 Racing win Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner championship

Compass360 Racing and its trio of Skunk2-sponsored Civic Sis claimed the Grand-Am Street Tuner champion title October 4 at VIR (Virginia International Raceway) and went on to nab First Place in both Driver Points and Manufacturer Points categories. The win marks the first championship for the Skunk2-backed C360R team as well as for Driver Points champ Christian Miller and Manufacturer Points winner Honda.

After 10 races across eight states and provinces in the U.S. and Canada, and nearly 2,000 miles of racing completed, the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge ended its 2009 season on VIR's 3.27-mile, 17-turn course. After all was said and done, the C360R team closed out 2009 as the top-finishing Honda at all 12 races, scoring every point possible for the title manufacturer. A four-hour combined Grand Sport/Street Tuner class race, the season-closing Bosch Engineering Octoberfest was the first of its kind. Miller, who co-drove the C360R No. 74 Civic Si along with Randy Pobst, entered Sunday's season finale with a 31-point lead and a total of five podium finishes, including victories at Homestead Miami Speedway and New Jersey Motorsports Park where the team clinched a three-way victory earlier this year.

Miller qualified seventh in the No. 74 Skunk2-powered Civic Si and only needed to complete 30 minutes to earn his, Compass 360's, and Honda's first Driver, Team and Manufacturer titles, respectively. And Miller did so handily, hobbling the Si in with a broken axle after more than an hour on track—more than enough time to secure the victory. "My hat's off once again to the team. Every single race this season Compass 360 has given me a flawless car," Miller says. "'Don't crash the car' was the message I'd been given repeatedly." Despite the broken axle, Miller was still able to flash a smile after picking up his first series title.

"Absolute reliability." That's what Miller, who finished the season with two victories and nine top 10s, says about the Skunk2-powered Civic Si. "Everybody—Honda, Skunk2, Compass 360—every single person involved with this team made this happen."

Skunk2 is a long-time, integral partner with Canadian-based Compass360 Racing, offering engine, suspension, and technical support.

www.skunk2.com
www.compass360.com/racing/2008/

IndyCar Series
Firestone Indy 300, October 9-10
Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida

Dario Franchitti claimed his second IndyCar Series championship by winning the Firestone Indy 300 on Saturday evening at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Franchitti and Target Chip Ganassi Racing used fuel strategy to beat second place Ryan Briscoe of Team Penske to the finish by 4.788 seconds. Franchitti's teammate Scott Dixon finished third.

Somewhat fortuitously, the top three finishers were the only drivers who entered the season-ending race with a chance to win the title on the 1.5-mile oval. The trio qualified as the top three of the field, and in the end Franchitti finished the season with 616 points, Dixon with 605 and Briscoe with 604.

It was the second consecutive title for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Dixon winning it all in 2008. Franchitti won his first season championship in 2007 with Andretti Green Racing.

The three title contenders led 198 of the 200 laps. Briscoe took the lead on Lap 151, with Dixon in close pursuit, when Franchitti entered the pits for the final time on Lap 150. Briscoe and Dixon had stopped on Lap 144.

Briscoe and Dixon then pulled away from Franchitti over the next 35 laps, as Briscoe led Dixon by .1850 of a second on Lap 187. Franchitti was the only other car on the lead lap, 23.8841 seconds behind Briscoe.

But dramatically Briscoe and Dixon were forced to pit for fuel in the last eight laps, Dixon on Lap 192 and Briscoe on Lap 194. Franchitti was able to stretch his fuel over the last 50 laps for his fifth victory of the season, a career best.

Franchitti's average speed was 201.420 mph, the second-fastest race in series history. It was the first caution-free race in series history.

Congratulations to Dario Franchitti and Target Chip Ganassi Racing for another successful year. Look for news on the 2010 IndyCar Series schedule, set to kick off in March, in the weeks ahead (MFL photography provided by IndyRacing.com).

FIRESTONE INDY 300
Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, FL

www.indycar.com

SCCA SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship
Monterey Sports Car Championships, October 9-11
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, California

Pierre Kleinubing led Sunday's Monterey Sports Car Championships from start to finish, capturing with the victory his fifth SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship. Teammate Peter Cunningham and James Clay completed the podium, finishing second and third respectively, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Kleinubing started his No. 42 Acura/RealTime/Red Line Acura TSX on the pole and knew he had to win if he was to have a chance to secure the Drivers' Championship and the Manufacturers' Championship for Acura. He did just that, taking the lead on the standing start and leading every lap to secure his second win of 2009 and 29th of his career. He beat Cunningham to the stripe by 0.610-second, averaging 72.615 mph.

Kleinubing came into the race 54 points behind Jason Saini and Acura was one point behind Mazda. With the pole and Saini's eighth-place qualifying effort, Kleinubing picked up 15 points on the leader. Saini needed to get into the top five in order to win the title, but finished eighth in his No. 74 MAZDASPEED/Stoptech/ProParts MAZDA6.

As the team owner of RealTime Racing, Cunningham's primary goal was to secure the Manufacturers' Championship for Acura, entering the weekend one point behind Mazda. Kleinubing's pole tied the Championship, meaning whichever brand finished ahead would take the title.

Clay started second in the No. 36 BimmerWorld/GearWrench BMW 328i, but struggled off the line, falling to fourth. From there, he waged a fierce battle with the No. 75 MAZDASPEED/Stoptech/ProParts MAZDA6 of Chip Herr.

On Lap 8, the two made contact going into the Andretti Hairpin, allowing Nick Esayian to move past both into third place in the No. 34 BimmerWorld/GearWrench BMW 328i. A four-lap caution from Laps 8 through 12 bunched the group back up, and on Lap 15 Clay was around Herr, taking third from his teammate Esayian two laps later.

Clay was able to catch the leading Acura duo, setting the fastest race lap of 1:38.112 (82.118 mph) in the process. While he was able to catch Cunningham, he was not able to make a pass.

Esayian finished fourth to earn his fourth top-five finish of the season. Making a cameo appearance, and his first start since the season-opener at Sebring, Herr was Mazda's top car throughout the race, and finished fifth. Charles Espenlaub (MAZDA6), Seth Thomas (BMW 328i) and Saini (MAZDA6) finished sixth through eighth.

Making his first-career World Challenge start, Graham Downey, of Morgan Hill, Calif., finished ninth in the No. 7 Redstone/Blacktrax Honda Civic Si, advancing four positions and earning the Sunoco Hard Charger award.

Kleinubing tied Cunningham and Michael Galati in securing his fifth World Challenge Championship, although all of Kleinubing's have come in the Touring Car class while Cunningham and Galati have won in multiple categories. Kleinubing finished with 973 points to Saini's 960. Defending Champion Cunningham finished third, with 921, followed by Thomas (878) and Espenlaub (847).

Acura earned its eighth Manufacturers' Championship, the 13th for American Honda in total. It finished with 72 points to Mazda's 65. BMW finished third, with 42.

So ends another season of the SCCA SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship. Check back here for an update on the series' 2010 schedule as soon as it becomes available.

MONTEREY SPORTS CAR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, CA
(PLEASE GRAB RESULTS FROM:

www.world-challenge.com

Coming up:

Formula DRIFT
Round 7: Judgment Day, October 16-17
Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Irwindale, CA
www.formulad.com

Formula One
Brazilian Grand Prix, October 16-18
Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Sao Paulo, Brazil
www.formula1.com

National Guard American Drag Racing League
LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals V, October 23-24
Texas Motorplex, Ennis, TX
www.adrl.us

World Rally Championship
Wales Rally GB, October 23-25  
Cardiff, Wales, UK 
www.wrc.com

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, October 29 - November 1 
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV
www.nhra.com

Super Lap Battle Time Attack
Finals, November 11
Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow, CA
superlapbattle.com

Redline: Time Attack! Series
Round 8, November 14-15
Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, CA
www.redlinetimeattack.com

Battle of the Imports
Round 6: BOTI Southern California, November 22
Auto Club Dragway, Fontana, CA  
www.battleoftheimports.com

Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
Rolex 24 at Daytona, January 30-31, 2010
Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
www.grand-am.com