"I saw Tim in my mirrors, but I knew after one lap that I had a good car, so I wanted run a couple qualifying laps and try to get away from him," Hand said.

That strategy worked until lap three when officials were forced to a full-course yellow condition for two off-course excursions. S3s Bruno Lambert and World Speed's Frank McCormick were both missing even before the 21-car field completed the first lap, so emergency crews were dispatched to retrieve the drivers and their damaged race cars. Luckily, both were unharmed. Lambert, however, had been fighting a sinus infection all weekend and was never feeling 100 percent. He also had to start from the last position, per series qualifying rules, because he changed tires for the race.

With the track clear for racing, the green was shown again on lap six, which is when Enoch spun as he was chasing Hand. "I got up to Joey on the re-start, but I had to back off when the wind took the air off my
wing," Enoch said, who quickly recovered and re-joined the pack in ninth place.

Hand's margin was now more than five seconds, but the battle for second was just heating up among Benson, Stewart, Jeff Bucknum, Brandon Peterson and Matt Beardsley. Missing from this group was Michael Potekhen, who was running in seventh, but made an early pit stop in an attempt to repair the muffler on his Sports Car Ltd.-prepared racer. On the start, Potekhen was apparently rear-ended and then ran off course at Turn One--both of which may have cracked the exhaust system. He re-joined in 12th and proceeded to charge back through the field. Also making a stop was Sara Senske, whose Lynx Racing/S3 car had developed a push she hoped the team could remedy in the pits while the race was under yellow.

Back up front, the top three remained intact with Hand steadily increasing his lead over Benson and Stewart. Bucknum, however, was struggling with an ill-handling race car that was missing its right-front wing from a start mishap. He was falling back through the field and eventually pitted on lap 14--not to replace the wing, but to tighten a loose left-rear wheel nut. Bucknum, who was driving teammate's Pierre Ehret's car this weekend, admitted he missed a shift on the start, which may have caused part of an accordion effect behind him.

Perhaps the best race on the track was between S3 teammates Benson and Stewart, who were both intent on being the first to follow Hand to the checker. The pair ran close for 14 laps with Benson leading all but one lap when Stewart snuck by to claim second. Benson retorted with a pass in Turn 10 that stuck to the finish.

"Lapped traffic toward the end made things kind of interesting," Benson admitted. "I had trouble getting by and Tophie was there to take advantage," the 19-year-old Canadian resident added. "I was nervous the whole time," said 16-year-old Stewart. "My hands were tingling I was hanging on so tight."

With less than five laps to go and barring any bad luck, Hand was in control of the race and Benson and Stewart looked set to make their first podium appearances. Enoch, however, had charged back up to fourth, relegating Peterson to fifth. Potekhen also worked his way back up through the field, finishing a respectable sixth, despite his lap-four pit stop.

Grant Ryley was World Speed's highest finishing driver, turning in a seventh-place finish. Matt Beardsley, who had been running as high as fourth, finished eighth after a bad start and a couple on-course spins. "If
I had to do it all over again, I'd want to repeat the race from lap 12 with the same car because the car was great, but I made a couple mistakes," said the U.S. Ski Team member. Earning his second top-10 finish of the season was Bob Negron, who placed ninth, just ahead of Senske.

In Star Mazda Series West Division Championship point standings with four races remaining, Hand still holds the lead with 321 points. Enoch is second at 298 with Bucknum third at 280. Potekhen and Peterson are tied in fourth with 260 points each.

The next West Division race is Aug. 28 at Heartland Park, in Topeka, Kan. For more information about the Star Mazda Series West Division Championship, please contact series administrator Gary Rodrigues at (818) 909-5319 or check out the Star Mazda Series website at www.starmazda.com.
--Jane Anderson

Star Mazda Series West Division Championship
Top 10 Point Standings (After 8 of 12 rounds):
1. Hand, 321; 2. Enoch, 298; 3. Bucknum, 280; 4. Potekhen, 260; Peterson, 260; 6. Senske, 255; 7. Benson, 227; 8. Beardsley, 224; 9. Lambert, 209; 10. Ryley, 199.

Star Mazda Series West Division Championship
Masters Top 10 Point Standings (After 8 of 12 rounds):
1. Hatle, 144; 2. Emanuel, 123; 3. McCormick, 91; 4. Dick Downs, 52; 5. Tom Mabey, 40.