Braselton, GA, October 11, 2002 – In the end, the championship was settled by a single point.  Despite wining his fourth race of the season, Moses Smith’s championship dreams fell short by a single point today as Guy Cosmo was able to hold onto his points lead by the slimmest of margins to claim the 2002 Star Mazda Series North American Championship with 344 points Smith’s 343.

“Talk about an emotional roller-coaster this weekend,” Cosmo said afterwards. “Starting from the back after my qualifying mishap, to climb through the field, only to lose second gear with two laps to go and just hold onto enough positions to stay on top. The Racers Edge Motorsports crew has worked so hard all year long trying to make a name for themselves and this championship seals it for us.”

While Cosmo was starting down in the 33 position, Smith was faced with an uphill battle himself, starting in 18^th, as he hoped to place pressure on Cosmo for the title in his R-Sport/HASA Pool Products Mazda.  “I really wanted to win the race today for R-Sport and all the HASA Pool Products people, and had to fight tooth and nail with Luis Schiavo,” Smith commented. “Everybody was on top of their game today and we just fell one point short.”

Following Smith to the finish line, nose-to-tail, Caracas, Venezuela, native Schiavo matched his career best finish in Star Mazda Series competition with his second place finish. “I was battling some oversteer and was trying my best to hold onto the lead, but Moses was stronger today,” Schiavo said, adding, “I’m already looking to get them next year.”

Claiming the Rookie-of-the-Year title was third place finisher Justin Pruskowski, wrapping up a successful debut season for Quantum Autosports’ father-son team, with his father Joe claiming the Masters Series Championship for drivers aged 45 and older. “At the start of the race I was able to get inside of Bryan Watts but Doug Peterson was so strong early in the race that I could only chase him in second,” Justin Pruskowski commented. “Then Schiavo and Smith were able to get around me, but I wound up passing Doug and held off Ian Henderson on the final lap.”

Following the prevailing theme of close finishes; Rob Walker captured the Expert Series Championship in his Star Race Cars Mazda by one point ahead of John Mefford and his Racers Edge Motorsports machine. “My engineer Sean Mellick and Mechanic Mike Hernandez gave me a great car,” Walker said. “I’d like to thank everyone at Valley Motor Center for helping me win this championship.”

For the second race in a row, Mefford was forced to drive through the field after difficulties in qualifying, finishing an impressive tenth after starting 30^th, however it was one position to few. “I made up a bunch of positions at the start but had a gearbox problem trying to get into fourth gear for a few laps,” Mefford said. “After the full-course caution I was able to pick drivers off one by one but Justin had a tremendous race for the rookie title and Walker was able to hold onto the Expert Series lead.”