Saturday’s race kicked off in a bit of a different way. Spec Miata was grouped with Super Touring and Super Unlimited cars to create room in the schedule for the Spec E46 California Cup race and the Saturday night WERC enduro.
When the green flag flew, it didn’t take long for mixed-class racing to begin in earnest, and just a little longer for an unfortunate crash. That brought out the pace car, and the race finished under yellow, with Nick Stewart finishing in third in Spec Miata.
“Well, the start was a little odd because I’m not used to running with all these different groups with Spec Miata,” he said. “So once we got rolling, then the faster cars started working their way through us right after Cotton Corners. So I started moving out of the way, made it through about a lap or two at pace.”
Sam Spencer had a front-row seat for the argy-bargy in the first few turns, but managed to avoid trouble himself. The racing action, what little there was, didn’t last long and then the double-yellows came out.
“There was some good battling for the first half a lap. We got all jammed up into sweeper and kind of pushed a 944 out wide, but it seemed like his car was fine,” Spencer said. “We got back into the race and we just had a yellow track for the rest of it. Kind of unfortunate but it was definitely hectic and I’m glad my car’s still OK.”
2024 regional points leader Joey Andrews started from second and got out front before the yellows came out, which was essential to him maintaining his points lead for the regional championship. Once he got out in front of his Hicks Motorsports teammate Spencer, he turned several laps and took the checkers under the full-course caution
“As we were navigating through all the traffic and chaos of the — was it 40 cars in track today in our race group? — I found a move to pass on a 944, and passed Sam in the process. That was fun,” Andrews said afterward. “I ended up taking the lead and then the safety car came out literally half a lap later, and it was safety car right until the checkered flag. And that was the end of the race. Under yellow.”
The Teen Mazda Challenge podium was Andrews, Spencer and Christian Hoagland in third.
When Sunday morning dawned, the erratic misfire on the No. 787 Morningstar Racing car was repaired and Sophia Storey was able to join the field for the qualifying race and Sunday’s main. When the green flag dropped, Spencer was able to get ahead of Andrews to take the lead, which he would hold till the end.
“There was a little bit of a scare at the start with Joey, but I was able to get or stay ahead of him,” he said. “Traffic was a lot better today. It was some really, really good passing traffic wise. I got passed in some straights and I got passed around Riverside, so I got to keep most of my speed. Only lost about a second for the lap, which was nice.”
Andrews had second place for roughly half the race, but Storey inched up on him and got around him to take second place. Here again, Andrews’ focus was as much on the regional points championship as it was claiming a spot on the podium.
“Our pace was not terrible at the beginning of the race and then I decided to let Sophia go,” he said. “She was faster on the straightaway, so trying to push her and then my car started to get a little high in temperature, I backed off, but still was able to hold with her. And then from there it’s just a battle of keeping the car on track, bringing it home, which we did. We finished ahead of our championship rivals. So in the long run we scored the points we needed toward the championship, so it was productive.”
Storey’s car was misfiring and pulling timing so badly that she wasn’t able to race on Saturday. It took her crew chief several hours that night to diagnose the failed coolant temperature sensor connector.
“I started in fourth in the main event and I made it to third on the start and then just slowly made my way past Joey,” Storey said. “And then by then Sam had pulled away, so I had to reel him in. And by the time I got there, there was some out-of-class cars passing us and I just didn’t have the time to make it happen. But it was a really good race and I’m happy I got the car figured out.”
The Teen Mazda Challenge podium was the same, with Spencer in first, Storey in second and Andrews in third.
Heading into the last race of the SoCal schedule in November, Andrews was leading the points chase, with Christian Hoagland in second, Samuel Spencer in third, Nick Stewart in fourth and Spencer Douglass in fifth.
