Race one of round three at High Plains Raceway resulted in Zachary Munro qualifying second in Spec Miata behind Warren Dexter and first in the Teen Mazda Challenge group. Munro fought Warren Dexter, Nicolas Aretakis, William Tolley and Tom Lutken for overall position while pulling away from the TMC field.
Ethan Loree was a bit off Munro’s pace this weekend but ran trouble free in race one of the weekend, finishing second in TMC ahead of hard-charging Mitchell Taylor, who edged Natalie Fenaroli for the last TMC podium spot. Fenaroli put on a killer drive in race one after qualifying well just behind Loree on the overall SM grid. Fenaroli’s race pace was good early as she kept Loree at bay for three laps. She then dropped four positions and had to fight her way back up to fourth in TMC after allowing Taylor to pass as he charged through from deep in the pack. Kelly McDonald began learning the ropes by finishing fifth in TMC points.
Race two and round four of the championship battle ended with Munro once again capturing first-place points. But it wasn’t easy because Munro had to fight off Warren Dexter, Tolley and Williams to take first overall in Spec Miata as well as first in TMC. Sitting second in points, Loree continued to struggle a bit with the front runners’ pace but gained valuable second-place TMC points. Fenaroli set a fast pace to hold off Mitchell Taylor for the last podium spot for TMC and third-place points! Taylor rolled in fourth with McDonald in the fifth place points-paying position.
Round five of the Rocky Mountain Region of the Teen Mazda Challenge Series began as before, with Munro once again winning TMC as well as first overall in Spec Miata. An excellent championship run by Zach and his team this weekend, scoring a trifecta. Loree finished with three solid second-place points-paying positions, but had a bit of a rough round three race, falling back on lap three and having to fight his way back to regain the overall positions he had lost. Taylor grabbed third-place honors just ahead of McDonald. Natalie Fenaroli experienced the wrath of the race steward by passing under a yellow flag, erasing an excellent drive, and a last-place finish overall and in TMC.
One would believe that Munro’s points lead would be unbeatable at this point. However, with the two drops required from the season points total, we find that the battle remains very close. A single bad race or two and Munro could be overtaken by any of the top three in points. It is why we race all the races in a series. One never knows!
