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TOOELE, Utah (Sept. 11, 2010) 聙聯 Nick Evans, of Powell, Ohio, represented the MAZDASPEED Driver Development Ladder well at Miller Motorsports Park, earning his first career-win in Round 10 of the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Championship. Teammate Jeff Mosing, of Powell, Ohio, and Lyonel Kent, of Knoxville, Tenn., completed the podium, the first of two for the series聙聶 doubleheader finale, part of the Utah 250 race weekend.
Starting from pole in the No. 28 Team MER/Mazda/Sparco MX-5 for the fourth time this season, Evans had plenty of competition heading into the first turn, with the field fanning out four-wide. The polesitter was able to capitalize on his competitors聙聶 mistakes and maintain the lead, but didn聙聶t learn from their example on the following lap.
聙聹I was on the pole and going into Turn One I think Brad got inside me, but then he slid wide and I just tried to out-brake him, because I really didn聙聶t want him to get ahead,聙聺 Evans said. 聙聹I ended up getting back around him, led the first lap and then I made a similar bobble through Turn One that allowed Jesse Combs and Jeff Mosing to get by me. I was back to fourth for the next two or three laps, but fought my way back up to the lead. From that point on, I just tried to be consistent, run good laps and not take too many risks.聙聺
Retaking the lead on lap four with teammate Mosing in tow, Evans held his lead for the remainder of the 21-lap, 64.008-mile race, averaging 81.749 mph.
Coming into Round 10 second on the list of drivers with the most laps led (33 laps), Evans was relieved to finally score his elusive first win, especially having earned his ride in MX-5 Cup via the MAZDASPEED Driver Development Ladder.
聙聹This is awesome,聙聺 beamed Evans. 聙聹I wish I could have scored this earlier in the season, but better late than never. I said in qualifying that I wanted to end the season with a bang. I did it today and hopefully I can do it again tomorrow.聙聺
After qualifying a career-high third in the No. 30 Team MER/Frank聙聶s Int./Race Now For Autism MX-5, Mosing was determined to outdo himself with a career-best performance in the race as well.
聙聹Apparently the start didn聙聶t really matter because we were all piled up four-wide going into Turn One,聙聺 Mosing said. 聙聹It was pretty crazy and I was amazed there wasn聙聶t any contact going on.
聙聹We were all trained-up for awhile and once Rampelberg and Jesse Combs started to tangle up with each other, it broke them away from me and I was able to start reeling in Nick just a bit. I decided we were going to go ahead and work together to try and keep a gap going and keep everybody behind us.聙聺
Though he remained close to his teammate throughout the race, Mosing was never in position to make an attempt for the lead. None the less, he was overjoyed to score his first podium finish.
聙聹It聙聶s pretty amazing,聙聺 Mosing said. 聙聹I聙聶ve been working hard in these cars for about two years. I聙聶ve never been frustrated and always enjoyed racing and was really happy with my performance. This year I聙聶ve done some things to try and work harder at it and the results have been trickling in.
聙聹I聙聶ve been finishing in the top 10 all year, so I can聙聶t be upset about that, but I knew that eventually the results would come. I decided to be patient and keep working hard at it. Eric Foss and Jason Saini at Team MER have helped me a lot by picking at the data and looking at the video. We聙聶ve been improving things little by little and, of course, I聙聶ve got some of the best teammates to run with. They聙聶re about half my age, but I聙聶m still trying to uphold the performance level the team expects.聙聺
Driving the No. 13 ALARA Racing/Bulldog Productions MX-5, Kent was also caught out in the opening-lap rush through Turn One.
聙聹I started fourth and the start was kind of crazy going into Turn One,聙聺 Kent said. 聙聹Starting on the outside is always tough, especially on these busy weekends because of the buildup on the outside line. There was just no grip out there. I got bumped, freight-trained and fell back to about 10th place I think. I was able to claw my way up working with my teammate Jesse Combs.聙聺
After an exciting battle with Brad Rampelberg for the final podium spot, which saw the two drivers exchange positions nearly half a dozen times (three times officially at the line), Kent was able to make it stick on lap 16 and hold it to the checkered flag.
聙聹I got past my teammate and was chasing Brad Rampelberg,聙聺 recalled Kent. 聙聹Brad and I had a good race together. We