TOOELE, Utah (Sept. 19, 2009) 聙聯 Todd Lamb, of Atlanta, Ga., took his seventh-consecutive SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup win in convincing fashion at Miller Motorsports Park. Marc Miller, of Holland, Mich., and Charles Espenlaub, of Lutz, Fla., completed the Round Eight podium.Starting from the pole in his No. 84 AMG/Traqmate/Luna-C MX-5, Lamb held onto the lead as the field fanned out through Turn One. Though Nick Mancuso聙聶s No. 29 Team MER/Lake Forest Sports Cars/Tire Lyna MX-5 filled his mirrors for the opening lap, Lamb quickly settled into a groove, setting the fastest lap of the race, a 3:21.417 (80.180 mph) on lap two. 聙聹I was able to run a steady pace throughout the whole race,聙聺 Lamb said. 聙聹The first lap was pretty slow. We were feeling out the track and the car. Mancuso got a fantastic start. I don聙聶t know where he came from! I looked in my mirror and he was second. That was pretty impressive. From there, I just settled into a rhythm. The car was great, so I just made sure I was running clean and consistent laps.聙聺As the battle for second through fifth raged behind him, Lamb continued to build a large lead around the 23-turn, 4.486-mile road course. Without a single full-course caution period, Lamb sped away from the field to take his seventh MX-5 Cup win in-a-row by 6.077 seconds, averaging 79.559 mph. 聙聹The car is phenomenal,聙聺 Lamb said. 聙聹It聙聶s got a great setup on it and we had a good race strategy. Starting on pole helps, but it聙聶s nice to have AMG prepping the car for me, because all I have to do is shoot the thing around the track and do my thing.聙聺Starting second, Miller had a good run on Lamb as the two sped toward Turn One at the start, but a missed shift in the No. 28 Team MER/MOCA/Race Now for Autism/MMP MX-5 lost the Road Atlanta race winner several positions.聙聹I missed a shift going into Turn One and actually I did it a couple of times in the race,聙聺 Miller said. 聙聹It really wanted to pop into second instead of fourth, which, going into Turn One, isn聙聶t very fun. It聙聶s a fourth-gear corner and it聙聶s really fast. Someone got into the back of me too. I聙聶m sure they weren聙聶t expecting someone to slow as quickly as I did. I actually had a good start heading into Turn One, but then I fell all the way back to fifth. I just had to be patient and wait for an opportunity to work my way back up.聙聺Working the draft and capitalizing on others聙聶 mistakes, Miller was already back up to third by lap three. For the next six laps, Miller hounded the No. 14 AMG MX-5 of Brad Rampelberg, searching for an opportunity to get by and give chase to Lamb. It wasn聙聶t until Espenlaub made his way into fourth, that the two were able to work together to draft past Rampelberg.聙聹 was so strong down the front straightaway,聙聺 recalled Miller. 聙聹I know I rolled through the center of the corner a lot better, but it was kind of tough to get a good run on him. When Charles came up, I was able to get a good draft and it made it easier to go to the inside of Brad in Turn One. From there, I just worked on running clean and waited for Todd to drive off the track, but that never happened.聙聺Finally into the runner-up spot on lap eight, Miller wasn聙聶t optimistic about his chances of catching Lamb in what remained of the 14-lap, 62.804-mile race.聙聹With that large of a gap it would have been really difficult,聙聺 Miller said. 聙聹We were all really close to Todd for the first couple of laps and when Brad got into second it just seemed like the spread kept growing and growing and I just couldn聙聶t get around . It was really frustrating. Once we got around him, the gap equalized a little bit. Todd says he聙聶s running nine-tenths, but I don聙聶t know how he聙聶s doing it if I聙聶m running eleven-tenths!聙聺The runner-up finish was Miller聙聶s sixth of the 2009 season. A winner at the Road Atlanta season opener, Miller remains the only other driver to win a 2009 MX-5 Cup race besides Lamb. Making a guest appearance in MX-5 Cup, Espenlaub, who regularly competes in the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship behind the wheel of a MAZDA6, brought the No. 73 Hale Motorsports/Patron Tequila MX-5 home in third. Starting fourth, Espenlaub initially fell back to 11th, after missing a shift on the start like Miller.聙聹I missed a shift on the start and got bumped around a little bit,聙聺 Espenlaub said. 聙聹We went into Turn One and there was stuff going on all over the place and I was just trying to stay out of trouble, but I think I actually got myself into more trouble.聙聺After charging his way up to fourth by lap eight and working with Miller to move into third the following lap, Espenlaub spent the rest of his race holding off Rampelberg before claiming the final podium spot.聙聹Brad raced me clean,聙聺 Espenlaub recalled. 聙聹He had a couple runs on me here and there. The Hale Motorsports guys did a great job with my MX-5 and it just sort of came into its own there at the end. It became better than it had been, so I was able to hold Brad off, otherwise I probably wouldn聙聶t have been able to.聙聺Returning to MX-5 Cup for the first time since the 2008 season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, defending Miller Motorsports Park race winner Rampelberg, of San Jose, Calif., crossed the finish line in fourth.Though Mancuso, of Mettawa, Ill., had a remarkable start, picking up five positions and moving into second after Turn One, he was shuffled back to fifth by the race聙聶s end. Mark Jenkins advanced two spots from his grid position to finish sixth. He was followed by Justin Piscitell in seventh. Lyonel Kent, Ara Malkhassian and Stan Wilson completed the top 10.Finishing 16th, Randy Hale, of Haddam, Conn., earned the Carbotech Hard Charger Award for advancing four positions in the race.With two races remaining, Lamb now leads the MX-5 Cup Championship by 15 points over Miller (447 to 432). Piscitell is third with 412 points, followed by Zach Ply (351) and Stan Wilson (339).The 2009 SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup season concludes with a doubleheader at VIRginia International Raceway, Oct. 2 聙聯 4. Live timing and scoring, news and notes will be available at .