2008 Star Mazda Championship

The 2008 Star Mazda Championship was a season of the open wheel racing series the Star Mazda Championship. It consisted of a 12-race schedule beginning in March and ending in October, with only the best eleven race results counting towards the championship. As with 2007, the series featured races exclusively on road and street courses. In addition to the main championship that is typically tested by young, developing drivers, there were also additional class titles for older drivers.

John Edwards won the championship ahead of Joel Miller and Peter Dempsey despite missing the first round of the championship.^[1] Edwards won four races, the same as Dempsey, but Dempsey had three finishes of 20th or worse, one of which counted in his points total, while Edwards worst points-scoring finish was 4th. Miller won only once, in the season opener. Noted British drivers Charles Hall and Tom Gladdis also participated in the series and finished fifth and sixth in points, respectively. Each won a single race. British driver Richard Kent won the final race of the season in his series debut, despite not being registered for the championship. Notable international female drivers Natalia Kowalska and Michele Bumgarner also competed in the series despite not being registered for the championship.^[2]

Chris Cumming won the Expert class for drivers 30 and older and Chuck Hulse won the Masters class championship for drivers 40 and older.^[3]

Race calendar and results

Round	Circuit	Location	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Supporting
1	Sebring International Raceway	Sebring, Florida	March 14	Joel Miller	Tom Gladdis	Joel Miller	JDC MotorSports	American Le Mans Series
2	Miller Motorsports Park	Tooele, Utah	May 17	John Edwards	John Edwards	John Edwards	AIM Autosport	American Le Mans Series
3	Watkins Glen International	Watkins Glen, New York	June 7	Alex Ardoin	Charles Hall	Charles Hall	Andersen Racing	Grand Am Rolex Sports Cars
4	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	July 26	Tom Gladdis	Tom Gladdis	Tom Gladdis	Andersen Racing	stand-alone
5	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	July 27	Tom Gladdis	Tom Gladdis	John Edwards	AIM Autosport	stand-alone
6	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 9	John Edwards	Peter Dempsey	Peter Dempsey	Andersen Racing	American Le Mans Series
7	Circuit Trois-Rivières	Trois-Rivières, Quebec	August 17	Peter Dempsey	Peter Dempsey	Peter Dempsey	Andersen Racing	stand-alone
8	Mosport International Raceway	Bowmanville, Ontario	August 23	John Edwards	Peter Dempsey	Peter Dempsey	Andersen Racing	American Le Mans Series
9	New Jersey Motorsports Park	Millville, New Jersey	September 13	Joel Miller	John Edwards	John Edwards	AIM Autosport	stand-alone
10	New Jersey Motorsports Park	Millville, New Jersey	September 14	John Edwards	Peter Dempsey	Peter Dempsey	Andersen Racing	stand-alone
11	Road Atlanta	Braselton, Georgia	October 3	Peter Dempsey	Peter Dempsey	John Edwards	AIM Autosport	American Le Mans Series
12	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California	October 18	Peter Dempsey		Richard Kent	Andersen Racing	American Le Mans Series

Championship standings

Driver's

Pos	Driver	SEB	SLC	WGL	POR		ROA	TRO	MOS	NJ		ATL	LAG	Points
Overall
1	John Edwards		1	6	26	1	2	2	4	1	3	1	2	422
2	Joel Miller	1	3	2	22	3	19	4	2	2	4	2	4	406
3	Peter Dempsey	3	4	4	24	27	1	1	1	3	1	19	3	398
4	Alex Ardoin	4	10	3	2	6	4	3	5	23	2	18	5	365
5	Charles Hall	2	2	1	29	4	3	5	19	6	5	22		342
6	Tom Gladdis	5	5		1	2	5	8	3	5	13	8		334
7	Billy Goshen	10	8	5	3	5	14	19	7	12	6	7	7	324
8	Caio Lara	12	28	22	10	11	8	7	8	16	14	6	6	286
9	Kristy Kester	8	18	13	4	12	7	17	12	13	12	16	10	284
10	Taylor Hacquard	9	6	18	5	10	22	10	20	9	11	10	20	281
11	Scott Rettich	14	24	15	23	18	6	9	21	7	8	5	22	269
12	Chris Cumming	17	15	11	6	8	24	11	13	21	10	17	21	259
13	Jeffery Kester	16	25	20	9	9	20	15	9	8	9	20	19	259
14	Chuck Hulse	18	26	14	13	16	11	12	16	11	15	12	11	259
15	Ernesto Otero	26	13	8	8	7	8	6	6	20	23			243
16	J. W. Roberts	21	19	23	16	20	16	14	14	19	22	14	14	230
17	Rusty Mitchell				19	13	21	20	11	14	18	13	9	203
18	Gerry Kraut	19	17	17	12	28	12		15			11	24	192
19	Rick Rosin	20	14	10						15	16	3	8	176
20	Phil Fogg, Jr.		11		14	14		16	18				13	135
21	Michael Guasch		29		11	22				17	19		16	106
22	Richard Zober		22	16			17			22	17			99
23	Mike Hill	13	9	7										79
24	Eric Freiberg	11	7	21										71
25	Chris Hundley											15	18	45
26	Nick Haye	6												30
27	John Zartarian	7												29
28	Juliana González	15												21
29	Carlos Conde								17					20
30	Cody Jolly		27											14
30	Keith Young	22												14
32	Dan Tomlin, III	23												13
33	Dan Tomlin, Jr.	24												12
34	Yannick Hoffman	25												11
Expert class
1	Chris Cumming	17	15	11	6	8	24	11	13	21	10	17	21	188
2	J. W. Roberts	21	19	23	16	20	16	14	14	19	22	14	14	166
3	Phil Fogg, Jr.		11		14	14		16	18				13	100
4	Richard Zober		22	16			17			22	17			74
5	Dan Tomlin, III	23												14
Masters class
1	Chuck Hulse	18	26	14	13	16	11	12	16	11	15	12	11	192
2	Gerry Kraut	19	17	17	12	28	12		15			11	24	150
3	Michael Guasch		29		11	22				17	19		16	84
4	Chris Hundley											15	18	28
5	Carlos Conde								18					14
5	Keith Young	22												14
6	Dan Tomlin, Jr.	24												12
Unregistered drivers
	Richard Kent												1
	Valle Mäkelä									4	7	21
	Kyle Marcelli											4
	Patrick O'Neill		16		7	17				18	21		15
	Jonny Baker		12	9									23
	Court Vernon											9
	Natalia Kowalska			12	30	29	13	13	10
	Kevin Toledo									10	20
	Bobby Caldwell						10
	Ron White												12
	Michele Bumgarner	27	20	19	27	15
	David House		23		15	21							25
	Bob Kaminsky						15
	Frank McCormick				17	24							17
	Dave Mundy				21		18
	Michael Gesser				18	25
	Stan Kohls		21		20	19
	Brian Johnson				25	23
	Jason Vinkemulder						23
	Pedro Serramalera				28	26

Color	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	4th & 5th place
Light Blue	6th–10th place
Dark Blue	Finished (Outside Top 10)
Purple	Did not finish
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown	Withdrawn (Wth)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
Blank	Not competing

In-line notation
Bold	Pole position (1 point)
Italics	Ran fastest race lap

Note: Expert and Masters classes have different point system than the overall championship.

References

^ 2008 Star Mazda Champion: John Michael Edwards Archived 2010-12-28 at the Wayback Machine, Junior Open Wheel Talent, October 19, 2008, Retrieved 2011-07-25
^ Bumgarner: From karting to formula racing, Manila Standard Today, May 30, 2008, Retrieved 2011-07-04
^ 2008 Star Mazda points Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Star Mazda Championship, Retrieved 2011-07-25

External links

[1] 2008 Star Mazda Champion: John Michael Edwards Archived 2010-12-28 at the Wayback Machine, Junior Open Wheel Talent, October 19, 2008, Retrieved 2011-07-25

[2] Bumgarner: From karting to formula racing, Manila Standard Today, May 30, 2008, Retrieved 2011-07-04

[3] 2008 Star Mazda points Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Star Mazda Championship, Retrieved 2011-07-25

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