MILLVILLE, N.J. - With a whopping 14.659-second victory in the second half of a doubleheader at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Sunday, Andersen Racing’s Peter Dempsey reaffirmed his points lead in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear with just two races remaining.
When the complete points earned are calculated, Dempsey now leads Joel Miller by five points, 354 to 349. The best 11 of each driver’s 12 races count for the championship, however. With the one drop Dempsey is again on top, leading John Edwards by three points, 337 to 334. The championship will come down to the last race, as unofficially the current top seven still have a shot. That includes two other Andersen Racing drivers: Charles Hall and Tom Gladdis.
To date Dempsey has won more races than any other driver in the series, as he’s been triumphant four times. Edwards has three victories. Andersen Racing’s Hall and Gladdis have one victory each, as does Miller.
Andersen Racing, which was won six of the 10 races run so far this year, leads the team point standings by 77 points over JDC Motorsports, 318 to 241.
Dempsey, of Ashbourne, County Meath, Ireland, started third Sunday in his No. 21, which is sponsored by LotusWorks, Center Jewellers.ie, Quayside.ie, Motorsport Ireland, Allied Interior Products and Trojan Complete IT Solutions. He blasted by Miller, who started second, going into Turn 1 on the first lap, and then zeroed in on the polesitter, Edwards.
His chance came on lap 23 when a lapped car spun in front of Edwards, forcing him to take evasive action. Dempsey avoided them both and took the lead, and was never again headed.
Dempsey enjoyed a huge advantage over the second-place driver, Alex Ardoin, at the checkered flag on lap 32, thoroughly to the delight of the guests of Allied Interior Products on hand as well as his father, Cliff, who surprised his son by flying in from Ireland to attend the doubleheader.
Edwards finished third and Miller fourth. Andersen Racing’s Hall, of Sheffield, England, rounded out the top five with the Palmetto, Fla. -based team’s No. 77, which is sponsored by Blimpie, AccentBanking.com, Pardoes Solicitors and Allied Interior Products.
Team and series newcomer Valle Makela of Laitila, Finland finished seventh on Sunday with the No. 31, which carried the colors of Amitec and Allied Building Products. The team’s fourth driver here, Tom Gladdis of the Isle of Wight and Gibraltar, spun on the first lap after contact with Billy Goshen and had to pit for the radiator of his Marrache & Co. No. 5 to be cleaned of debris. He rejoined the field in last place but regrouped to place 13th in the 23-car field.
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