Miata Atlantic: Road Atlanta race two notes

Buras Needs Last Lap Magic (Again) to get Miata Cup Sweep at Road Atlanta

BRASELTON, Ga. (May 11, 2005) -- Local driver Todd Buras, of Atlanta, is quickly developing a reputation as having a flair for the dramatic.

For the second time in as many SCCA Pro Racing Mazdaspeed Miata Cup Presented by Hankook events, Buras started from the pole but then had to dodge through last-lap carnage in his kkrr.com/bsiracing.com 1994 Miata 1.8 to come back and win the 15-lap, Round Two Saturday race at Road Atlanta.

Tom Long, of Raleigh, N.C., also skirted through danger on the last lap to finish second in his Glenn Long/Long Road Racing 1990 Miata 1.6. Payton Wilson, of Ganesville, Va., Hugh Sutton, of Springfield, Mo., and Jason Saini, of Lake Forest, Ill., completed the top five.

The win, the second of Buras' career, completed the Road Atlanta sweep as he also won Friday's race, but it took an incident just two turns from the finish for Buras to make his race-winning move.

In a set-up similar to Friday's race, Buras entered the tenth turn of the 12-turn Road Atlanta course in third place, behind then-leaders Jim Daniels, of Germantown, Tenn., and Matthew Pombo, of Duluth, Ga. Daniels and Pombo then made contact just in front of Buras and Long, sending both drivers off course.

Buras recovered first and in enough time to bolt down the famed Road Atlanta hill to the checkered flag ahead of Long and Wilson, while the incident pushed Daniels back to eighth and Pombo to 18th.

Wilson, in his King RAT Motorsports 1999 Miata 1.8, closed out a solid weekend that saw him earn second-place on Friday before Saturday's third-place showing. He held the lead in Saturday's race briefly on lap 12, after starting fifth, before settling back into third.

Chris Puskar, of Chesterland, Ohio, earned the Sunoco Hard Charger Award after improving six positions from his 15th-starting spot to finish ninth. The honor came late, however, as a timing and scoring error led officials to initially present Derek Jones, of Philadelphia, Pa., the award for his move from 24th to 19th.

Rounds Three and Four of the Mazdaspeed Miata Cup Presented by Hankook are scheduled for May 27-28 at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn.

-scca pro racing-