“I’d say this is the most fun I’ve had in a race car since karting 15 years ago. That was so much fun. Probably something like 10 steps. It was crazy,” said Lucas Barnett, Mazda Miata driver and Apex member. And that was the story of the largest field ever of Mazda MX5 Cup cars at the Scottsdale Ferrari Apex Challenge series presented by Coffin & Trout. The fast-growing class witnessed a four-car train pulling away early and battling within inches of each other for 30 minutes.
“I forget how things happened, but there were a lot of changes in leadership,” he added. “That’s the fun of it. You think you’re doing well, but suddenly you’re not and you’re in fourth or fifth place, and before you know it you’re at the front. You can make passes very easily in that car. It was great.”
There were four lead changes in total. Tom Tait, fresh off his Ford Mustang Challenge Series season, took the MX5 Cup victory in his first MX5 Cup race. He was the pole sitter, but at one point finished fourth before working his way back to the front. Barnett – who started fourth – took second after a spirited pass on the penultimate lap of Turn 7 on Joey Rainey. The points battle in the MX5 Cup after two rounds is extremely close with five riders separated by just 13 points.
There was excitement in the air all weekend. After practice and qualifying, Apex Motor Club members and friends were greeted with a flag jumping demonstration from neighboring Skydive Phoenix, featuring Chris Stapleton’s national anthem and news that the final stretch of new tarmac was in place the night before, putting Apex a distance of 7.76 miles reached. circuit and the longest in Arizona.
“We are 4.5 miles in total, which is a mile longer than Road America,” said Jason Plotke, CEO of Apex. “We have a surface that is better than Miami GP, because the team that paved Miami just paved Apex. We couldn’t be more excited and hopefully we’ll be racing this bad boy in January 2025.”
Back on track the Radical class put on the usual close-range show. Chris McMurry took pole overall and the Gold class, surviving multiple restarts to win flag-to-flag. Andy Voelkel and Ralph Gilles started second and third and finished in that order. Lucky Ludwig recovered from a crash in the previous race to finish fourth and earn hard honors, taking three places.
Radicals newcomer Ryan Fisher is the early season favorite in the Silver class, taking his second straight win and pole in the premier class while finishing sixth overall. He was followed by Evan Wolf and Carl Fredrickson, both Silver Class contenders in their own right.
“Consistency is key and it helps a lot to have the team and the car where the driver likes it,” said Voelkel. “Race 1 (in October) didn’t really go the way I wanted, so I did some testing with Crown Racing, made a lot of set-up changes and called the car back to me, and it made a world of difference. If you have a car that you are confident in, it helps you complete laps consistently.”
The GT4 race lived up to the standard set elsewhere in Round 2, with its own fierce battle. Scott Dehlendorf took pole and led handily in his Porsche Clubsport. Behind him, a five-car, three-make battle was underway between Matt Williams, Matt Crandall, Joey Rainey, Joe Rainey and Bill Lawrence.
Joey Rainey weaved through traffic and eventually passed the remaining group. And after Williams and Crandall swapped positions several times, it was Crandall who finally made up for what looked like the final podium spot with just five minutes to go.
However, leader Dehlendorf suffered a mechanical failure in the closing laps, giving Joey Rainey his second GT4 victory this season and his seventh consecutive victory last season. Crandall finished second in his first GT4 race at Apex, with Joe Rainey completing the podium.
In Time Attack, last season’s champion Jeff Koning returned after missing the first round to earn first place, followed by first-round winner Star Sawalqah (sa-wall-kah) and Bret Voelkel, who now second in points behind Sawalqah.
Round 3 of the Scottsdale Ferrari Apex Challenge Series, presented by Coffin & Trout, takes place on December 14. If you are interested in becoming an Apex member and racer and getting involved, please get in touch here. Here’s a look at the early season rankings:
Radical gold
52 – Chris McMurry
33 – Andy Voelkel
32 – Ralph Gilles
22 – Jason Plotke
20 – Jace Bacon
Radical silver
51 – Ryan Visser
31 – Jason Dyer
31 – Evan Wolf
29 – Niko Kourouglos
27 – Carl Fredrickson
GT3
25 – Brannan Hankins
20 – Chris Hanson
16 – Ralf Ludwig
13 – Jordan Darling
GT4
51 – Joey Rainey
36 – Joe Rainey
29 – Matt Williams
23 – Scott Dehlendorf
22 – Bill Lawrence
Mazda Miata
39 – Jessica Rainey
29 – Joey Rainey
29 – Joe Rainey
27 – Jacob Rainey
26 – Tom Tait
Time Attack street car
45 – Star Sawalqah
32 – Brett Voelkel
25 – Jeff King
20 – Jordan Sawalqah
13 – Kent Kirimli
