Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Round 7 Road America. Mt. Juliet, TN (August 24, 2009) - Road America, one of the best road courses in the United States. Round 7 of the Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Series was held at Road America as part of the Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase. Stan Wilson, driver of the No. 92 NetEvidence/Alliance1/StupidFastTires.com/Wilson & Wilson CPA Mazda MX-5, was very excited to return to Road America. Stan missed the races last year at Road America due to a family wedding. The annual trip to Wisconsin is enjoyed by the entire Wilson Racing team. The fans are fantastic, the food is great, and the weather is always nice. Thursday was the promoter test day, and right off the trailer, Stan was at the top of the speed charts. The car unloaded nearly perfect for the track and the entrie team was able to go out and enjoy a great meal with smiles all around. The first official practice session for the weekend was Friday morning. Track conditions were ideal. The air was cool and the track had a lot of grip. Stan posted 2nd fastest for the official practice sessions and 2nd fastest on the day going into Saturday's qualifying. Qualifying on Saturday was at 8:30am. The track was in great shape, the air was cool, and the tires were new. The times all fell as the speed went up. Stan ran almost a full second faster in qualifying over practice. The times were all very close throughout the field. Stan ended up in the 4th starting position for the race only 4/10ths off of the pole. The rest of the day was spent watching the other support racing series races and spending time with the fans and crew. Sunday was race day, and it was overcast with a chance of rain at any minute. It rained Sunday morning around 11am and washed the track prior to the ALMS race. The day's races had dried the track out well, but would it stay dry for the race? Round 7 of the MX-5 Cup Championship did not start until 5:15pm, the last race of the day. The radar showed the rain was going to hold off! The cars took to the track just after the ALMS awards were given out. Stan had gone over every inch of the car with the crew and they had developed a race strategy for making the most out of the car during the race. The pace lap was underway and the radio was full of chatter back and forth to Stan. The slow climb up the hill at Road America to the start/finish line seemed to take forever. Finally, the air was cleared and the next spoken words, were "GREEN! GO GO GO." As the flagman displayed the green flag, Stan took off and tucked right in behind Todd Lamb in the No. 84 car. The No. 92 Mazda moved from 4th on the grid to 2nd by the end of lap 2!! What a start!! The draft is HUGE in these Mazda MX-5 Cup cars at Road America. Two cars drafting together can pass a single car with ease. Stan was racing hard with three other cars in 3rd, 4th, and 5th place over the majority of the race. Several times during the laps, Stan would be back as far as 4th or 5th and then retake the 2nd position in a brake zone or corner. The action was intense, the driving was professional, and the fun factor was the highest it has been all season. Drivers working with their respective teammates or friends to pass another competitor only to be repassed during the same lap. Seven minutes remained in the race. Stan was in 2nd place and slowly closing on the leader. Three cars lined up leaving turn 3 and drafted together to try and get past Stan on the long back straight. One move is all you can make according to the rules. Stan had to put his car in the correct place at the correct time to try and keep the attack at bay. They attempted to pass on the left entering turn 5! Stan ran the defensive line into turn 5 on the left side of the track sacrificing entry speed into the corner and the faster exit line out of the corner. Exiting turn 5 one of the cars got a nose along side Stan's No. 92 going up the hill toward turn 6. Then contact from the right side! The two cars seperated and the contact was of no concern, however, the cars came together again and this time Stan was pushed off the track driver's right under the bridge. Stan saved it and reentered the track in 5th position. It took the rest of that lap to pull to the rear bumper of the 4th place car. The white flag flew at the start finish line and Stan was in 5th place. Entering turn 5, Stan was able to move back to 4th place and pulled to the rear bumper of the 3rd place car exiting Canada corner, turn 12. But the 3rd and 4th place cars were drafting together leaving turn 14 and Stan had no drafting help. The checkered flags flew, and Stan came home in 4th place to complete round seven of the Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Series. He was just 3/10ths back from the 2nd place and 3rd place finishers at the end. "I had a great car today, I had a ton of fun racing out there and just wish it had not ended so soon. The time just flew by and the race was over before I knew it," said Wilson. "If we had one more lap," he laughed. "I want to thank everyone that helped make this weekend such a success. The support of Mazda, NetEvidence, Alliance1, Carbotech Brakes, StupidFastTires.com, and Wilson and Wilson CPA is just fantastic. A big -THANKS- to all of them," said Wilson. Click to send e-mail © 1999 - Wilson Racing, Inc. All rights reserved.