PORTLAND, Oregon -- It was another great weekend for the Northwest Autosport team in Portland at the 7th round of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. The team ran four drivers for the event, three of which finished in the top ten. Local hero Ryan Justice recovered from an unusually low qualifying position of 5th to take the final podium spot in his #38 Northwest Autosport machine. “We struggled a bit in qualifying, but luckily we avoided the first lap incident and were able to finish a very close third. I put a lot of pressure on the 74 car, but the few times I had a run, I just wasn’t close enough,” Justice commented. “After being taken out at the last race by the 45 car we just needed a good strong finish to get some valuable points. I can’t thank the team enough, they are doing a fantastic job this year, and we just need a little good luck and we will be right in the middle of the championship fight by year’s end”
Newcomer to the team, Carl Skerlong, had an impressive debut with the team, regularly running in the top ten in practice and qualifying 7th in his #39 Odyssey Motorsports/ Northwest Autosport entry. A bit of bad racing luck on one of the notorious Star Mazda starts saw Skerlong pit for a new nosecone and again a second time for a 60 second stop and go penalty. Officials ruled that the team had too many guys over the pit wall and that necessitated the penalty. The team was very impressed with Carl’s speed and feedback in the car, and look forward to running the young talent again in the future.
Northwest Autosport driver Tom Sutherland secured another solid top ten, his second in two races, in his #40 ClickAway Computers and Networking machine. The young driver is developing immensely this season, and is becoming a regular frontrunner at midseason in the series. After a tough qualifying session, Sutherland bounced back to drive a great race that secured him some more valuable points for the championship.
Phil Fogg, also from Portland, Oregon, had a fantastic weekend in his #29 Consonus Healthcare/ Northwest Autosport entry. Phil Struggled a little in qualifying, but quickly moved up in the race to fight expert championship points leader Gerardo Bonilla for the sixth position. Fogg ended up 7th, his career best finish in the pro-series. “ I had a lot of supporters here this weekend like Ryan did, so this is fantastic to be able to show them that I can beat up on these young kids!” Fogg commented. “I can’t thank Consonus and all of my supporters this weekend, this was great.”
The Northwest team heads to Trois-Rivier, Quebec for the next round in the championship next week. Drivers Ryan Justice and Tom Sutherland will be looking to build on the success the team had at their first ever street race back in May. Ryan Justice claimed the victory on track in Houston, but was later moved to the 2nd position after officials ruled he passed a competitor under caution.
To find out more about Northwest Autosport, please visit www. northwestautosport. com
