2007 Northwest Spec Miata Preview

2007 will be another big year for Spec Miata in the Northwest.  Spec Miata is the biggest thing to happen in North American sports car racing – ever.  Over 1,500 cars and 3,000 drivers have competed in the class since 2002 – 60 of them in the Northwest during 2006.

SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) Oregon and Northwest Regions each have their own series with lots of driver crossover between the two.  The Oregon Championship has been the “Holy Grail” and boasts large fields with all events at Portland International Raceway.   2006 champion Will Schrader, and Mazdaspeed Miata Cup race winners Ken Sutherland and Gary Bockman will contest Oregon rounds as will 2004 Mazdaspeed Pro Miata West runner-up Jonny Davies.  6 different drivers won Oregon races in 2006.

The alternate “Conference” championship hosts events at Pacific Raceways (Seattle), Portland and Mission, British Columbia.   Two races are scheduled for the new race facility (yet to be completed) in Grass Valley, Oregon (2 hours east of Portland).   Chris Heinrich, Jeff Clark and the powerful multi-car TC Motorsports team are pre-season favorites in the series.

Also expected to show his newly famous face is 18 year old Andrew Caddell.  The 2006 SCCA Norpac Division runner-up and Oregon Race winner recently won the most coveted prize in amateur road racing - the SCCA Spec Miata National Championship.

After that victory, Caddell claimed the largest prize in SCCA Club Racing history – a 2007 SCCA Mazdaspeed MX-5 Cup car and partial budget to compete in the nationally televised race series.  Caddell is a rapidly rising star in North American sports car racing.

New this year is the nwspecmiata.com / miatacage.com “Northwest Miata Challenge”.  As three Northwest based organizations crown champions in Spec Miata, this year a special points structure will determine the “Grand Poo-bah” of Northwest Spec Miata racing. 

Competitors can count their best 4 results of selected races at Portland, Seattle, Bremerton and Mission, BC.  Bonus points will be awarded for podium finishes and available points based on the number of other cars in each race.  The decisive rounds will be the All Spec Miata race at Seattle, August 4-5 and the Oregon finale at Portland, August 25-26.

Enough talk – let’s race.

More info at www.nwspecmiata.com