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Team MER Captures Two Top Fives at Mazda Raceway |
 Team MER came out of round two of the Playboy MX-5 Cup with two top fives and three top tens. Marc Miller lead the charge with a very close second place finish which also extended his championship points lead to 18 points. Zach Ply also put in a fantastic drive bring his Mazda MX-5 home to his first career top five, finishing 5th and Jeff Mosing rebounded from a tough start at round one to come home 7th.
Miller and Todd Lamb battled from the drop of the green flag with both of them leading numerous laps until a late race caution came out.
“I was not happy to see the yellow flags, We had a good gap. I was very comfortable and set into a rhythm. We had set up our car for longer runs. It seemed like Todd was starting to pick up a little bit of an understeer and my car was getting more of an oversteer on exit, which was keeping it nice and free. I had a great run coming up the hill out of Turn Six and then I see Todd waving his hand and the double yellow. I thought, 'well, that"s it then.’”
When green flag racing resumed on lap 20, Lamb and Miller held their positions, while Stan Wilson launched past three cars and suddenly found himself in third.
Wilson proceeded to crank up the pressure on Miller who thought he was setting up Lamb for a pass on lap 21, when he was actually opening up a window of opportunity for Wilson.
“I’d been so good through Three and Four,” Miller recalled. “I would roll through there and get a good run on Todd, so I checked up just a little bit and that seemed to be the lap that Stan got an even better run through Turn Four. He got alongside me going into Turn Five. We came out side-by-side and I had a little bit of a better run. I thought, ‘if he’s nice, he’ll let me take him in Six, if not, I’ll have to give it up,’ and he wasn’t so nice about it, so I let him have it.”
No sooner was Wilson around Miller, than Miller took the spot right back the following lap. With only two laps remaining in the race, Miller ran out of time to catch Lamb, who took the win by 0.205-second.
Finishing second, Miller holds onto his lead in the MX-5 Cup Drivers’ Championship. The driver of the No. 28 Team MER/MOCA/RaceforAutism MX-5 holds an 18-point lead over Justin Piscitell, followed by Brett Smrz, Zach Ply and Wilson.
“The first part of the track I was a bit quicker [than Lamb],” Miller said. “In Turns Three, Four I gave up a little bit, and in Turn Five, but through Turn Six I tended to get a pretty good run up the hill. Todd was a bit of a machine through Nine and 10, so it was pretty evenly matched. It seemed like whoever was following the other could take advantage of the draft and capitalize on any little mistake.
“I’ve got to give it to Todd, I felt like I didn’t make any mistakes, but Todd didn’t make any mistakes either. I think it was a really clean race. Certainly it feels good for Team MER to finish second. We’re carrying a pretty good legacy and I hope to continue this success throughout the year."
 Zach Ply ran a great race finishing 5th after qualifying 10th. Ply managed to get a great restart after the last caution and benefitted from an off track excursion from Piscitell for his first career top five and puts him 4th in the championship points standings.
Jeff Mosing also ran a solid race finishing 7th after qualifying 11th. Mosing rebounded from a tough start at Road Atlanta to run a solid, consistent run to record his first career top ten finish.
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