Edwards wins Atlantic series title on tiebreaker

Published 6:16 pm Sunday, October 11, 2009

MONTEREY, Calif. — Newman Wachs teammates John Edwards and Jonathan Summerton finished 1-2 for the third time this season Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with Edwards winning the Atlantic Championship season title on a tiebreaker.

The tiebreaker went down to second-place finishes because both drivers have four victories. Edwards has four second-place finishes to Summerton’s three.

Edwards, at 18 the youngest series champion, started on pole and led every lap. He was third in the standings, 11 points behind leader Simona De Silvestro, heading into the season finale. De Silvestro crashed on the opening lap.

“Someone told me after I got out of the car that I looked like I was on ‘Cloud 36.’” Edwards said. “That’s how I feel. I couldn’t believe Simona was out after the start and it came down to whomever won the race between Summerton and I.

“My engineer told me when we had 30 minutes remaining, and it seemed like 6 hours from that point. It’s hard to believe I was sitting 3rd in points coming into this race and I still won the Championship. I can’t say enough about the team. We’ve been dominant the past five races and it shows the caliber of this team.”

Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Round 12

1. (1) John Edwards, Cincinnati, Ohio, No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing, 36.

2. (2) Jonathan Summerton, Kissimmee, Fla., No. 34 Newman Wachs Racing, 36.

3. (7) Frederic Vervisch (R), Belgium, No. 6 Condor Motorsports, 36.

4. (6) Tonis Kasemets, Estonia, No. 35 Polestar Motor Racing, 36.

5. (4) x-Markus Niemela, Finland, No. 1 Jensen MotorSport, 36.

6. (9) Barrett Mertins (R), Alexandria, Va., No. 3 Jensen MotorSport, 35.

7. (10) James Winslow (R), United Kingdom, No. 45 Paladin Motorsports, 35.

8. (3) Jonathan Bomarito, Monterey, Calif., No. 77 Team Stargate Worlds, 22, mechanical.

9. (8) Max Lefevre (R), France, No. 7 Condor Motorsports, 15, mechanical.

10. (5) Simona De Silvestro, Switzerland, No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds, 0, contact.

x-Penalized two positions for avoidable contact with De Silvestro on the opening lap.

Race Statistics

Time of Race: 50:07.252

Average Speed: 96.448 mph

Margin of Victory: 1.380 seconds

Lap leaders: Edwards, 1-36.

Lead changes: None.

Caution flags: 1 for 3 laps.

Series Points Leaders: 1. y-Edwards, 182; 2. Summerton, 182; 3. De Silvestro, 176; 4. Vervisch, 131; 5. Kasemets, 103; 6. Niemela, 98; 7. Borja Garcia, 88; 8. Winslow, 72; 9. Frankie Muniz, 62; 10. Lefevre, 58.

y-Won championship based on tiebreaker with Summerton with four second-place finishes to Summerton<