Just two weeks after wrapping up their initial rotation of Firebird International Raceway's tracks, participants in the inaugural season of the Bob Bondurant Championship Race Series returned to Chandler, AZ, for more action on December 12th and 13th, 2009. Spectators at Firebird's East track witnessed an excellent show during the second round of the BCRS back in October, and all of the drivers looked eager to attack the course once again this past weekend.

All five drivers were previous participants in the BCRS, including Matt Maddox, who returned for the first time since driving in the opening weekend of the race series. He ran the greatest number of laps in practice, working hard to get reacquainted to the Bondurant Formula Mazdas, consistently improving his lap times and ducking under the one-minute mark by the end of his first session. Phil De La O impressed in practice, turning a 57.538 lap, half a second faster than his closest competitor. Between sessions, Bondurant Instructor Mike Speck talked with the drivers about adjusting brake bias on-the-fly, sometimes multiple times per laps. Veteran Formula Mazda driver Jamie Slone nodded his head in understanding, while Neil Alberico said that the cars were "very well set up to begin with," and, pointing at his head, said that he was concentrating on "making the adjustments up here."

In qualifying, Slone opted to conserve his tires and ran just eight laps, clicking off a 57.246 time. The other participants stayed out longer, with Phil De La O ultimately snagging pole position -- his first of the BCRS -- with a 57.198 lap. McCallum and Alberico were just a hair off for third and fourth, followed by Maddox. With the times as close as they were, it seemed probable that the afternoon's race might be a chippy affair.

The five cars formed a tight pack heading in to the track's initial right-left turn combo, with Alan McCallum exhibiting nerves of steel as he late-braked from fourth place to wedge himself in towards the front. De La O checked up, Slone grabbed P1, and Alberico and McCallum pressured De La O heading in to the track's turn-3 carousel. Alberico went the long way around De La O, hugging the outside edge of the track, while McCallum tried to sneak inside and in to second. McCallum couldn't keep it together, swapping ends at the turn's exit, and Alberico moved in to second ahead of De La O.

With Slone several car lengths ahead, Alberico quickly began firing off quick laps, consistently picking up time on each pass and reeling Slone in. At the race's midway point, Alberico made a hard charge towards Slone to try to take the first position through turn 1. As Slone hit his turn-in point, Alberico couldn't slow in time and made contact with Slone's front wing. Slone kept his line and Alberico went straight through the turn's run-off area, narowly avoiding damage to his own car and moving in to first place.

For the next several laps Slone's nose dragged along the ground and his right-front wing eventually abandoned the car, fortunately without cutting a tire in the process. The decreased downforce made the car a handful while Phil De La O kept him in his sights. Three laps before the finish, De La O made a run on Slone in a fashion similar to Alberico. Slone held his position going in to turn 1, saw that De La O was unlikely to get his car slowed in time, and decided to run through the dirt rather than suffer additional damage.

With just a couple of laps remaining the race was effectively decided. Alberico continued to pull away, Slone battled his car to secure second place, and De La O ran out of time to make a second run at Slone. The three were followed by Matt Maddox and Alan McCallum.

A low-flying blanket of dark clouds loomed over Firebird Raceway on Sunday morning, with weather forecasters predicting a high chance of rain in the parched desert. Jamie Slone and Neil Alberico pursued a tire-preserving strategy, running just twelve combined laps in the morning's two practice sessions. Alan McCallum was fastest once again in practice, clocking a pass of 58.042. Phil De La O did not return for Sunday's event, leaving four competitors to battle it out for the final race of 2009.

With reports of rain just a few miles north of the track, Series Director Alan Rudolph discussed an alternate gameplan with the drivers: foregoing qualifying in favor of an early race. After a final quick peek at the skies, McCallum cast the deciding vote in favor of an early race; the drivers would start in the order of their standings in the championship with Slone on pole, followed by Alberico, McCallum, and Maddox.

The Mazda rotaries buzzed to life at the wave of the green flag, and the four drivers smoothly negotiated the first two turns that had been so thorny the previous day. Slone guarded his position and focused on maintaining a smooth driving line, while Alberico kept close to his gearbox and hoped for a mistake and an opportunity to pass. Behind them, McCallum and Maddox kept it close until the three-quarters point when McCallum spun.

Alberico did his best to chase down Slone, staying within just a few tenths and challenging him in several corners. The two made brief minor contact on the last lap of the race, but Slone was able to prevail and pull out his fifth win of the BCRS, keeping a solid lead in the series.

Bob Bondurant distributed trophies and congratulated the drivers after the race. "We had another good race, a bit of drama on the track, but lots of great competition. I'm really proud of how everyone did," he said. Drivers will return to Firebird Raceway for the next round of the Bob Bondurant Championship Race Series on January 15-17, 2010.

Official Results:

Race 7 - Dec. 12, 2009

P1 - Neil Alberico - 100 points
P2 - Jamie Slone - 90 points
P3 - Phil De La O - 85 points
P4 - Matt Maddox - 80 points
P5 - Alan McCallum - 75 points
Fastest lap: Phil De La O (57.292)


Race 8 - Dec. 13, 2009

P1 - Jamie Slone - 100 points
P2 - Neil Alberico - 90 points
P3 - Matt Maddox - 85 points
P4 - Alan McCallum - 80 points
Fastest lap: Neil Alberico (57.255)