Another podium despite the effects of New Jersey's heat
John off-road's it to avoid traffic. Put the No. 7 P3

(09.14.2008) Some days the traffic works for you, other times, it just gets in the way. After taking advantage of lapped traffic to go on to win Saturday's race, John, who was leading - and pulling away from the pack, came upon a slowing car and had to take to the grass to avoid a collision. He would lose the lead but the bigger issue was grass he picked up in the front wing which caused the car to lose down force. "The car became a bit a handful to control," John said after the race. "At that point it became difficult to match the pace of the leader and I had to worry about those coming up behind me. Once Ardoin got past me for second, it was all about preserving the podium with the laps running down.

John was able to hold off a charging Joel Miller to come to the checkers in third place. John has dropped back to second in the championship, just three points back with two races to go.

One added obstacle John had to deal with was the heat. He had been fighting a cold all week and with the high temperatures, he suffered from dehydration and almost collapsed during the podium ceremonies. "It has been a pretty rough week for John and the heat today was a bit much," commented team manager Keith Willis. "We have three weeks before the next race at Road Atlanta so John is on his way home to get some rest as we down to the wire in this championship."

John picks up another point
Takes the pole for race two in New Jersey

(09.14.2008) Living up their word that setup changes could help secure the pole for the second race at New Jersey Motorsport Park, John Edwards and the AIM Autosport crew put the No. 7 Formula Mazda P1 for Sunday afternoon's race. John turned a 1:15.167 lap at 104.264 mph to take the pole by a margin of .073 over his closest championship rival.

Edwards takes the win in race 1 at New Jersey
Goes into Championship lead

(09.13.2008) Starting from the outside of row 1, John Edwards would take advantage of mistakes and traffic to gain the lead in the race and go on to win by 7.424 seconds. On the start, the leader pulled away as his car was better on cold tires. Once John's tires came up to temperature he was able to match the leader's pace and eventually close in. At that point - and catching traffic, the leader went off course and john went through but also dropped a couple of wheels in the dirt going around a slower car. John and the leader came back on track almost side-by-side with the third place car closing. "When I saw Dempsey closing in I knew it was time to really focus forward"John commented after the race. "At that point the car was working great and I was able to pull out a bit of a gap. I was also able to catch traffic at the right spots on the track to build an advantage."

John Continued, "We now know that Miller is very good on cold tires and we will focus on that going into the race on Sunday. Also, we just missed pole today but with a few setup changes, we are hoping to gain that extra championship point which is very important with only three races to go."

John now leads the championship by one point (after drops). Star Mazda races at New Jersey Motorsport Park again on Sunday (14th) with races at Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca (finale) in October.

Edwards starts from the front row for seventh time this season
A full day of practice, qualifying and racing today

(09.13.2008) The AIM Autosport Mazda crew is in New Jersey this weekend for a double-header in the Star Mazda Series presented by Goodyear. John Edwards had the No. 7 Aim Autosport Formula Mazda at the top of the time sheets through practice on Friday and Saturday morning. John qualified on the outside of row one for this afternoon's race. We will have results as soon as they are available.

NOTE: It looks like the team had a guest driver trying AIM's new camouflage car for a few laps hoping to hide the team's suspension and front wing settings. Click here or image for a larger view in a new window.

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