Jul 28, 2019
LEXINGTON, OH (July 28, 2019) – The patience displayed by Battery Tender® Global Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires® drivers in Round Seven at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was tucked away for Round Eight, where Robert Stout claimed victory with a last lap pass on Robert Noaker. In ND1, John Dean II scored the win and swept the Mid-Ohio weekend.
The 45-minute race showcased the very best of Battery Tender® Global Mazda MX-5 Cup racing, including zero safety car periods, 267 passes for position and five lead changes at the line. With the top 14 cars running nose-to-tail for the first 30 minutes, it seemed anyone could win.
The main players at the front of the train were Stout, polesitter Selin Rollan (No. 87 Sick Sideways Racing), and Saturday’s Race One winner Noaker. Stout led the first third of the race, withstanding constant pressure from both Rollan and Noaker.
“My competitors were not patient and did not pick the right moments to race,” Stout said. “There were moments when we could have pulled away from the pack, but others wanted to pass at every moment because they were impatient.”
Rollan and Noaker moved past Stout and traded the lead for a time, but a mechanical issue for Rollan with less than five minutes remaining took him out of the fight.
Noaker led Stout’s No. 28 McCumbee McAleer Racing car past the white flag. When the pair got into the Esses, Stout used a move seen several times over in the race to take the lead for good. He crossed the finish line 0.1292-second ahead of Noaker.
It is Stout’s first Global Mazda MX-5 Cup victory since Toronto in 2017.
“(Robert) Noaker and myself have been racing each other hard all weekend and I have really enjoyed it,” Stout said. “I know I can trust him to be smart on track. That last pass stuck and I am glad to have crossed the line first. I feel like I have gotten the monkey off my back after the frustration of getting to the podium but not securing that win until now."
Like yesterday, Noaker’s No. 13 Robert Noaker Racing machine led the most laps of the hotly contested race. Unlike yesterday’s race, Stout’s last lap bid for the win worked.