Utah: John Edwards captures pole for Round 2

Round Two of the 2008 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, which runs this weekend at Miller Motorsports Park, is off to an exciting start. The main reason for that is newcomer John Michael Edwards. The 2007 Atlantic Series driver joined the 2008 Star Mazda Championship just in time for Round Two, signing with AIM Autosports, and has wasted no time making his presence known, capturing the pole this morning with a blistering time of 1:43.650 (105.864 MPH).

“The AIM team gave me a car so easy to drive that it took hardly any effort to set the pole time,” said Edwards. “I did my pole time on my third lap on a set of brand new tires and immediately pitted to see if anyone could beat it, which they didn’t. So I’ll be starting the race with tires that have only three laps on them, which is a huge advantage. The improved lap times were in part due to the car and in part due to the track being faster with lots of ALMS rubber laid down. It may be a little slower in the heat of the afternoon, but we’re feeling confident of our chances in the race.”

Championship points leader Joel Miller in the #20 MAZDASPEED JDC Motorsports entry was second fastest in the session with a time of 1:44.341 but brought the session to a early end running off course in the Attitudes section of the track. Miller's JDC Motorsports teammate Ernesto Otero rounded out the top three with a time of 1:44.799.

The race gets underway at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah at 4:15pm (local time)