Joel Miller and Josef Newgarden had dramatic wins at Virginia InternationalRaceway in rounds three and four of the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda. ForMiller, racing under the 2007 Skip Barber/Snap-on Stars of Karting Scholarship banner, it was his maiden National win. So too for new guy Newgarden, who had come from impressive wins in Skip Barber’s Regional championships.

In race one, Miller was in fifth place at the beginning of the last lap. In fact, with just three corners to go he was no better off, still dicing with Peter Ludwig in third and Jeff Oleen – the points leader – in fourth.

Newgarden, who had just drafted past polesitter Ricky Taylor down the long backstraight from Oak Tree to Turn 14, protected his line entering the corner. But Taylor, who had led nine of the 10 laps up to that point, was trying to out-brake Newgarden, who legitimately thought he already had the corner. Banging wheels-to-sidepods, each were convinced they had rights to the downhill righthander called Rollercoaster.

But near the apex, both cars on the razor’s edge, their final contact spun the two around. Third place Ludwig, a Masters Division driver running as quick as the kids, thought for sure the race was going to be his -- if he could snake through the melee. But Taylor’s spinning car caught Ludwig’s, and Oleen’s too.

Miller had a longer look at the developing maelstrom and was able to find a way by, putting two wheels to the grass to squeeze by; Stevan McAleer and A.J. Riley did the same. It was a crazy win for Miller, but it was he who survived and Miller had no trouble savoring the win. Quentin Wahl finished 10th, duking it out all race long with Jeff Kaiser and Dick Lippert, to take the Masters Division win.

Race two was a virtual carbon copy of race one. Taylor and Newgarden were cutting each other up,Taylor leading most of the laps, Newgarden never more than a couple car lengths behind. Again, it’s the last lap and ‘‘Newgy’’ is again in prime position to draft Taylor as they leave Oak Tree and head down the long run to 14. The draft works, Newgarden pops left for the lead and here they come, rocketing up to the corner. But both had learned a hard lesson and Rollercoaster was negotiated drama-free. Taylor did make a run for the win exiting the last corner but fell .037 short. Ludwig’s 10th place got him the Masters Divsion win.

Miller stayed close to this battle, too, and finished less than a half-second behind Newgarden to take third place. Miller’s excellent weekend lifts him to the points lead, dropping Oleen to second and Taylor to fourth, with Megenbier fifth. Lawrence’s unspectacular but solid results now has him third in the standings.

Next up is wide and fast Cleveland, sure to be furiously fought.

Results, BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda

April 27, 2007, round 3 of 14, BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by MazdaVirginia International Raceway, 17-turn, 3.27-mile road courseStarting position in parentheses

1. (4) Joel Miller, Hesperia, Calif., 11 laps, 88.486 mph average speed2. (5) Steven McAleer, Glasgow, Scotland, 11 laps3. (17), A.J. Riley, Wilton, Conn., 114. (12), Jonathan Gore, Franklin, Tenn., 115. (2) Timmy Megenbier, Melrose Park, Ill., 116. (8) Kyle Lawrence, Fort Gratiot, Mich., 117. (19) Juan Carlos Sistos, Mexico, 118. (8) Jeff Oleen, Bethesdam Md., 119. (14), Julien Gerbi, Nice, France, 1110. 1M (22) Quentin Wahl, Santa Barbara, Calif., 1111. 2M (13), Jeff Kaiser, Santa Clara, Calif., 1112. 3M (17), Dick Lippert, Wichita, Kan., 1113. 4M (5), Peter Ludwig, New Paltz, N.Y., 1114. 5M (19), Dom Bastien, New Canaan, Conn., 1115. 10 in class (15), Juan Pablo Contreras, Guatemala, 1116. 11 in class (2), Josef Newgarden, Henderson, Tenn., 1117. 12 in class (10) Fabio Orsolon, Cabo Frio, Brazil, 1118. 13 in class (11), Lee Carpentier, Great River, L.I., N.Y., 1119. 14 in class (20) Chris Keller, Green Brook, N.J., 1120. 15 in class (21), Taz Smith, Jacksonville, Fla., 1121. 16 in class (16), Mario Ochoa, Mexico,22. 17 in class (1) Ricky Taylor, Apopka, Fla., 10 (crash)

Race length: 11 laps of 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course for 36 miles

Time of race: 24 minutes, 23.425 secondsConditions: Partly cloudyMargin of victory: 0.277 secondsLap leaders: Taylor 1-3; Newgarden 4; Taylor 5-10; Miller 11Cautions: NoneFastest qualifier: Taylor, 2:11.421 / 89.575 mphFastest race lap: Newgarden, 2:10.507 / 90.202 mph, lap 3

April 29, 2007, round 4 of 14, BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by MazdaVirginia International Raceway, 17-turn, 3.27-mile road courseStarting position in parentheses

1. (5) Newgarden, 11 laps, 82.302 mph winning average speed2. (1) Taylor, 11 laps3. (4) Miller, 114. (2) Lawrence, 115. (3) Orsolon 116. (7) Oleen, 117. (10) Megenbier, 118. (8) Riley, 119. (9) Sistos, 1110. 1M (14) Ludwig, 1111. 10 in class (13) Carpentier, 1112. 11 in class (22) Gore, 1113. 2M (19) Kaiser, 1114. 12 in class (12) Contreras, 1115. 3M (15) Bastien, 1116. 13 in class (20) Ochoa, 1117. 14 in class (21) Smith, 1118. 4M (16) Wahl, 1119. 5M (18) Lippert, 1120. 15 in class (17) Keller, 1121. 16 in class (6) McAleer, 1122. 17 in class (11) Gerbi, 5 (contact)

Race length: 11 laps of 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course for 36 milesTime of race: 26 minutes, 13.378 secondsConditions: SunnyMargin of victory: 0.037 secondsLap leaders: Taylor 1-8; Newgarden 9; Taylor 10; Newgarden 11Cautions: One, for 1 lap (lap 5)Fastest qualifier: Taylor, 2:08.421 / 91.692 mphFastest race lap: Lawrence, 2:09.637 / 90.807 mph, lap 11

2007 Skip Barber National points standings, top 15 drivers:1. Joel Miller, 1252. Jeff Oleen, 1103. Kyle Lawrence, 1104. Ricky Taylor, 1095. Timmy Megenbier, 1096. A.J. Riley, 997. Stevan McAleer, 958. Juan Carlos Sistos, 909. Josef Newgarden, 8710. Jonathan Gore, 8211. Juan Pablo Contreras, 7812. Julien Gerbi, 7013. Taz Smith, 6714. Beau Debard, 5915. Fabio Orsolon, 45Masters Division, Skip Barber National points standings, top 5 drivers:1. Jeff Kaiser, 1282. Dick Lippert, 1263. Dom Bastien, 1144. Quentin Wahl, 635. Peter Ludwig, 63-Rick Roso