While Moon Takes Fourth Victory of the Year - Skip Barber National Championship

Apologies to Benny Moon and Mark Burt and Chris Preyand John Edwards and Paul Albert and Sergio Perez and David Wieringa… well, there was a whole bunch o' drivers who had outstanding weekends, all with great stories. But there was one that aced them all -- Marco Andretti's epic showdown with Gerardo Bonilla for thechampionship.

With Bonilla leading Sunday's season finale, Andretti spun himself out of third place in Turn Five and rejoined dead last -- and killed his chance of winning the Skip Barber National Championship Presented by RACER and its $100,000 title bonus.

Or so he thought. Exactly one lap later, in the very same corner, incredibly, Bonilla did the exact same thing. He too rejoined the race, ironically just in front of Andretti. By then it was over, asBonilla's shot to win the championship had rested on him gaining six points on Andretti. And there he was at mid-pack with Andretti, where the points spread between positions is just one. You can imagine how Bonilla felt, having up to that point been on a major roll. He had doneeverything he could to wrest the points lead from Andretti: Won a pole and two races at Mont- Tremblant two weeks earlier; took the pole and win on Saturday in round 13. Took the pole and led round 14. And then it slipped away…

Both races were furious battles, side-by-side from front to back, five- and six-car freight trains with lead changes galore. Four drivers had a legitimate chance at the title: Andretti and Bonilla, of course, along with Chris Prey and Benny Moon. Robbie Pecorari and Victor Ramos hadmathematical chances. But when Saturday's checker flew, the only two left standing, title-shot wise, were Mr. A. and Mr. B. Bonilla did what he had to do Saturday, grabbing the lead in an extremely entertaining race fromAndretti on the last lap for win number four on the season. Sergio Perez sliced and diced and banged his way to third from 10th on the grid, and 13-year-old John Edwards showed he's for real, finishing fourth, just ahead of Barber Dodge and Toyota Atlantic pilot David Wieringa.Meanwhile, Prey, Moon, Pecorari and Ramos fell victim to various and sundry spins, taps and crashes and washed themselves out of the running. We entered Sunday with Andretti six tallies up on Bonilla. Bonilla was on pole. If Bonilla won the race, Andretti had to finish second to winthe championship. He was starting third. As it turned out, you could have started anywhere in the top 10 and led the race. Bonilla led. Preyled. Pecorari led. Moon led. Edwards led. Moon led again. And those were just the official changes across start-finish, not the changes down the straights and through the corners -- including turns where you just don't make passes, but these boys did so anyway. Then came thefateful lap five -- Andretti's major oof -- then lap six -- Bonilla's tossing of the title. From then on, it was a clusterfest of dicing and wheel-to-wheel action between the top eight, with Moon, Burt and Prey finally coming out on top. Bonilla: ''I saw Marco spin in my mirrors and thought, wow, a miracle! My best guess, though, was that at worst he would rejoin like eighth or something, and that meant I still had to, at the least, get a podium. I couldn't let up. Coming down to Five, there was a pop for second place behind me and was certain I'd be okay, no way they could catch me. But someone came up alongside and I had to rotate the car with the brakes to make the corner, and I slid, and wentoff… I thought it would be okay, I could drive through the gravel, rejoin fifth or so, then I hit the grass and she spun. I knew I was done… I kept driving, hoping for another miracle. But really, I had already gotten my miracle, and threw it away…''

Andretti: ''I came down to Five, right behind Gerardo and Chris, we were almost three-wide, so I braked early, but still, I don't know, I locked up and touched Chris and spun… I could see in my head my Mom crying. So, I gotta keep going, gotta hope for a miracle -- and it happened. It wascrazy, and it shows why you should never, never give up. It's bad for Bonilla, but this is great, fantastic, thanks Mom and Dad [also in attendance] and Skip Barber Racing and the crew… It's not really sunk in yet…''

It was a great, hard fought championship all year. There were seven different winners and six different polesitters, and the action, as one would expect from a Skip Barber equal-car championship, was exciting and hot. You could see all the drivers mature and improve theirracecraft, including Marco Andretti, whose run to the title was marked by tremendous consistency. He won just once (to Bonilla's and Moon's four), but finished second or third eight other times, and never finished lower than eighth. Which was today, high enough to win the 2004 Skip Barber National Championship Presented by RACER and $100,000.

Race Results, Round 13,Skip Barber National Championship Presented by RACER,Road America, Sat., August 7, 2004

11 laps of 4.048-mile circuit/44.5 miles (conditions: dry)Margin of Victory: 0.229 secondsLeaders: Gerardo Bonilla 1-4; Lorenzo Mandarino 5-6; Marco Andretti 7; Bonilla 8-9; Andretti10; Bonilla 11Fastest Qualifier: Bonilla, 2:35.407/93.772 mphFastest Race-lap: Paul Albert, 2:35.011, lap 10

Finishing order (starting position in parentheses)

1. (1) Gerardo Bonilla, Orlando, Fla., 11 laps, 89.455 average mph2. (5) Marco Andretti, Nazareth, Pa.3. (10) Sergio Perez, Mexico4. (11) John Edwards, Little Rock, Ark.5. (15) David Wieringa, Bridgeview, Ill.6. (12) Paul Albert, Canada7. (3) Chris Prey, Oshkosh, Wis.8. (14) Jeff Relic, Flagler Beach, Fla.9. (9) Andy Rossetto, Grafton, Wis.10. (16) Jonathan Eriksen, Northville, N.Y.11. (13) Brett Fenske, Appleton, Wis.12. (2) Benny Moon, Shingle Springs, Calif.13. (18) Louis Albornoz, New York, N.Y.14. (6) Victor Ramos, Brazil, 7 laps, accident15. (7) Lorenzo Mandarino, Canada, 6 laps, spin16. (17) Lucas McConnell, Springfield, Va., 4 laps, accident17. (4) Robbie Pecorari, Aston, Pa., 2 laps, accident18. (8) Mark Burt, Canada, 2 laps, accident

Race Results, Season Finale Round 14,Skip Barber National Championship Presented by RACER,Road America, Sun., August 8, 2004

10 laps of 4.048-mile circuit/40.5 miles (conditions: dry)Margin of Victory: 0.329 secondsLeaders: Gerardo Bonilla 1-5; Chris Prey 6; Robbie Pecorari 7; Benny Moon 8; John Edwards 9;Moon 10;Fastest Qualifier: Bonilla, 2:35.037/93.996 mphFastest Race-lap: Marco Andretti, 2:34.242, lap 10

Finishing order (starting position in parentheses)

1. (6) Benny Moon, Shingle Springs, Calif., 10 laps, 93.100 average mph2. (11) Mark Burt, Canada3. (7) Chris Prey, Oshkosh, Wis.4. (10) John Edwards, Little Rock, Ark.5. (2) Robbie Pecorari, Aston, Pa.6. (15) Andy Rossetto, Grafton, Wis.7. (12) Jeff Relic, Flagler Beach, Fla.8. (3) Marco Andretti, Nazareth, Pa.9. (5) Victor Ramos, Brazil, 7 laps10. (13) Brett Fenske, Appleton, Wis.11. (1) Gerardo Bonilla, Orlando, Fla.12. (14) David Wieringa, Bridgeview, Ill.13. (16) Jonathan Eriksen, Northville, N.Y.14. (8) Paul Albert, Canada15. (17) Lucas McConnell, Springfield, Va.16. (4) Sergio Perez, Mexico, 9 laps17. (18) Louis Albornoz, New York, N.Y., 5 laps, spin18. (9) Lorenzo Mandarino, Canada, 0 laps, contact

Final Points & Prize Standings after 14 of 14 rounds:1. Marco Andretti, 191, $100,0002. Gerardo Bonilla, 182, $10,0003. Chris Prey, 173, $10,0004. Benny Moon, 172, $10,0005. Robbie Pecorari, 152, $10,0006. Victor Ramos, 143, $10,0007. John Edwards, 100, $10,0008. Lorenzo Mandarino, 96, $10,0009. Mark Burt, 84, $10,00010. Jeff Relic, 81, $10,00011. Sergio Perez, 7712. Jonathan Eriksen, 3913. Robin Warner, 3114. Harrison Brix, 3115. Matt Varsha, 30