SBRS: Southern Region Race Series crowns champion

Marco Andretti Wins His Second Title

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Mar. 30) - With a win in the first of two weekend races at Daytona International Speedway, Marco Andretti clinched the Skip Barber Formula Dodge Southern Region Race Series championship. It was his second Skip Barber title, Andretti having won the Eastern Region laurels in 2003.

Andretti, 16, son of Michael, won 10 races in 14 starts and finished off the podium just once (eighth place, in the Daytona weekend's second race) to score a total of 242 points. Going into the weekend, rookie Victor Ramos had a mathematical chance of earning the title, but only if Andretti went scoreless. Unfortunately, Ramos had a torrid weekend: An off-course excursion coupled with a throttle cable hang-up resulted in an uncharacteristic 12th in race one, putting the end to any championship hopes, slight as they were. For the year, Ramos won six times and had just two non-podium results, finishing second in the title chase with 206 points. At 182, Jeff Relic took third, thanks to four victories and five other podiums.

Both Ramos and Andretti have entered the 2004 Skip Barber Formula Dodge National Championship Presented by RACER. The $190,000 series opened mid-March at the Sebring 12- Hour; Ramos had a win and a third and leads the points standings with 35, while Andretti notched a seventh and a third to sit fifth, 12 points behind Ramos.

-barber-