With just three weekends and six races left to determine the winner of the inaugural Bondurant Championship Race Series, a new level of intensity and drama permeated the atmosphere at the Bondurant School before March's events. The weekend saw the largest field yet in the Series with a total of seven drivers, including newcomer Gustavo Menezes, a rising star in racing who exuded confidence behind the wheel despite being just fifteen years old. Joining him was Phil De La O, who returned to the series after two weekends off. Neil Alberico and Alan McCallum rounded out the crew representing some of the best from the karting world, while Jamie Slone, Matt Maddox, and Lex Bernstein composed the strong sports car racing contingent. Firebird International Raceway's East track was a familiar location to the drivers in the ASA-sanctioned event, and lap times plummeted during the three Friday practice sessions.

In Saturday morning's practice, Gustavo Menezes showcased his decade of racing experience by easily clocking the fastest lap of the group at 57.428, a tenth and a half faster than Neil Alberico. The four fastest drivers were within half a second of each other. After getting a couple of good heat cycles in to their tires -- and as the day warmed up -- the pace quickened even further. Every driver's qualifying time was significantly faster, most noticeably Alberico, who knocked over a second off of his practice time to grab pole position with a 56.436, the fastest lap of the weekend. He was joined on the front row by Alan McCallum. Newcomer Menezes started third, followed by De La O, Slone, Maddox, and Bernstein.

The day revolved around a mid-race incident between newcomer Menezes and the veteran Slone, when the two got together in the track's quick chicane in turns one and two. Slone's front right wing flap went flying -- as did a well-directed gesture -- but he was able to keep focused on the driving line and turning consistent laps. Menezes soon retired due to a damaged suspension component, and Matt Maddox made a hard charge at Slone, hungry for a podium spot. Maddox made up considerable time over the last half of the race, but a slight mental hiccup on the second-to-last lap cost him a chance at the podium. Meanwhile, McCallum concentrated on maintaining his lead, turning the fastest lap of the race (56.913) during a stretch of four laps that were within a tenth of each other. In the end, McCallum grabbed his second win of the season, De La O showed he hadn't lost a step by finishing second, and Slone regained his points lead in the overall championship with a third.

Sunday morning brought a heightened degree of tension in the Bondurant museum after the seven drivers had digested the previous day's events. In morning practice, each driver showed improvement over the previous day, with Neil Alberico setting the fastest time of the session at 56.621, almost half a second faster than the next driver. Alberico managed to beat that time in qualifying, but was outpaced by De La O, McCallum, and Menezes, whose times of 56.532, 56.533, and 56.535 were stunningly close to one another -- yet another testament to the well-tuned nature of the Bondurant Formula Mazdas and the hard work of their caretakers. Jamie Slone and Lex Bernstein qualified fifth and sixth, respectively, while Matt Maddox unfortunately had to cut his weekend short.

Phil De La O got a solid start at the green flag to maintain his lead, while Alberico wasted no time to move up in to second. Gustavo Menezes was shuffled back to fifth as Slone searched for payback from the previous day. Motivated to make up some ground in the championship, Neil Alberico went guns-blazing towards De La O and made a nervy late-braking pass in the course's tight turn 3 hairpin, then stayed on the gas to try to open up a lead. Menezes and Slone battled back-and-forth for several laps until the youngster was able to squeeze by towards the midway point, while McCallum reeled in De La O to snag P2. Menezes did everything he could to catch De La O -- setting the second fastest lap of the race in the process -- but ultimately settled for a respectable fourth in his second-ever Formula Mazda race.

At the end of the weekend, Jamie Slone continued to hold the lead in the championship with 1105 points, followed closely by Alberico (1070) and McCallum (1040). "This weekend was what racing is all about," said Series Director Alan Rudolph. "We had some of the best young drivers from the karting scene battling with a field of veteran racers, probably the best race of the Series so far, and the fight for the championship is going to come down to the wire. I couldn't be more excited for the remaining races!"