2008 Atlantic Championship

The original 12-race 2008 Atlantic Championship calendar, which featured many supporting runs during Champ Car World Series events, had to be scrapped as a result of the 2008 open-wheel reunification announcement. The Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Edmonton, Mont-Tremblant and Road America races, which had been part of the Champ Car schedule before reunification, remained in the calendar. The Road America races were changed, as the American Le Mans Series' Generac 500 weekend meet was changed from one to two races (a Saturday and Sunday race). The Edmonton race, now part of the IndyCar Series, also switched to a two-race format. The original races at Trois-Rivieres and Miller were not affected, since the Quebec race was part of the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres (which also features the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series), and the Utah race was conducted as part of the Rolex Sports Car Series Sunchaser 1000 weekend.^[3] On April 3 a revised post-reunification schedule was released featuring 11 races including the seven weekends that were kept (with two races at Edmonton and Road America), and two new races, one at New Jersey and a second Road Atlanta (as a support race to the Petit Le Mans).

Rd	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location	Race Date
1	Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge of Long Beach[4]	Long Beach Grand Prix	Long Beach, California	April 20
2	Monterey Festival of Speed Atlantic Championship[5]	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California	May 18
3	Sommet des Legends	Circuit Mont-Tremblant	Mont-Tremblant, Quebec	June 29
4	Rexall Edmonton Indy Twin Races - Race 1	Edmonton Indy	Edmonton, Alberta	July 25
5	Rexall Edmonton Indy Twin Races - Race 2	Edmonton Indy	Edmonton, Alberta	July 26
6	Road Race Showcase/Road America - Race 1[6]	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 9
7	Road Race Showcase/Road America - Race 2[6]	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 10
8	Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières[4]	Circuit Trois-Rivières	Trois-Rivières, Quebec	August 17
9	Mazda Formula Zoom Zoom[4]	New Jersey Motorsports Park	Millville, New Jersey	September 14
10	SunRichGourmet.com 1000[4]	Miller Motorsports Park	Tooele, Utah	September 21
11	Atlanta Atlantic Challenge	Road Atlanta	Braselton, Georgia	October 3

The 2008 series was televised at 5 PM ET on Sundays starting on November 9, 2008 on Speed TV.^[7]

• November 9 – Grand Prix of Long Beach
• November 16 – Laguna Seca and Race 1 of Edmonton
• December 14 – Race 2 of Edmonton and Race 1 of Road America
• December 21 – Race 2 of Road America and Trois Rivières
• December 28 – Miller Motorsports Park and Road Atlanta

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2008 Atlantic Championship season. All teams used the Swift 016.a chassis powered by a Mazda-Cosworth MZR 2.3 liter inline-4 engine and Cooper tires.^[8]

Team	No	Drivers	Rounds	Sponsor
Jensen MotorSport	2	Henri Karjalainen	1–10
	22	Eric Jensen	8–9
Forsythe Championship Racing	3	James Hinchcliffe	All	Indeck
	7	David Garza	1–5, 11	Axtel/Madisa Cat/Tecate
		David Martínez	6–10
Walker Racing	5	Greg Mansell	All	Sunseeker
	15	Leo Mansell	All
	25	Kevin Lacroix	All	Uni-Select/Deans Knight/Wasteco
Condor Motorsports	6	Junior Strous	All	Shell/HTP/Muermans Group/Red White & Bluezz
	9	Dominick Muermans	All	Hugenholtz Property Group/Jumbo Supermarkten/Muermans Group
	11	Douglas Soares	All	Banco BMG
	77	Brian Thienes	1	Bare Elegance/Valley Ball Cabaret
Brooks Associates Racing	8	Markus Niemelä	All	Mr. Jones Bar & Kitchen
	88	Andreas Wirth	1–3	Wirsol/Sueba USA
		Tom Sutherland	4–11	ClickAway Computers & Networking
Pacific Coast Motorsports	14	Carl Skerlong	1–10	King Taco
	41	Frankie Muniz	All	Hard Rock Cafe
Genoa Racing	17	Alan Sciuto	1	Deans Ultra Plug
		Tõnis Kasemets	6–7
		J. R. Hildebrand	11
	19	Dane Cameron	All	MAZDASPEED/Finlay Motorsports/Lynx Racing
Mathiasen Motorsports	26	Jonathan Bomarito	All	RLM Investments/Discount Tire Centers/Stone Brewing
PR1 Motorsports	32	Mike Forest	1	Konica Minolta/Earthwater/Dynacor Media
Newman Wachs Racing	34	Simona de Silvestro	All	Nuclear Clean Air Energy
	36	Jonathan Summerton	All
Paladin Motorsports	45	Greg Minium	1
		Christopher Zöchling	2, 4–5	X8ment4u.com
EuroInternational	46	Luis Schiavo	1–8, 11	Constructora Iriaca
	70	Daniel Morad	1–8	Metro Directories of Georgia
Polestar Motor Racing	66	Rich Zober	9	Zober Industries

• Sunday April 20, 2008 - 1:30 p.m. EDT
• Streets of Long Beach - Long Beach, California (1.968 mile street circuit)
• Time: 50 minutes
• Distance: 38 laps / 74.784 miles
• Race weather: 60 °F, Sunny skies
• Television: Speed (November 9, 2008 - 5:00 p.m. EST)
• Pole position winner: #26 Jonathan Bomarito, 93.286 mph (150.125 km/h)
• Race Summary

The 2008 Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge of Long Beach was won by the young Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro making her only the second female driver to ever win an Atlantic Championship race after Katherine Legge.

Top Five Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps led
1	2	34	Simona de Silvestro	Newman Wachs Racing	38	50:51.261	15
2	4	17	Alan Sciuto	Genoa Racing	38	+1.285	0
3	5	25	Kevin Lacroix	Walker Racing	38	+2.256	0
4	6	36	Jonathan Summerton	Newman Wachs Racing	38	+2.983	0
5	1	26	Jonathan Bomarito	Mathiasen Motorsports	38	+4.605	23
Race average speed:
Lead changes: 1 between 2 drivers
Cautions: 1 for 2 Laps

• Sunday May 18, 2008 - 4:00 p.m. EDT
• Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - Monterey, California
• Time: 50 minutes
• Distance: 34 laps / 76.092 miles
• Race weather: 89 °F, sunny skies
• Television: Speed (November 16, 2008 - 5:00 p.m. EST)
• Pole position winner: #3 James Hinchcliffe, 1:16.189 (105.748 mph)
• Race Summary

Canadian James Hinchciffe took the pole at Laguna Seca with a 1:16.189 which was a track record qualifying run on by an Atlantic car on Saturday after taking the provisional pole on Friday. He then went on to dominate Sunday's race.

Top Five Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps Led
1	1	3	James Hinchcliffe	Forsythe/Pettit Racing	34	50:50.352	28
2	2	14	Carl Skerlong	Pacific Coast Motorsports	34	+2.391	6
3	4	6	Junior Strous	Condor Motorsports	34	+6.671	0
4	5	8	Markus Niemelä	Brooks Associates Racing	34	+13.027	0
5	11	9	Dominick Muermans	Condor Motorsports	34	+18.404	0
Race average speed: 89.803 mph
Lead changes: 2
Cautions: 2 for 9 laps

• Sunday June 29, 2008 - 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Circuit Mont-Tremblant - Mont-Tremblant, Quebec (2.621 mile road circuit)
• Time: 50 minutes
• Distance: 30 laps / 78.630 miles
• Race weather: 75 °F, Partly cloudy skies
• Television: TBA
• Pole position winner: #6 Junior Strous, 1:28.805 (106.251 mph)
• Race Summary

Dutch driver Junior Strous dominated the weekend by taking pole and leading every lap in the race. The win was his first ever in the Atlantic Championship, as was his pole position. He leads the season championship with 74 points over James Hinchcliffe and Markus Niemelä who are tied at 67.

Top Five Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps led
1	1	6	Junior Strous	Condor Motorsports	30	53:50.600	30
2	3	8	Markus Niemelä	Brooks Associates Racing	30	+0.487*	0
3	4	14	Carl Skerlong	Pacific Coast Motorsports	30	+0.966	0
4	5	3	James Hinchcliffe	Forsythe Championship Racing	30	+1.514	0
5	8	19	Dane Cameron	Genoa Racing	30	+2.057	0
					* Race finished under caution
Race average speed: 87.621 mph
Lead changes: 0
Cautions: 3 for 10 Laps

• Friday July 25, 2008 - 5:15 p.m. MDT
• Rexall Speedway - Edmonton, Alberta (1.973 mile temporary airport circuit)
• Time: 50 minutes
• Distance: 38 laps / 74.974 miles
• Race weather: 80 °F, Partly cloudy skies
• Television: Speed (November 16, 2008 - 5:30 p.m. EST)
• Pole position winner: #3 James Hinchcliffe, 1:05.910 (107.765 mph)
• Race Summary

Polesitter James Hinchcliffe led from the green flag but was closely stalked by Jonathan Bomarito, who finally made the pass in Turn 1 on lap 31. A late race caution set up a one lap sprint to the finish with Bomarito holding off Markus Niemelä to become the fourth race winner in as many races this season. The win was Bomarito's third Atlantic victory and the first victory for his team, Mathiasen Motorsports, in 36 starts. In the points chase, Niemelä leads Hinchcliffe 94-93.

Top Five Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps led
1	2	26	Jonathan Bomarito	Mathiasen Motorsports	38	45:18.942	8
2	5	8	Markus Niemelä	Brooks Associates Racing	38	+0.691	0
3	1	3	James Hinchcliffe	Forsythe Championship Racing	38	+1.151	30
4	4	19	Dane Cameron	Genoa Racing	38	+1.757	0
5	6	7	David Garza	Forsythe Championship Racing	38	+2.170	0
Race average speed: 99.269 mph
Lead changes: 1
Cautions: 1 for 3 Laps

• Saturday July 25, 2008 - 12:45 p.m. MDT
• Rexall Speedway - Edmonton, Alberta (1.973 mile temporary airport circuit)
• Time: 50 minutes
• Distance: 36 laps / 71.028 miles
• Race weather: 80 °F, Mostly cloudy skies
• Television: Speed (December 14, 2008 - 5:00 p.m. EST)
• Pole position winner: #14 Carl Skerlong, 1:05.455 (108.514 mph)
• Race Summary

A1 Grand Prix veteran (but Atlantic rookie) Jonathan Summerton jumped into the lead from third on the starting grid and dominated the race, leading every lap on the way to his first Atlantic series win. He became the fifth different winner in five races and the first rookie to top a podium this year. James Hinchcliffe finished third and jumped to the top of the points table. He has 118 points, five more than Markus Niemelä.

Top Five Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps led
1	3	36	Jonathan Summerton	Newman Wachs Racing	18	45:08.751	36
2	1	14	Carl Skerlong	Pacific Coast Motorsports	18	+2.222	0
3	4	3	James Hinchcliffe	Forsythe Championship Racing	18	+6.039	0
4	5	26	Jonathan Bomarito	Mathiasen Motorsports	18	+6.719	0
5	2	19	Dane Cameron	Genoa Racing	18	+7.195	0
Race average speed: 94.398 mph
Lead changes: 0
Cautions: 1 for 5 Laps

• Saturday August 8, 2008 - 1:00 p.m. CDT
• Road America - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (4.048 mile permanent road circuit)
• Time: 50 minutes
• Distance: 18 laps / 72.864 miles
• Race weather: 76 °F, Partly cloudy skies
• Television: Speed (December 14, 2008 - 5:30 p.m. EST)
• Pole position winner: #19 Dane Cameron, 1:59.190 (122.265 mph)
• Race Summary

Jonathan Bomarito became the first multiple time winner in the 2008 Atlantic series. He took the lead from pole sitter Dane Cameron at the standing start. On lap 10, Cameron passed Bomarito in Canada Corner but Bomarito was able to pass him back on the following lap, taking the lead which he would hold for the remainder of the race. James Hinchcliffe finished fifth, high enough to keep the points lead with 139 points. Markus Niemelä trails Hinchcliffe by 7 and Bomarito is only 9 points back. Atlantic and Champ Car veteran Tõnis Kasemets made his first appearance since last year's Atlantic round at Road America and finished on the podium in third.

Top Five Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps led
1	2	26	Jonathan Bomarito	Mathiasen Motorsports	18	45:02.334	17
2	1	19	Dane Cameron	Genoa Racing	18	+0.411	1
3	8	17	Tõnis Kasemets	Genoa Racing	18	+0.978	0
4	9	14	Carl Skerlong	Pacific Coast Motorsports	18	+6.384	0
5	3	3	James Hinchcliffe	Forsythe Championship Racing	18	+7.230	0
Race average speed: 97.068 mph
Lead changes: 1
Cautions: 2 for 6 Laps

• Sunday August 9, 2008 - 1:30 p.m. CDT
• Road America - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (4.048 mile permanent road circuit)
• Time: 50 minutes
• Distance: 20 laps / 80.960 miles
• Race weather: 75 °F, Partly cloudy skies
• Television: Speed (December 21, 2008 - 5:00 p.m. EST)
• Pole position winner: #26 Jonathan Bomarito, 1:59.564 (121.883 mph)
• Race Summary

Race 1's winner Jonathan Bomarito led away from the pole, while behind him Jonathan Summerton was charging up through the field from ninth place on the grid. On lap 18, Summerton passed Bomarito in Turn 1, leading only the final two laps home to the checkered flag. Even with the second place finish Bomarito jumped to the top of the points chase. He leads with 157, three in front of the previous leader James Hinchcliffe and six in front of Markus Niemelä.

Top Five Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps led
1	9	36	Jonathan Summerton	Newman Wachs Racing	20	46:39.544	2
2	1	26	Jonathan Bomarito	Mathiasen Motorsports	20	+1.084	18
3	2	17	Tõnis Kasemets	Genoa Racing	20	+6.202	0
4	10	25	Kevin Lacroix	Walker Racing	20	+6.832	0
5	4	14	Carl Skerlong	Pacific Coast Motorsports	20	+8.993	0
Race average speed: 104.108 mph
Lead changes: 1
Cautions: 2 for 5 Laps

• Sunday August 17, 2008 - 1:30 p.m. EDT
• Circuit Trois-Rivières - Trois-Rivières, Quebec (1.521 mile temporary street circuit)
• Time: 50 minutes
• Distance: 44 laps / 66.924 miles
• Race weather: 70 °F, Clear
• Television: Speed (December 21, 2008 - 5:30 p.m. EST)
• Pole position winner: #26 Jonathan Bomarito, 58.989 (92.824 mph)
• Race Summary

Jonathan Bomarito led away from the standing start and was never seriously challenged on his way to his third Atlantic victory of the year. Bad days for James Hinchcliffe and Markus Niemelä allowed him to open a sizable lead in the season championship going into the final three races of the year. Bomarito leads the championship with 191, 28 points ahead of Jonathan Summerton who has 163. Hinchcliffe is still in third, but is 36 points back with 155.

Top Five Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps led
1	1	26	Jonathan Bomarito	Mathiasen Motorsports	44	50:17.453	44
2	2	36	Jonathan Summerton	Newman Wachs Racing	44	+1.590	0
3	8	6	Junior Strous	Condor Motorsports	44	+5.682	0
4	11	34	Simona de Silvestro	Newman Wachs Racing	44	+7.878	0
5	4	19	Dane Cameron	Genoa Racing	44	+10.015	0
Race average speed: 79.844 mph
Lead changes: 0
Cautions: 2 for 9 Laps

• Sunday September 14, 2008 - 1:00 p.m. EDT
• New Jersey Motorsports Park - Millville, New Jersey (2.177 mile permanent road circuit)
• Time: 50 minutes
• Distance: 42 laps / 91.434 miles
• Race weather: 86 °F, Clear
• Television: TBA
• Pole position winner: #14 Carl Skerlong, 1:10.211 (111.624 mph)
• Race Summary

Carl Skerlong dominated the weekend, leading every session and leading every lap in the race to claim his first Atlantic victory. He even set the fastest lap, giving him a perfect score of 34 points for the weekend. Points leader Jonathan Bomarito finished ninth, which reduced his margin to 16 points over Jonathan Summerton and 22 over Markus Niemelä with two races left in the season.

Top Five Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps led
1	1	14	Carl Skerlong	Pacific Coast Motorsports	42	50:49.282	42
2	2	8	Markus Niemelä	Brooks Associates Racing	42	+2.464	0
3	4	36	Jonathan Summerton	Newman Wachs Racing	42	+10.441	0
4	3	25	Kevin Lacroix	Walker Racing	42	+22.772	0
5	6	6	Junior Strous	Condor Motorsports	42	+23.914	0
Race average speed: 107.948 mph
Lead changes: 0
Cautions: None

• Sunday September 21, 2008 - 2:30 p.m. MDT
• Miller Motorsports Park - Tooele, Utah (4.486 mile permanent road circuit)
• Time: 50 minutes
• Distance: 20 laps / 89.720 miles
• Race weather: 71 °F, Mostly Cloudy
• Television: Speed (December 28, 2008 - 5:00 p.m. EST)
• Pole position winner: #8 Markus Niemelä, 2:28.915 (108.448 mph)
• Race Summary

Markus Niemelä followed up his first Atlantic series pole position with his first series victory, leading every lap in the race. Three drivers are still alive for the series championship going into the final round of the season. Jonathan Bomarito, who finished sixth, now leads with 224 points. He has an eight point advantage over Jonathan Summerton and a 10 point lead over Niemelä.

Top Five Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps led
1	1	8	Markus Niemelä	Brooks Associates Racing	20	50:40.529	20
2	2	36	Jonathan Summerton	Newman Wachs Racing	20	+0.446	0
3	3	19	Dane Cameron	Genoa Racing	20	+2.296	0
4	6	14	Carl Skerlong	Pacific Coast Motorsports	20	+2.828	0
5	4	34	Simona de Silvestro	Newman Wachs Racing	20	+22.363	0
Race average speed: 106.229 mph
Lead changes: 0
Cautions: None

• Friday October 3, 2008 - 2:10 p.m. EDT
• Road Atlanta - Braselton, Georgia (2.540 mile permanent road circuit)
• Time: 50 minutes
• Distance: 35 laps / 88.900 miles
• Race weather: 72 °F, Clear
• Television: Speed (December 28, 2008 - 5:30 p.m. EST)
• Pole position winner: #36 Jonathan Summerton, 1:14.137 (123.339 mph)
• Race Summary

Markus Niemelä won the race and clinched the series championship on an eventful day at Road Atlanta. At the start Dane Cameron took the race lead from the standing start while Niemelä got around the pole sitter Jonathan Summerton for second place. Jonathan Bomarito, the points leader going into the race, dropped out of the race with mechanical troubles after only 10 laps. Going into a restart on lap 33, Niemelä was in second and Summerton was in third, but Summerton was in line to clinch the championship. On the restart, Niemelä got around Cameron to take the lead on the track and Kevin Lacroix passed Summerton for third, which put Niemelä in position to take the championship. Summerton attempted to pass Cameron to put himself back into the championship position but they made contact and both cars were knocked out of the race. Niemelä cruised the final laps under yellow. Niemelä finished the season with 245 points followed by Bomarito at 228 and Summerton with 224.

Top Five Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps led
1	3	8	Markus Niemelä	Brooks Associates Racing	35	50:19.931	3
2	4	25	Kevin Lacroix	Walker Racing	35	+0.730*	0
3	7	3	James Hinchcliffe	Forsythe Championship Racing	35	+1.311	0
4	11	34	Simona de Silvestro	Newman Wachs Racing	35	+1.807	0
5	8	5	Greg Mansell	Walker Racing	35	+4.174	0
					* Race finished under caution
Race average speed: 105.976 mph
Lead changes: 1
Cautions: 2 for 7 Laps

Bonus Points

• 1 point to fastest driver in a qualification session.
• 1 point to driver who leads the most laps in the race.
• 1 point to driver who improves the most positions in the race.

Pos Driver LGB   LAG   MTT   EDM1   EDM2   ROA1   ROA2   TRR   NJS   UTH   ATL   Points 1   Markus Niemelä (R) 7 4 2 2 6 6 6 Ret 2 1* 1 245 2   Jonathan Bomarito 5* Ret 6 1 4 1* 2* 1* 9 6 Ret 228 3   Jonathan Summerton (R) 4 6 12 6 1* Ret 1 2 3 2 Ret 224 4   James Hinchcliffe 10 1* 4 3* 3 5 8 Ret 16 10 3 196 5   Junior Strous 8 3 1* 13 9 8 11 3 5 8 8 196 6   Carl Skerlong 23 2 3 19 2 4 5 Ret 1* 4 Inj 189 7   Dane Cameron (R) 11 17 5 4 5 2 17 5 Ret 3 Ret* 169 8   Simona de Silvestro 1 10 9 8 Ret 9 18 4 11 5 4 167 9   Kevin Lacroix 3 15 13 7 7 14 4 Ret 4 11 2 161 10   Greg Mansell (R) 13 Ret DNS 9 Ret 12 13 9 7 9 5 105 11   Frankie Muniz 15 13 11 12 13 11 10 12 10 14 9 102 12   Daniel Morad (R) 6 9 Ret 11 8 Ret 9 6 95 13   David Garza 12 7 8 5 10 Inj Inj Inj Inj Inj 6 94 14   Dominick Muermans (R) 17 5 10 Ret 15 16 16 14 14 17 12 80 15   Tom Sutherland 10 Ret Ret Ret 8 6 7 10 78 16   David Martínez 7 7 7 8 13 74 17   Henri Karjalainen (R) 14 16 Ret 14 11 Ret 14 10 15 12 70 18   Douglas Soares (R) 16 14 Ret 15 12 15 15 11 13 15 Ret 70 19   Leo Mansell (R) 19 11 Ret 17 Ret 13 Ret 13 12 16 11 68 20   Luis Schiavo (R) 18 Ret DNS 16 14 10 12 16 7 60 21   Tõnis Kasemets 3 3 51 22   Andreas Wirth 9 8 7 45 23   Alan Sciuto 2 27 24   Christopher Zöchling (R) 12 18 16 18 25   Eric Jensen 15 Ret 9 26   J. R. Hildebrand Ret 7 27   Rich Zober (R) 17 4 28   Brian Thienes 20 1 29   Mike Forest 21 0 30   Greg Minium (R) 22 0 Pos Driver LGB   LAG   MTT   EDM1   EDM2   ROA1   ROA2   TRR   NJS   UTH   ATL   Points

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place (Top 5) Light Blue 6th-10th place (Top 10) Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Driver replacement (Rpl) Injured (Inj) No race held (NH)

• 2008 Champ Car season (cancelled)
• 2008 Indianapolis 500
• 2008 IndyCar Series season
• 2008 Indy Lights season

• ChampCarStats.com