Skip Barber Formula Dodge National Championship - Moon, Ramos Split the Opener

SEBRING, Fla. (Mar. 20 ) - With two big changes for 2004 -- the 30 identically prepared
Formula Dodges now on BFGoodrich tires and a new $190,000 championship prize fund -- the
Skip Barber Formula Dodge National Championship Presented by RACER opened its season
with a double-header at Sebring International Raceway, supporting the 52nd annual 12-hours of
Sebring.

Race One
In Thursday's race, Benny Moon, the winner of this past January's Barber-Champ Car Karting
Scholarship Run-off, took advantage of a rare engine failure suffered by polesitter Gerardo
Bonilla early in the race, then passed Chris Prey and Victor Ramos on successive laps soon
afterward to take the victory. Prey got around Ramos with two laps to go and went after Moon
but fell .349 seconds short. Robbie Pecorari, racing under another karting scholarship banner (the
newly announced Skip Barber-Stars of Karting award), took an impressive fourth, followed by
Jason Bowles, Charlie Fonseca and Marco Andretti. Ricky Schmidt, Mark Patterson (from 19th)
and Ron White rounded out the top 10.

Race Two
In Friday morning qualifying for the second round, Ramos nipped Moon by a 10th of a second
for pole, but lost the lead to Moon at the start. Ramos fell even further back (to fourth) as things
got wild in the Hairpin during the third lap. Remarkably, Ramos made up all those positions one
lap later, taking full advantage of the disarray when Moon fell off the road  in the Hairpin -- he
rejoined 17th -- and shot to the lead, trailed by Bowles, Seth Ingham, Prey and Andretti. Bowles
instantly found himself in an extremely entertaining dogfight for second, and that allowed Ramos
to gain at least three-tenths of a second per lap on the snarling pack. With four to go, on one lap
Andretti shot from fifth to second, while behind him Pecorari rocketed from 10th to sixth. With
passes and re-passes at nearly every corner over the final laps in the battle for second, it was
nearly impossible to keep track of the action, but by the start of the last lap Ramos was up by 2.2
seconds over Andretti and Pecorari -- who then put the pass on Michael's boy to take second at
the checkered. Bowles kept a handle on fourth, while Moon, amazing as he knocked off car after
car, worked all the way back to fifth. Bonilla, determined to make up for Thursday's heartbreak,
started fourth, fell back to 10th early on, but sliced his way to sixth at the end. Seventh through
10th were Ron White (from 15th), Prey, Ricky Schmidt and Ingham.

With FDNC rounds three and four set for April 24-25 at Virginia International Raceway, Ramos'
win-and-a-third weekend has him atop the points with 35, four up on Moon and seven to the
better on Pecorari.
-Rick Roso

Race Results/Points Standings, Rounds One & Two,
Skip Barber Formula Dodge National Championship Presented by RACER,
Sebring International Raceway, March 18-19

Round 1, March 18, 2004
8 laps of 3.7-mile circuit/29.6 miles
Margin of Victory: 0.349 seconds
Leaders: Bonilla 1; Ramos 2-3; Moon 4-8


Fastest Qualifier: Bonilla, 2:23.636/92.734 mph
Fastest Race-lap: Prey, 2:24.061/92.461 mph, lap 8

Finishing order (starting position in parentheses)
1. (2) Benny Moon, Shingle Springs, Calif.
2. (6) Chris Prey, Oshkosh, Wis.
3. (3) Victor Ramos, Brazil
4. (4) Robbie Pecorari, Aston, Pa.
5. (5) Jason Bowles, Ontario, Calif.
6. (10) Charlie Fonseca, Costa Rica
7. (7) Marco Andretti, Nazareth, Pa.
8. (12) Ricky Schmidt, Lebec, Calif.
9. (19) Mark Patterson, Bronxville, N.Y.
10. (16) Ron White, San Jose, Calif.
11. (20) Matt Varsha, Atlanta, Ga.
12. (22) John Pew, N. Palm Beach, Fla.
13. (17) Sergio Perez, Mexico
14. (13) Andrew Alfonso, Danville, Calif.
15. (9) Harrison Brix, Marina del Rey, Calif.
16. (15) John Edwards, Little Rock, Ark.
17. (26) Robin Warner, Ann Arbor, Mich.
18. (25) Dennis Hanratty, Mechanicsburg, Pa.
19. (18) Mark Burt, Debary, Fla.
20. (27) Jonathan Eriksen, Northville, N.Y.
21. (8) Seth Ingham, Moxee, Wash.
22. (14) Mattie Koskinen, Grafton, Mass.
23. (11) Jeff Relic, Palm Coast, Fla.
24. (23) Olivier Comeau, Rock Forest, Que., Canada
25. (28) Brett Fenske, Appleton, Wis.
26. (29) Erik Ven, Hungary
27. (24) Blake Yager, Effingham, Ill., 7 laps
28. (21) Billy Johnson, San Clemente, Calif., 2 laps (accident)
29. (1) Gerardo Bonilla, Orlando, Fla. (1), 1 lap (mechanical)

Round 2, March 19, 2004
10 laps of 3.7-mile circuit/37.0 miles
Margin of Victory: 2.238 seconds
Leaders: Ramos (under yellow) 1; Moon 2-3; Ramos 4-10
Fastest Qualifier: Ramos, 2:23.177/93.032 mph
Fastest Race-lap: Moon, 2:24.033/92.479 mph, lap 6

1. (1) Ramos
2. (10) Pecorari
3. (9) Andretti
4. (6) Bowles
5. (2) Moon
6. (4) Bonilla
7. (15) White
8. (8) Prey
9. (14) Ricky Schmidt
10. (3) Ingham
11. (17) Alfonso


12. (11) Fonseca
13. (18) Burt
14. (16) Pew
15. (20) Relic
16. (21) Warner
17. (13) Perez
18. (22) Koskinen
19. (24) Yager
20. (5) Patterson
21. (25) Eriksen
22. (27) Comeau
23. (26) Hanratty
24. (29) Fenske
25. (28) Ven
26. (19) Edwards, 7 laps (accident)
27. (7) Johnson, 6 laps (accident)
28. (12) Varsha, 6 laps (accident)
29. (23) Brix, 2 laps (accident)

FDNC Points after two of 14 rounds:
1. Ramos, 35
2. Moon, 31
3. Pecorari, 28
4. Prey, 24
5. Andretti, 23
6. Bowles, 23
7. White, 15
8. Schmidt, 15
9. Fonseca, 14
10. Bonilla, 11
11. Patterson, 7
12. Alfonso, 7
13. Ingham, 6
14. Pew, 6
15. Varsha, 5