13 newcomers challenge 2003 champion "The Alien" and runner-up Superman at Mazda's autocross finale, to be held Labor Day weekend
August 20, 2004
The struggle between Mark "The Alien" Daddio and Mike "Superman" King that emerged during last year's Mazda Rev It Up National Finals continues anew on Labor Day weekend when these two, and 18 other skilled drivers, face-off in identically prepared Mazdas. But don't count out upstart Alan McCrispin from Huntsville, Alabama, who posted the highest score nationally and actually finished at the top of two Mazda Rev It Up events this year!
The winner of this autocross championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will walk away with a brand-new Mazda3.
Seven of 20 competitors are making a repeat trip to the National Finals. Daddio, 38, of Beacon Falls, Connecticut, became a repeat contestant when he won Mazda Rev It Up/ Washington, DC this year, the same place he topped the field in 2003. In the National Finals last year, Daddio--nicknamed "Alien" for an out-of-this-world ability to control a car--won the first annual championship and grand prize - a new Mazda6. However, once again in Monterey, he will be facing stiff opposition from King, 32, of Jacksonville, Florida, who finished second overall last year. King, who got his nickname from the lucky superhero shirt he wears at autocrosses, was city champion this time around in St. Petersburg.
"I'll be wearing my Superman T-shirt at the finals," King proclaimed. "Have no doubts about that."
Thirteen other accomplished first-timers will be on track for the National Finals and they should not be discounted. The chief one to watch is McCrispin, 45, who won in St. Louis with this season's highest score, and actually also topped the field in Atlanta, but since he'd already won a berth, he stepped aside to allow another competitor to go to the National Finals.
McCrispin says he is on a personal mission: "I do an autocross event almost every weekend, and the seat time helps a lot. But I have another goal in mind for this year's Mazda Rev It Up, and that goal has yet to be met."
The repeat finalists will ensure an exciting and very competitive field. Karter Bollman, 31, of Friendswood, Texas, who repeated this year as champion in Houston, is the only driver to ever score more than 1000 points on a Mazda Rev It Up Competition Course, which he accomplished last year. He can be counted on to stir things up.