20 Drivers Battle for Mazda "Rev It Up" Championship

The wild card qualifiers may be dark horses, but they should not be overlooked. Each managed a terrific lap on a Mazda Rev It Up Competition Course and could rise to the occasion at the National Finals. Diane Niven, 33, of Oviedo, Florida, was the top-scoring woman this year after her blistering lap in St. Petersburg. The number one finisher in the Club division is David Corsaro, 27, of Nutley, New Jersey. Corsaro secured his spot in the finale by turning a fast time in Philadelphia, as did Joshua Melani, 22, of Forest Hill, Maryland, whose lap gave him an unbeatable score nationally in the Novice class. Rounding out the field is Just for Fun competitor Bill Fiske, 40, of Chester, New Hampshire, who set his winning score in Boston, even though he had never before raced on a road course.

The rundown of city champions is as follows:

The rundown of wild card winners is as follows:

Mazda Rev It Up is the world's largest performance driving school and national competition. Anyone with a valid driver's license who is 18 years old and up can participate. Nearly 24,000 people took part in the 15 city tour that visited locations such as San Francisco, San Diego, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Miami. The professional instructors come from NASCAR, IRL, CART and the SCCA. Drivers began their experience with a brief "Chalk Talk" before progressing to three Skills Clinics, as well as two runs on the Competition Course. Scores are a result of competitor lap times matched against the lap of a trained racing instructor. The competition cars were new Mazda3s outfitted with Falken Tires, Bosal Performance Exhausts and Eibach Springs.