2012 Dash Cup Motegi GP

The 2012 Motegi GP was the 11th race of the 2012 Dash Cup season. It was held at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan.

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Pre-race storylines
The major news item was that Atlantic Motorsports and Eichholtz Autosport announced the two teams would merge for the 2013 season, with its driver lineup also being announced. Patrick Eichholtz, and Jakob Hughes were announced as the only current drivers to be retained by the newly-merged entity. Part-timer Kellan Rogers, who has impressed many series pundits with a pair of top-10 finishes in her two starts, was announced to be the team's third full-time entry, with the fourth spot speculated to be going to either team owner Ben Atkins or to Harriet Wallace.

Arrow Dynamic also announced that it would expand from a one-car team to a four-car operation, leading announcer Todd Benatar to question the move, citing the fact the team isn't in the best financial shape to begin with. ("Good luck with that," Benatar said after reporting the announcement.)

Carlo De Pretto returned to the Dash Cup this week after his ARLA stint, taking over the No. 37 car previously piloted by Marco Cardillo.

Ashley Ambercroft returned to the Terra International Motorsports car this week, having recuperated from her injuries at Mallory Park.

The race
Patrick Eichholtz led the field to the green flag, with the No. 30 car of Daniel Miller on his outside. Eichholtz got off to a good start, and opened up a few-carlength lead at the end of the first lap.

Willard Stanton got into the wall in the early going...a harbinger of things to come.

Leslie Riggs made the second of her two Japanese starts this round, but struggled to get out of the midfield.

Matt Tremblay made his last start of the season in the No. 31 car, as Harriet Wallace would take the car over for the Spa GP.

As the laps wore on, Alexander Sybilton started moving up through the field, eventually claiming the race lead near the midpoint of the race. Kellan Rogers did likewise, and both drivers were comfortably in the top 10.

Velmier Jankovic was another driver whose car came in as the race wore on, as he eventually found his way to the top three.

Matthias McMair's car suffered an engine failure on Lap 21, but he was able to get his car to the pits and the yellow did not fly.

Meanwhile, back in the business end of the field, Jankovic made a move on Sybilton for the lead, with Rogers following suit and taking second place. Sybilton took the lead back four laps later. The three drivers would trade the top three positions for a few more laps, but Jankovic's car would expire on Lap 32, bringing out the only yellow of the day.

Stanton's engine would grenade coming to the yellow, bringing a merciful end to his miserable day.

Sybilton would lead on the restart, with Rogers and Eichholtz on his tail. Eichholtz and Rogers would trade second place for a couple laps, allowing Sybilton to gain some breathing room on the rest of the field.

With two laps to go, Rogers and Eiccholtz drag-raced for the second spot, which allowed Carla Rosinki to sneak up into the battle. The battle was just what Sybilton needed, as he was able to cruise on to the win.

After the race, several teams filed a protest with the stewards, claiming the No. 7 of Sybilton had to have been illegal, citing Sybilton's lack of speed in his other racing efforts. "I don't get it! He's so weird! How can he be that good all of a sudden?" Atlantic Motorsports head Ben Atkins said. "I don't see how he beat out Kellan and Patrick, since they were looking really good, and they've both been absolutely fantastic this year in general!"

Matthews Motorsports boss Ryan Matthews confirmed via phone that the team would also protest the No. 7, saying, "We'll join in the protest as well, and not just because of our own self-interest. Our people at Motegi told me something didn't look right with his car. Backmarker cars don't get good just because you switch drivers."

For what it was worth, the protest was denied, though Dash Cup officials announced that whatever Sybilton's car had done to it would be "out of bounds" in future races. The officials didn't elaborate further.

The top 10

 * For the full results, click here.

Points

 * For the complete points standings, click here.

Patrick Arceneau continues to hold onto the points lead with a 20-point gap over Radomir Stanoytchev, who retook second place from Reuben Vogt. Anto Markov continues to run fourth, with Terry Orvell Jr. rounding out the top five. Rosinki moved up four spots from tenth to sixth, Jack Parker is seventh, Verity Logan drops to eighth, Herashi Nanaya drops a spot to ninth, and Justin Keith completes the top 10.

Postrace penalties

 * None