Atlantic Motorsports

Atlantic Motorsports is a United Kingdom-based race team in the Dash Cup series. Pundits believe the team to be the new powerhouse of the series, winning the championship on the same year they formed with then rookie Daniel Miller.

History
During a poker tournament in Corby, England, in late 2009, Ben Atkins said to his friend Ben Tremblay that if his father won the tournament that he would open up a Dash Cup team just for Tremblay, jokingly. Ben Tremblay had just lost his ride after his previous team had closed down. However, when his father won the tournament, and the grand prize of £100,000, Tremblay mentioned what Atkins had said to his father, which given him the idea of actually opening a race team, on the terms that Ben Atkins won the second part of the tournament, which he did. Jacob Tremblay and Ben Atkins then worked on opening a Dash Cup team, to find they had enough money to actually fund top-notch equipment from Speidel and they worked quickly to work on a set of three cars for Ben Tremblay, Ben Atkins and an unknown driver for the 2010 EuroSpeedway GP. The days kept passing, and there was still no sign of a driver willing to drive for them.

Just three days before the event though, luck struck the team, when Atkins noticed Daniel Miller in a kart race in a track at Berlin. Atkins was quick to ask Miller if he would drive the stock car for them, and Miller accepted. They rushed to give Miller some practice, but Miller never shown any good signs. He qualified 31st, while Tremblay and Atkins had taken the pole and 5th on the grid. However, Miller gained the positions very late in the race, and make a last lap pass for the lead over Carla Rosinki (she had been driving for NitrousAction Racing Inc) for the lead. Miller went on to win the race. Rosinki then caught the eye of Atkins, when himself, Rosinki, Tremblay and Miller were constantly the top 4 all year, until Rosinki got hurt in a bad crash at the 2010 Russia GP when her car overturned outside of the track and set on fire. She did not race again that season. Miller won the 2010 Dash Cup Championship, with Atkins in 2nd and Tremblay in 3rd. Atkins quickly signed Rosinki to the No. 28 car which Ben had previously driven, and signed Verity Logan who was a veteran in stock cars on a part-time deal while Atkins went to pursue his career for the 2012 season, since the 2011 season was never run due to funding issues.

2012 Season
All four cars attempted the Eurospeedway GP, even though the practice session proved to be a tricky one for the drivers. Verity Logan had backed her car into the turn 2 wall, forcing her to go to her backup. Carla Rosinki had also spun out in turn 3 as well, but never got any damage miraculously. Logan qualified 5th, with Miller in 6th, Rosinki in 10th, and Tremblay, must slower than his teammates in 26th. The race went smoothly for Team Atlantic, and Tremblay founds his way to the front, while Miller stayed up front, Rosinki had stayed where she was and Logan was falling back. The first caution came out, and Tremblay fought his way up to the lead. Rosinki had then been spun by Jakob Hughes, hindering her progress slightly. Logan was almost spun by Michael Dougly but she saved it. Tremblay kept leading the race, up until Ashley Flynn spun out Tremblay battling for the lead on lap 28. Logan got caught up in the accident and retired, sparking controversy between herself and Atkins, when Atkins called her a "moving debris caution." This insulted Logan, and she threatened to leave the team. Later on, things got more dismal for Atlantic Motorsports, as Rosinki was spun out when running midfield. Tremblay recovered from his crash to battle Reuben Vogt for the win, but he never managed to make a move, and so, Tremblay settled for 2nd, while Miller got 7th after a quiet race, Rosinki got 21st after struggling and Logan retired from the race, getting a 26th place finish.

Atkins retracted anything bad he said about Logan after she got the pole for Norisring, even though she failed to lead a lap after Radomir Stanyochev lead all 38 laps. Still, Tremblay finished 4th, Logan 6th, Rosinki 7th and Miller 11th. Then came Rockingham, which shown good signs for Miller and Rosinki, drawing the pole and 6th place, while Tremblay drew 17th, and Logan 24th. Miller driven the race of his life, but fell short due to a late caution; one that effected Atlantic Motorsports greatly, after the accident that happened took Ben Tremblay's life, as well as Shawn Glenhooke's. Miller finished 2nd, while Logan finished 18th, Rosinki 20th, and Tremblay 26th...

Moving onto Brands Hatch, they only fielded three cars due to the 29 car not being run in any of the UK races. All three cars qualified midfield, with Miller 10th, Rosinki 11th and Logan 14th. While Logan appeared to have no pace after an accident on the first lap, Rosinki and Miller were the direct opposite. They worked their way up the field, Miller even getting involved in an accident, but eventually, at the expense of others as well as being a hard charger throughout the race, Miller came out to win the race, with Carla Rosinki finishing 2nd, in an iconic 1-2 finish, with it being their first ever, and a race after the death of Tremblay. It was described as "Atlantic Motorsports best moment ever" by many of the fans, as well as Ben Atkins.Criticism came in heavily after the season Atlantic Motorsports have had up until now, with them regular being outpaced by Radomir Stanyochev but the team say that their season will turn around after Brands Hatch, which is proven right after that round. Oulton Park was quite a bad event for Atlantic Motorsports, apart from Verity Logan, who qualified 6th and finished in the same spot. Jakob Hughes also finished 9th on his first start for Atlantic Motorsports. Miller finished 20th due to being taken out early, while Rosinki finished last, after a lap 1 accident of her own doing.

Speculation already began at this early point about new drivers for the 2013 season, and Atkins signed young Harriet Wallace to the team for 2013 to run in the #30 car, perhaps leaving Miller out of a ride. She will also replace Logan in the #31 for Spa, since Atkins originally had the intention of entering her for the Spa GP, but she was shuffled out of it, with possibility she could lose her chance to run at New York too, since Atkins wants Wallace to show what she's worth on ovals. Atkins, however, says that Miller is "too much of an asset to the team" and he will "open another slot in the team to keep him there."

The round of Mallory Park marked Harriet Wallace's debut in the Dash Cup series in the #31 car, and the return of Jacob Tremblay after the Rockingham GP. Tremblay started 4th and finished in the same spot in a fantastic run, while the rest of the team ran into some trouble. Carla Rosinki was described as a pinball by herself after that race, but she scavenged a 15th place finish, while Jakob Hughes suffered a very violent accident late in the race, which sent him to hospital, where he was later released, and injured Ashley Ambercroft. Hughes was still credited with a 18th place finish. Harriet Wallace had to retire after Andrew O'Reilly turned her into the inside wall of turn 1, and Daniel Miller finished last after a hard crash in turn 2, only 7 laps into the race. Verity Logan lost her ride after the round of Mallory Park, as she was seen as "underperforming" compared to her fellow drivers. This put Harriet Wallace and Matt Tremblay in the #31 car, to share.

The round of Brno was considered Atlantic's worst run since the formation of the team. Only one of five cars finished in the points, and that was Jakob Hughes in 15th. Carla Rosinki finished 21st after a bad day, Harriet Wallace finished 25th after terrible pit strategy took her out of contention for a podium (as she was running 3rd before pit stops), Jacob Tremblay finished 27th for the same reason, and Daniel Miller finished 28th after a lap one accident. Monaco was a start of something good for Carla Rosinski however, as she took the pole then won race 1 of the GP in a stunning fashion, beating Anto Markov by 41 seconds. Daniel Miller and Jakob Hughes finished 14th and 15th in the same heat, which was the last two cars in the race. In heat 2, son and father Jacob and Matt Tremblay raced with eachother, with the elder finishing 2nd, and the debutant finishing 9th. Jacob Tremblay impressed again at Calder Park, finishing 4th while Carla Rosinski finished 11th. Hughes and Matt Tremblay both struggled, with Hughes being off the pace all day, and Matt being in a crash, and they finished 23rd and 24th, and Daniel Miller parked the car with a tire issue, being the only retiree of the day.

At Osaka, it was time for the young drivers to shine, as Matt Tremblay took his first ever podium, finishing third (ironically, behind Verity Logan, who previously piloted that car). Carla Rosinski finished 18th after a crash with the aforementioned Logan, and Daniel Miller 19th after a lap 1 accident. Jakob Hughes continued to struggle, finishing 25th after a late race crash, and Jacob Tremblay got 28th after wrecking out early in the going. Motegi seen many of the Atlantic drivers show what they were worth, with Rosinski finished 4th; and it should be mentioned that Rosinski attempted the ARLA race at the same track that same weekend, and finished 2nd in round 2 of the event. Jakob Hughes finally had a good performance, finishing 5th behind Rosinski, and Jacob Tremblay continued to impress, as he finished 9th. Daniel Miller faded back late in the race, but still got a solid 13th place finished, while Matt Tremblay finished 24th. Then, it was time for the big race.

Spa set out a big challenge for Atlantic, as one of their primary goals was to win the event, and in response, they entered 7 cars into the event, with Ben Atkins coming over, and Natalie Kendall driving a joint effort with Eichholtz Autosport. When Jacob Eichholtz won the pole for the event, this left the team optimistic of a good performance, and they were not to be let down, and 5 of the 7 cars entered made the event. Daniel Miller and, surprisingly, Jacob Tremblay were the two to miss the event, and this sparked an argument between Atkins and Miller over twitter, claiming that Rosinski got all of the equipment since she was dating Atkins, and Atkins fired Miller the next day. The event came, and while they did not grasp victory, young Harriet Wallace finished in 2nd, being the youngest driver to ever sit on the podium at Spa. This wasn't it for good performance, as Carla Rosinski got an excellent day for points, and finished 7th, Ben Atkins finished 9th after leading 5 laps early on, but crashing on the last lap running third. Matt Tremblay also got a top 10, finishing 10th in a great run for him, then Natalie Kendall finished 14th in a great day for her.

Karjala seen another fantastic points day for Rosinski, as she finished 2nd in the race, and this labelled her as a serious threat for the title. Jacob Tremblay finished 15th in a solid run for him, and Jakob Hughes finished an impressive 20th, impressive as he broke down early in the race and rallied back. Harriet Wallace finished 24th after a crash in her return to the 31 car, and Stuart Sandoval, in his Dash Cup debut, who was running Karjala and Toddring, finished 29th after a very heavy lap 1 accident with Patrick Arceneau, then another with Herashi Nanaya. Toddring was a big race for Jacob Tremblay, and he failed to dissapoint, with a fantastic 2nd place finished. Harriet Wallace got a 17th place finish with help from her teammates Jacob Tremblay and Jakob Hughes who drafted her for a lap to keep her up with the pack, but Hughes later crashed and finished 21st, after leading a fair amount of the race. Stuart Sandoval finished 27th after a crash, and Rosinski's title hopes took a blow as she finished 30th, after an accident with Kellan Rogers. At Illinois, Harriet Wallace and Carla Rosinski had great showings, finishing 4th and 5th, and this cemented Rosinski as a title chaser going into the finale as Reuben Vogt scored a DNF. Ben Atkins in his return to Dash Cup scored a 16th place finish after contact with Jacob Tremblay, who finished 17th, while Jakob Hughes scored another DNF, finished 32nd after contact with Harriet Wallace. Next up; the New York GP. Rosinski needed to finish in the top 10 if Reuben Vogt got no points to win the title. After Vogt was in a multi-car accident, while Rosinski avoided it, it looked like she was in good standings, especially when she stormed her way to the front after the restart. However, she had to pit for gas before most of the field, and this relegated her to a 17th place finish, and third in the final point standings. Jacob Tremblay took his 5th top 5 of the season, finishing 5th as Ben Atkins finished 11th, but both Harriet Wallace and Jakob Hughes were taken out by the lap 11 accident, and they were classified as 31st and 32nd. Jacob Tremblay finished 8th in the final point standings, with only 11 starts, while Jakob Hughes got an underwhelming 24th in 15 starts. In 7 starts, Harriet Wallace scored 26th in points, including a 2nd at Spa, and Matt Tremblay took 29th in 6 starts.

In the early stages of 2012, it was announced that Ben Atkins would be running the Independent's Trophy with Atlantic Motorsports. He would be driving the #56 Lewis and Ricky's car for the rounds of Wales, Queensland, Quebec and Victoria. Ben Atkins and Daniel Miller attempted Karjala, with Daniel Miller driving the #330 Unsponsored Omecha. After neither car made Karjala, Atkins was not optimistic about his chances at the Independent's Trophy, but after a 11th place finish at Wales, and an awesome drive at Quebec, seeing him finished a career-best matching 5th, he put himself well into the hunt for it. At Indianapolis, Carla Rosinski took over the 330 car, and she put it in the show through pole qualifying, starting 9th. While Atkins was not as quick as Rosinski, his car was very fast during pre-qualifiers, and he made it through to the qualifying race with ease. From there, Atkins made it into the main field. In the race, Carla Rosinski started to drop back, and early in the running, Greg Woodard wrecked Dale Roswell and Ben Atkins got involved. Despite this, Rosinski still took home some points finishing 20th, and Atkins finished 21st; his first TMMC race without placing in the points.