The scorching Western Endurance Racing Championship (WERC) 4-hour enduro was set to go green noon Saturday with 38 entries across 6 classes. Rivalries and temperatures flared, with ambient air temperatures climbing to over 100 degrees when the green flag dropped. During qualifying, David Varco, Austin Varco, and Evan Jacobs — the three SoCal Spec Miata title contenders, put the car on class pole wheeled by Austin Varco in the #98 Mazda Miata.

To start the race, Team Aardvarc Racing held a strong lead with a 45-minute first stint. Struggling with temperature regulation, they pitted early and swapped Evan Jacobs to the helm. Evan wheeled the car back up to the bumper of the race leaders for a ripping 90 minute stint before the group came to pit for fuel. Playing the fuel-save strategy to make up for lost time during driver swaps, David Varco takes the wheel for the third stint. Running consistent laps in 2nd for about an hour, the group started to close back up to the leaders to find themselves on the lead lap.