Jaxon Bell won the opening round of the Skip Barber Race Series from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca but Sebastian Wheldon extended his lead in the championship with a pair of podium finishes including a win in Race 2. Wheldon and Bell, along with Jeshua Alianell, make up the top three in the standings entering the final pair of races at Circuit of the Americas, locked out the podium in both races from Laguna Seca. Sebastian Wheldon led both of the practice sessions on Monday, but Jaxon Bell was just 0.087 seconds behind Wheldon in Practice 2, setting the stage for an exciting qualifying session. Mother Nature had other plans, as rain relegated the session to Tuesday morning where it was Alianell who came out swinging, snatching pole position for Race 1. Bell would start to his outside in Race 1, while Wheldon would be forced to start from the rear due to an off-track excursion in qualifying. Alianell led the field to green and held court the opening laps before Bell made the pass for the lead. As Bell and Alianell fought at the front, Wheldon was quickly climbing through the order, passing multiple cars each lap as he pursued his championship rivals. Bell led the trio across the line to claim his fifth win of the season as Alianell scored his tenth podium. “It was a good race and a good battle with Jeshua,” Bell said. “Lap traffic played a big part in the race, and I almost lost it a few times with some lap cars but that’s a part of the deal. The new pavement is super smooth, it feels like you’re driving on butter. It makes for a fun lap because it’s super-fast and high grip.” By virtue of setting the fastest lap of Race 1, Wheldon would earn pole position for Race 2, placing the championship leader squarely in the sights of his closest competitors. Wheldon got a strong start as Bell moved in behind him to protect from Alianell who was starting on the inside of the second row. With Bell and Alianell behind him and clean air in front of him, Wheldon managed his pace for the next thirteen laps to claim his fifth victory of the year. Bell, however, stayed close, crossing the line just 0.444 seconds behind Wheldon. “I got a good start and a good jump off the line, and I broke well into Turn 1 and rolled some good speed through Turn 2 at the start,” Wheldon said. “The threat from Jaxon was pretty strong but I think I drove well to defend. Jaxon and I put on a good show, and it was good fun to be a part of.” In the Master’s Division, it continued to be the story of the Tarlton brothers as Thomas Tarlton claimed victory in Race 1 ahead of his brother Rob Tarlton before Rob got the best of Thomas in Race 2. Robert Perlmutter’s second-place finish in class and eighth-place overall finish was his best of the year. Entering the final round of the Skip Barber Race Series season at Circuit of the Americas on November 20, Sebastian Wheldon will have a 15-point lead over Jeshua Alianell with Jaxon Bell eight points behind Alianell. Caleb Gafrarar and Gabe Tesch round out the top five heading into Circuit of the Americas.