Bowmanville, Ontario - Clark Toppe paced a JDC Motorsports tour de force Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, leading a sweep of the podium by the dominant Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda team with his second victory of the season.

Toppe, from The Woodlands, Texas, drove his No. 10 JDC Motorsports entry to a 7.131-second victory over teammate and series points leader Kenton Koch. Matt McMurry finished third for JDC Motorsports, the runaway leader in the Lites 1 Team Championship of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Development Series.

The victory was the second podium sweep this season for reigning Lites 1 Team Champions JDC, which also took the top three spots in Round 3 in mid-April at NOLA Motorsports Park. JDC has placed at least two drivers on the podium in seven of the eight rounds this season.

Toppe's victory ended the five-race winning streak of Koch, which started after Toppe won Round 2 in mid-March at Sebring International Raceway.

"That was one heck of a race," Toppe said. "It was awesome. I have to give it up to JDC for giving me such a great car, Cooper Tires for hanging in through the entire race. It was a good day, good run.

"Today I just put my head down more. I just really wanted it more today. Yesterday I thought I could get it, and I knew I just had to today to prove to myself and myself alone that I could do it."

Performance Tech Motorsports teammates Robert Alon and Austin Versteeg rounded out the top five after an intense intra-team duel. Alon, from Encino, California, finished fourth in the No. 00 Élan DP02 chassis powered by a Mazda engine. Versteeg, from Sandy, Utah, placed fifth in the team's No. 16 entry.

John Falb, from Las Vegas, completed a weekend sweep of the Lites 1 Masters class in the No. 77 ONE Motorsports entry. Brian Alder, from Dublin, Ohio, won the Lites 2 class in the No. 22 BAR1 Motorsports car.

Toppe, 17, started third but darted past pole sitter McMurry and Koch in Turn 1 after the start of the 45-minute race.

"I just got a good start and made it stick," Toppe said. "I thought I could have it on the inside of Turn 1 and never looked back."

The only caution period of the race started on Lap 1 when Lites 1 Masters drivers Michal Chlumecky and Joel Janco made contact in Turn 3, sending Janco into the tire barrier.

There was no drama on the restart with 39 minutes left, as Toppe kept the lead. But his JDC Motorsports teammates applied pressure for the next 25 minutes.

Toppe, McMurry and Koch drove in lockstep around the 10-turn, 2.459-mile (3.957 km) circuit, ranging from five-tenths of a second to one second from each other.

The lead trio's ferocious pace caused them to reach lapped traffic shortly before the halfway point of the race. All three navigated the slower cars in taut precision.

McMurry pulled side by side with Toppe in Turn 8 for two consecutive laps near the midway point of the race, but Toppe repulsed McMurry's moves.

Then the logjam between Toppe, McMurry and Koch broke with 15 minutes left. McMurry spun after braking slightly too late for Turn 5 while trying to gain ground on Toppe. Koch avoided the spin, but Toppe pulled away to a 2.305-second lead over Koch on the next lap. McMurry dropped to third.

Toppe then pulled away to victory over the closing 14 minutes. He lapped all but four drivers in the field, setting a torrid pace in warm, sunny, humid conditions.

Koch leads Toppe, 156-126, in the Lites 1 championship standings.

McMurry's podium finish capped a superb weekend. He started on pole for both Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda races and teamed with 2014 Lites 1 champion Mikhail Goikhberg to finish third in the Prototype Challenge class of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race, a two-hour, 40-minute event that ended just 30 minutes before Round 8 of Prototype Lites started.

"I left the TUDOR race on a good note, finishing third, and I didn't feel too tired getting in the Lites car," said McMurry, 17. "But these cars are a lot more physical than the PC cars because they don't have any power steering, so I was definitely getting tired by the end. But it was a very good day, walking out with two podiums."

Masters

Reigning Lites 1 Masters champion Falb started from pole and earned his seventh class win in eight starts this season. Falb has won five consecutive rounds.

Falb's victory also completed a stellar day in two different series. He teamed with 2013 Lites 1 champion Sean Rayhall to finish second in the PC class of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race.

"When I hopped in the car, I felt great coming from a P2 finish in the PC car," Falb said. "We just showed up and decided to put that deal together and ended up P2. It was really awesome.

"About lap four or five of this race, I started to feel a little bit tired. They came over the radio with 25 minutes to go, and I said, 'That sounds like a really long time.' But I just kept focused and kept my head down, pounding out laps, and got the Masters win."

Falb expanded his championship lead over second place Don Yount to 154-117.

Yount, from Dallas, earned his second podium finish of the weekend by finishing second in the No. 28 Yount Motorsports entry. He finished third in Round 7. Yount climbed into second in the standings with his fifth podium finish of the season and fourth in a row.

Gerhard Watzinger, from Miami, placed third in the No. 32 ONE Motorsports entry for his third podium finish of the season and first since Round 4 in mid-April at NOLA Motorsports Park.

Lites 2

Alder pulled into a tie with Todd Slusher for the lead in the Lites 2 championship standings with his third victory of the season. The two drivers are locked at 142 points. Slusher finished fourth today in the No. 62 ONE Motorsports entry.

"It's great, perfect end to the weekend," Alder said. "Our PC guys, John Falb and Sean Rayhall, did awesome, finishing second in the PC race. We led flag to flag today. The Top 1 Oil car was absolutely perfect."

While Alder cruised to victory, Max de Angelis and John Salmon engaged in a fierce duel for the last two spots on the podium.

De Angelis, from Belle River, Ontario, finally prevailed to finish second. It was his second podium finish of the season in the No. 7 Eurosport Racing entry.

Salmon, from Lynchburg, Virginia, earned his sixth consecutive trip to the third spot on the podium this season in the No. 46 ODU Engineering Race Team car. But this third-place finish was especially rewarding since his team worked into the early morning hours to repair damage from a multi-car crash that ended Round 7 under caution Saturday.

"We were working on the car until 2 a.m. this morning trying to get it put back together from yesterday, and the guys were back at it pretty early today just to make sure all the fiberglass work held together," Salmon said. "If you didn't know, you probably wouldn't even realize anything was wrong. They did a jigsaw puzzle on the rear clip, and it looks fantastic. It's great to be able to come back with a podium finish."

Up Next

Rounds 9 and 10 are scheduled for Aug. 8-9 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Round 9 is 30 minutes; Round 10 is 45 minutes.

For more information on Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, visit www.imsa.com, follow the hashtags #CTPL and #MRT24 on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.

ROUND 8 POST-RACE QUOTES

CLARK TOPPE (No. 10 JDC Motorsports, winner): "That was one heck of a race, for sure. It was awesome. I have to give it up to JDC for giving me such a great car, Cooper Tires for hanging in through the entire race. It was a good day, good run. Today I just put my head down more. I just really wanted it more today. Yesterday I thought I could get it, and I knew I just had to today to prove to myself and myself alone that I could do it. So thank you so much to JDC Motorsports, Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda series, my dad, of course, for supporting me through this whole thing, my whole family and my coach Phil Lombardi. It's been fantastic." (About pass for the lead): "I just got a good start and made it stick. I thought I could have it on the inside of Turn 1 and never looked back. Matt was there for a while, and Kenton was right there. It was a good race."

KENTON KOCH (No. 60 JDC Motorsports, second): "Clark (Toppe) got an awesome start, and he caught me by surprise, and then I was just running third. I was doing my best to hang on the back of those guys. I was trying real hard to keep up with them. Matt (McMurry) spun out in front of me, which was a bummer. We were going to have a really good race. I was starting to reel him in a little bit. Clark was dealing with traffic really well, and I caught it at a bad time. It was a difficult race but a fun one. We've come out on a good points weekend. We didn't lose anything, but we didn't gain anything. JDC 1-2-3 is the coolest thing a team can have. I'm proud of this team and happy to be a part of it. Already looking forward to Road America."

MATT McMURRY (No. 20 JDC Motorsports, third): "I left the TUDOR race on a good note, finishing third, and I didn't feel too tired getting in the Lites car. But these cars are a lot more physical than the PC cars because they don't have any power steering, so I was definitely getting tired by the end. My left hand was killing me toward the end of the race. I was starting to run out of fuel at the very end, so I had to play it safe for the last two or three laps. But it was a very good day, walking out with two podiums."

JOHN FALB (No. 77 ONE Motorsports, first Lites Masters): "When I hopped in the car, I felt great coming from a P2 finish in the PC car. We just showed up and decided to put that deal together and ended up P2. It was really awesome. About lap four or five of this race, I started to feel a little bit tired. They came over the radio with 25 minutes to go, and I said, 'That sounds like a really long time.' But I just kept focused and kept my head down, pounding out laps, and got the Masters win."

DON YOUNT (No. 28 Yount Motorsports, second Lites Masters): "Staying green today made it fun, but 45 minutes is a long time in these cars. But it was a good race and happy with the outcome."

GERHARD WATZINGER (No. 32 ONE Motorsports, third Lites Masters): "It was really a clean race. Yesterday was a little disappointing, so I was hoping we would have a clean race today. When it started in the first lap with the full course caution, I said to myself, 'I hope that's not the repeat from yesterday.' But the rest of the race was clean. It was clean racing, nobody did anything stupid out there, and I enjoyed it a lot. But with these weather conditions, you have to work hard."

BRIAN ALDER (No. 22 BAR1 Motorsports, winner Lites 2): "It's great, perfect end to the weekend. Our PC guys, John Falb and Sean Rayhall, did awesome, finishing second in the PC race. We led flag to flag today (in Lites 2). The Top 1 Oil car was absolutely perfect, and to top it off, I think we took the points lead back, so we're really excited and leaving Canada with our heads held high."

MAX DE ANGELIS (No. 7 Eurosport Racing, second Lites 2): "It started to get hot and slick out there. Traffic really wasn't an issue; everyone got out clean. For the most part, everyone ran a much smoother, cleaner race than yesterday. I just kind of paced myself out. Thanks to the Eurosport guys for giving me a good car. Thanks to 6th Gear, our home track with all of our friends and family, DeAngelis Construction sponsor, CGI. This is just a great series with a great bunch of guys, and that's what its all about. I'm very very happy to finish P2 at our home track and looking forward to the next one."

JOHN SALMON (No. 46 ODU Engineering Race Team, third Lites 2): "This is really what I was looking for. I wanted it to be a long, grueling race. I feel like fitness is really my only strong point. I was hoping I could wear somebody down. So I ended up behind Max (DeAngelis). We were battling pretty hard. I was trying everything I could to get around him. It was really grueling, just waiting for one of us to make a mistake, trying not to spin. It was a great race." (About repairs from accident Saturday): "We were working on the car until 2 a.m. this morning trying to get it put back together from yesterday, and the guys were back at it pretty early today just to make sure all the fiberglass work held together. If you didn't know, you probably wouldn't even realize anything was wrong. They did a jigsaw puzzle on the rear clip, and it looks fantastic. It's great to be able to come back with a podium finish. This has been such a huge track, just everything about it is big and fast and fantastic."

Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda

Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Development Series, enters its 10th season in 2015. The series provides thrilling action and grooms drivers for future TUDOR United SportsCar Championship competition in the Prototype and Prototype Challenge classes.

The two classes of competition in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda series take drivers and teams down unique, exciting roads of prototype sports car racing. Nimble, high-tech, purpose-built Lites 1 machines pack in the power with a 230-horsepower, 2-liter Mazda engine designed to prepare aspiring professionals for prototype competition in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and offer a challenging environment for mature semi-professional drivers, including competition in a Masters Championship. Equally capable and cost-effective Lites 2 machines offer new competitors a perfect introduction to the world-class competition offered by IMSA.

ABOUT IMSA

The International Motor Sports Association, LLC (IMSA) was originally founded in 1969 with a long and rich history in sports car racing. Today, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, the premier sports car racing series in North America. IMSA also sanctions the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, as well as four single-make series: Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama; Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin; Ferrari Challenge North America; and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America. IMSA - a company within the NASCAR Holdings group - is the exclusive strategic partner in North America with the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which operates the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The partnership enables selected TUDOR Championship competitors to earn automatic entries into the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Canadians In BOLD