Mazda's Clean Diesel powered Mazda 6 GX racecars showed class leading pace this weekend enroute to second and third place finishes.

GRAND-AM's third event of the 2013 season took place at Barber Motorsports Park, a 2.3 mile road course outside of Birmingham, Alabama. Mazda drivers Tom Long in the #70 Mazdaspeed Mazda 6 and Tristan Nunez in the #00 Visit Florida Mazda 6 showed the true performance of their Clean Diesel SKYACTIV-D powered cars. The two traded top times lap after lap. At the end of the session, Long had earned the Mazda 6's first pole position with Nunez in second.

The two hour main event got off to a great start with both SpeedSource cars building a big lead over the competition. An early caution period erased the gap, but when the race returned to green, the Mazda 6s ran away from the competition again. Twenty two laps into the race the #70 Mazdaspeed Mazda 6 was slowed with electrical issues. Diligent work by the SpeedSource crew allowed the car to continue, with driver Sylvain Tremblay finishing in third place in the GX class.

The excellent fuel economy of the Clean Diesel SKYACTIV-D engine allowed the #00 to go deep into the race before pitting for service. A the half-way point, #00 Visit Florida Mazda 6 driver Joel Miller had a nearly one lap advantage over the second place car. Despite the large lead, the team would fall to second place after they were forced to make a late race pit stop to repair an external fuel line.

When the checkered flag fell, the #00 Visit Florida and the #70 Mazdaspeed Mazda 6 GX racecars had placed second and third in class, respectively. Along the way, the Clean Diesel powered cars showed class leading speed, excellent fuel economy and a bright future in motorsports.