The third race of this year’s 2025 season took place on the south track, as drivers got some practice in for the upcoming Triple Header. Matt Alexander got pole position, as the sole driver to set a lap time under the 1 minute 38 second mark. Alongside Alexander on the front row, we had Taro Kushida. Brandon Collins would start the race from third with Jake Malter alongside in fourth. Mike Ryan would round out the top 5.
20 drivers would take the green flag for this 22 lap race as the green flag flew, drivers made sure to keep things clean on the opening laps. Throughout the race, drivers made sure to leave each other space during battles throughout the field and not to force anyone off track. The battle for the win surrounded this race’s top three front row starters, Matt Alexander, Taro Kushida and third place starter, Brandon Collins. Matt Alexander had an off which reduced the battle for the win to a two car battle between Brandon Collins and Taro Kushida The two “young gun” drivers, Gavin Gleitsman and Samuel Bowman were climbing their way up the field gaining on average one position every two laps.
In the end, Collins would come out on top, with Kushida in second and Matt Alexander being able to hold on to third place, ahead of the hard charging drivers rounding out your top five, Jake Malter, and Ethan Tyler. Sixth place finisher, Gavin Gleitsman along with seventh place finisher, and top rookie, Samuel Bowman gained the most positions during this race, with 11 positions gained in comparison to where they started. Behind them, Mike Ryan and Scott Ballard had a thrilling battle for eighth with Mike Ryan coming out on top. The battle for 10th however, had four drivers battling to get the last top ten spot, as if they were battling for the final point in Formula 1! Bob Groselak would claim the final spot in the top 10 with Josh Dale, Scott Bowman, and Matt Keck finishing close behind with the four drivers covered by .680 seconds when they finished. Luke Satterfield won a three car battle to get 14th, ahead of Kevin Ballard and Jackson Wolny. Kevin Laughridge had a day to forget, finishing 17th place, nine places down from where he started. Towards the back, we still had exciting battles, showcasing what Spec Miata is about, with Dave Hicks and Art Ziesmer separated by just under a quarter of a second when they finished. Greg Sorg would round out the field in 20th place, with all drivers finishing on the lead lap.
SM2 in a rare sight, had fewer starters than Spec Miata, with 17 drivers on the SM2 grid compared to Spec Miata’s 20 drivers this weekend. The front row had the only two drivers who set a time under the 1:39 range, with Eli Dysart on the pole with Conor Ryan alongside him. The second row would have had the last two drivers to set a time under the 1:40 range of Bob Reisinger qualifying third, but getting demoted down to eighth after contact from the previous race weekend and alongside him, moving into Bob’s vacated third place was sleep deprived- due to a 3 month old baby at home- Sean Benet. This grid drop would place Chris Dimuzio alongside Benet in fourth and in a sort of Ryan brothers sandwich as Emmet Ryan would start fifth alongside the last driver to set a time below the 1:41 mark, Noel Saks.
17 drivers would take the green flag for a 22 lap race with drivers keeping it clean on the opening laps. Throughout the duration of the race, drivers made sure to battle hard, but clean in light of incidents from the first two races of this season. The battle for the lead started out with Eli Dysart and Conor Ryan but after Dysart had an off around the midway point, it was smooth sailing for Conor Ryan for the rest of the race. This put Dysart in a battle for second with the other Ryan brother, Emmet Ryan, along with Sean Benet and the quickly approaching Bob Reisinger. Dysart would continue his slow fall down the order as the trio of Benet, Emmet Ryan and Reisinger would get ahead of Dysart before the end of the race.
In the end, Conor Ryan built his gap to second place to just under 20 seconds come the end of the race, winning round three of this year’s SM2 race. Sean Benet would prevent a Ryan brother 1-2 by finishing second, ahead of Emmet Ryan who rounded off the podium, holding off the fast charging fan favorite, Bob Reisinger. Chris Dimuzio took fifth from Eli Dysart before the final lap of the race, with Noel Sacks holding off Bruce Malter for seventh. More two car battles ensued with Bill Hamel holding off Adam Lavelle for ninth and Nolan Lahmann holding off the top finishing rookie of Eric Gortner for 11th. Despite being the first two cars to finish a lap down, Gary Traverso, and Randy Cochran had a wonderful battle for 13th with Traverso coming out on top. Brad Jones and Tim Milne brought their cars home in 15th and 16th while Connor Miklos had a day to forget, having to pull in while running eighth place after only five laps.
Overall the racing was much improved as we head into the Triple Crown race this Saturday.
