On August 10th, GT Challenge and Spec Miata drivers battled it out on the 2.1 mile South Track. Drivers braved the early morning heat as one of the largest GT Challenge racing fields we’ve had this season with close to 20 cars. Within a few minutes of qualifying, a flat tire for Meerhab Deboo had him pull his Porsche off at the exit of turn 1 causing a black flag all. Drivers eagerly await a restart of qualifying as maintenance and Race Control scramble to allow the remaining drivers one green lap to establish the starting grid. This was a valuable lesson for those racers knowing qualifying does not guarantee 20 minutes of green flag laps. As race control gave each driver one flying lap, Bill Keeley managed to grab pole for GT1.
SM qualifying was a different story. With 13 cars headed out on south track, pole position was traded back and forth like an old Babe Ruth baseball card between Gleitsman, Tyler and Collins with Collins locking in pole with a lap time of 1:38.425. SM2 qualifying saw Bob Reisinger securing pole position over his growing rival of Eamon Ryan.
For the start of the of GT race, Tony Kester and Mike Keck get into each other in Turn11 with Keck spinning around knocking him out of contention but he miraculously, clawed his way back to second place overall in GT5. Anthony Accolti had his first ever race and managed to get 3rd place. A great showing by the new racer! GT4 was hotly contested as the rivalry grows between Sean Venckevicius and Scott Bening Sr. After lots of cat and mouse games, Bening was able to hold off Sean’s BMW to claim first place. GT3 saw the BMW of Val Gaurylius take off and lock in first with the Cayman of Bob Noorian in second and Thomas Prokop’s Mustang rounding out the top three. Huge battles were happening in GT2 as Britt Casey Sr held off the onslaught of David Calzada’s K-powered Miata. Mike Brinati pulled double duty by racing in GT and Spec Miata and finished third. Charley Margosian made his triumphant return to GT racing and finished fourth. GT1 saw the high horsepower cars return as Bill Keely secured first with a commanding lead. The GT series was on full display as hot weather and even hotter racing won over the large crowds that were cheering the drivers on.
Spec Miata continued to wow the racing fans as the action never stopped. On lap 2 Mike Brinati’s hub decided it didn’t want to work anymore which caused the first full course caution. At the same time, Jason Greenwood’s rear tire decided it wanted to leave it’s hub and roll towards a tire wall possibly to be with it’s rubber friends. With two disabled cars and only one tow truck, Race Control was forced to throw the dreaded red flag as maintenance was tasked with the clean up. Upon restart, the field had skirmishes throughout the race but after a third full course yellow the race would be decided under a green/white flag, meaning one lap remaining. The crowd roared as the green flag dropped. Collins secured the lead as Gleitsman gets knocked off track at turn 1. The rest of the pack made it through clean as Collins walked away with the win followed by Matt Alexander and Jake Malter. SM2 had their own battles. Eli Dysart was forced to start the race from the back of the pack due to penalties but heroically moved his way up to the 1st place podium. Conor Ryan had to start from pit lane due to his penalties but fought his way up to second place after some amazing driving. Bob Reisinger continues to earn championship points after he secured 3rd place. The day was long and hot but will not be forgotten anytime soon by those watching and the best part is, we do it all again on August 23 and 24th!
