Saturday’s Spec Miata and SM2 race 1
In race 1 of Saturday’s south track double header, Spec Miata drivers looked to finish off the summer strong in these two races before our six week long break. Gavin Gleitsman started from pole, setting a 1:37.962, ⅓ of a second quicker than second place starter, Matt Keck. As for SM2, Conor Ryan set a time of 1:38.849 to take pole in the SM2 class, with Eli Dysart under a tenth slower than Conor alongside him as SM2’s only other driver to set a time under a 1:39.
26 drivers, 13 in each class took the green for 18 laps of exciting action with Spec Miata staying in formation, while SM2 had some minor mishaps, with fan favorite Bob Reisinger missing a shift at the start, losing his third in SM2 right off the bat. While Bob made his way back through the field, Spec Miata had battles going on up and down the class, with the most notable battles being Autobahn’s experienced Matt Alexander battling the young and quick Samuel Bowman. The other notable battle was for the race lead with polesitter Gavin Gleitsman holding off Brandon Collins to the best of his ability. With the help of a caution at the ⅔ point of the race on lap 12, this battle would remain close all the way until the end with Gavin Gleitsman holding off Brandon Collins for the win. Taro Kushida would fend off Samuel Bowman for the final podium spot, with the two Matts, Keck and Alexander finishing fifth and sixth respectively. As for SM2, Conor Ryan went off with a few laps remaining while in the lead, thus giving SM2’s lead to Eli Dysart, who would keep that lead to the checkers. Sean Benet held off both Ryan’s for second, with Eamon fending off Conor to take SM2’s final step on the podium and Bob Reisinger recovering from that missed shift at the start to round out the top five in SM2 for race 1.
Spec Miata/SM2 race 2
Race 2’s starting grid was set via fastest laps set during our first race. Gavin Gleitsman would maintain pole position for Spec Miata, and Eli Dysart would start from pole in SM2. We would have 24 starters, with 12 in each class this time, as Matt Alexander from Spec Miata, along with Dan Schrementi would not make the start of Spec Miata’s race 2 on Saturday. Our 24 car field went green for our 15 lap race, with the race this time staying green throughout the whole race. Matt Keck would pull at the ⅔ mark, being our sole retirement from race 2. In the end, Gavin Gleitsman would make it a sweep and win the second race, ¼ of a second ahead of Brandon Collins who would yet again finish second to Gleitsman. Throughout the battle, there was 9 lead changes throughout the entire race, which must be a record! Samuel Bowman this time beat Taro Kushida to the final step on the podium as Mike Ryan rounded out the top five in Spec Miata. As for SM2, Eli Dysart also made it a sweep, as Dysart held off both Conor and Eamon Ryan to give us our podium for SM2. Sean Benet barely missed out on a double podium by finishing fourth, with Bob Reisinger rounding out SM2’s top five, getting another fifth place. While we had a rare sight of both Spec Miata and SM2 having a perfectly split group of drivers, the racing, as ever was exciting and it gives our Miata drivers a well earned break before our next race on September 28th, again taking place on the south track, which will be shown live on YouTube @AutobahnCC along with our Wings N’ Things and Radical series as well.
