Our last Friday of June started us off with our Pro, and Sportsman Chase races. 13 drivers would partake in our Pro class, 10 of which were Spec Miata/SM2 drivers, with one of our three non-miata drivers, David Hurt setting the pace in qualifying, with a blistering 2:30.5, which was 33.3 seconds quicker than the 13th place qualifier, and first driver let out of Mark Stadaksky. As our drivers got let out, we had exciting action, as the quicker drivers chased down the pack. Quickest qualifier David Hurt unfortunately pulled in after four of the six laps, which meant the other 12 drivers had a shot at victory. Despite the first two drivers let out onto the track, Mark Stadalsky, and Gary Traverso holding on to first, and second after the six laps, both of whom had “broken out” in five of their six laps, and after breakouts were applied to other drivers, the host of the dinner after the Chase race, Jim Dvorak was fittingly declared the winner, with Art Ziesmer in second, and Bill Hamel, one of our sponsors for the Chase race series, rounded out the podium in third, all finishing within two seconds of each other.
Our Sportsman class gave us our first double digit sized field, with 10 drivers taking part. Mike Linko set the pace in qualifying, with a 2:43.0, a time 34.9 seconds quicker than our 10th place qualifier, and first driver let out, Doug Warlick. As the drivers got let out, we had some exciting races of cat and mouse, with an impressive race to the line on track for second all the way down to 10th. Just like in the Pro race, the first driver let out also crossed the line first after six laps, but unfortunately for Doug Warlick, he also emulated Mark Stadalsky by “breaking out” in five of his six laps, and after other drivers breakouts were handed out, Mike Linko went from last driver let out, to first place, with AJ Van Vuren, and Alex Diorio rounding out the podium.
