Both Spec Miata, and SM2 were next after our Radical, and Wings N’ Things race, with a total of 40 drivers taking part, 22 in Spec Miata, and 18 in SM2. Matt Alexander would lead our Spec Miata field with Ethan Tyler starting alongside. Alex Bertagnoli, and Taro Kushida would be your second row. As mentioned by our race announcers, Mike Anzaldi, and Dennis Michaelson, that Autobahn’s three Ryans of 5th place Mike, 8th place Eamon, and 10th place Conor Ryan were not only all starting in the top 10, but also made up one sixth of our Spec Miata class. In SM2 our front row starters of Mark Stadalsky, and Dean Schilling were looking to make up for the mechanical failures they both had in the Pro class Chase race not even 24 hours earlier. Pete Dale and Jeff Neumann would start SM2’s race from the second row.
The green flag went out for both Spec Miata’s and SM2’s split starts, with SM2’s Dean Schilling missing a shift from second, this could have been a lot worse for Schilling, as the Spec Miata class had a first lap turn five incident involving Ignite Seniors Member’s Kart League winner from earlier in the day of Eli Dysart, and Bob Groselak, bringing out a first lap full course yellow. After a whole lap under full course caution, the race resumed, with SM2 leader Mark Stadalsky giving space between himself, and the back of the Spec Miata field. Alex Bertagnoli would battle Ethan Tyler for second, with the battle for second helping Matt Alexander pull away from the Spec Miata field. On the third to last corner, SM2 rookie Lucas London would have a spin, and later pull off track ending his race after four laps. Entering the sixth lap, Bob Reisinger was black flagged for a missing window net, and one lap later at the halfway point, SM2’s third place starter, Pete Dale stopped on track at turn four after going off track with another driver at turn 12 half a lap before. Later, he pulled off track near turn six, where Eli Dysart’s stricken Spec Miata also had to pull off after the first lap incident earlier in the race. With two-thirds of the race completed, back up near the front, Matt Alexander continued leading with Ethan Tyler catching up to him having just set his fastest lap of the race, while he also put a gap to third place Samuel Bowman, who overtook Alex Bertagnoli for third. Tyler would catch up to Alexander, being right on his bumper when they both crossed the line to start the penultimate lap. Thomas Greenwood managed to take the SM2 lead from Mark Stadalsky, with Dean Schilling close behind in third, giving us a close battle for both classes podium spots. Entering our last lap, both our Spec Miata, and SM2 classes had the top three within a second of each other. After Ethan Tyler went on the defensive to try and keep Samuel Bowman behind him, this gave Matt Alexander the opportunity to pull away just enough to hold off both Ethan Tyler, and Samuel Bowman for the Spec Miata win, as Ethan Tyler finished 0.758 behind Alexander, but more importantly holding off Samuel Bowman by 0.036 for second. Jeff Neumann would hit the tire barrier at the third to final corner on the final lap, dropping him out of the SM2 podium battle, but also from 20th to a “gutting” 35th overall in the words of Mike Anzaldi. Mark Stadalsky had managed to take back the SM2 lead on the final lap, finishing just ahead of a photo finish for second in SM2, with Dean Schilling who briefly lost second in SM2 after Thomas Greenwood and Jeff Neumann made contact, but Schilling managed to take back 19th overall, and second in SM2 by a slim 0.011 ahead of third place Thomas Greenwood.
