Our SM2 class fielded 17 drivers taking part right after Spec Miata had finished their race. Bob Reisinger led our field from pole, having set a 1:12.555, ahead of both Ryan’s of Conor, and Eamon who would start second and third respectively. Just over a second off Reisinger’s pole time, Noel Saks would start alongside the ladder Ryan on the second row in fourth. Just ahead of row three starters, Mark Stadalsky and Bruce Malter. Our fourth row saw an interesting sight of two drivers having set identical quickest times in qualifying, with our top two SM2 rookies of Pete Dale, and Dean Schilling starting seventh and eighth having both set a time of 1:13.901 to round out our top half of the SM2 field.
25 laps were ahead of our 17 drivers as Bob Reisinger led our field to green with Eamon Ryan getting ahead of his brother, Conor Ryan to take second at the start of the race. While drivers had their battles up and down the field, one driver who stood out in the opening laps was Dave Yong, who had qualified 10th, but started in last, having not made it to the grid before pace laps. Yong must have been driving angry, as he was passing drivers seemingly every lap during our first third of the race. Around that time, the battle for the lead had heated up, as Bob Reisinger and the Ryan’s pulled away from the rest of the SM2 field. At the start of lap seven, Reisinger was playing defense to hold onto his lead, this led to a mistake from the fan favorite, having locked up and having to save his car from a spin TWICE, somehow maintaining the lead ahead of both Eamon, and Conor Ryan. Asked about his near spin post race by the race’s announcer Jensen Benet, Reisinger stated that he was scared in the moment when it happened, surprised that he kept it on track, staying off the grass. Shortly after that, we had some misfortune near the midfield, as Adam Lavelle came to a halt in between turns five and six, but thankfully was off the track far enough not to warrant a full course caution. As drivers continued battling throughout the field, overtakes were made seemingly every lap, mainly in our midpack battle for the final top five and top 10 spots. Our race leaders of Reisinger and the Ryan’s had pulled away from the rest of the field so quickly, that they suddenly approached lapped traffic entering lap 20. This lapped traffic would prove difficult to navigate for Reisinger, as he tried to navigate his way around a three car battle from 14th-16th place drivers Randy Cochran, Dan Schrementi, and Tim Milne, both Eamon and Conor Ryan navigated their way around both the lapped traffic, and more importantly, Bob Reisinger. A little further back, a four car battle took place for fifth, as Noel Saks was doing everything he could to try and hold off Jason Greenwood, Pete Dale, and Bruce Malter to keep himself in that final top five spot. Saks, unfortunately, had spun 90 degrees, which helped both Jason Greenwood, and Bruce Malter past to battle it out for that final top five spot with a couple laps remaining. Entering our final lap, Bob Reisinger was able to get back ahead of Conor Ryan, taking second to slot himself behind Eamon Ryan.
This charge would come too late, as Eamon Ryan took the checkered flag, after 25 thrilling laps of SM2 action, with Reisinger in a Ryan sandwich, having finished ahead of Conor Ryan, who would round out the SM2 podium. Mark Stadalsky had a quiet race finishing fourth, under 40 seconds behind our podium finishers, and just over 15 seconds ahead of an epic battle for the final place in the top five, which Jason Greenwood ended up securing, ahead of Bruce Malter in sixth. Pete Dale got ahead of Noel Saks on the final lap to take seventh, ahead of eighth place Saks, who would go off into the gravel at T1 right after the checkered flag. A couple seconds back was the battle for ninth, which would be headed by Thomaz London, finishing ahead of Dean Schilling, who rounded out the top 10 finishers, just ahead of the race’s biggest mover Dave Yong, who went from last to 11th after 25 laps. Thomas Greenwood held off Bill Hamel for 12th as both of them were our last drivers on the lead lap, ahead of previously mentioned lapped drivers, Schrementi, Cochran, Milne, and our sole DNF Adam Lavelle rounding out our 17 car SM2 grid.
Both races had excitement everywhere in both Spec Miata and SM2, giving us a little bit of a teaser, showcasing what’s in store this Saturday for our yearly end of season Oktoberfast! We will have all of our classes competing, starting with both our Chase Race classes on Friday. Saturday will round out Autobahn’s 2025 season, giving us our finale for our Members Kart League, Chase Race Pro, Wings N’ Things, GT Challenge, and our Spec Miata, and SM2 classes! We will have more drivers competing for this coming weekend’s races, giving us more action, drama, and excitement to look forward to as our season draws to a close. If you are unable to make it out for Oktoberfast, you can watch our Saturday October 18th races on YouTube from Autobahn’s YouTube channel, @AutobahnCC
