NASA Southeast Spec Miata rolled into Roebling Road Raceway with a 13-car field for the Firecracker Run. Broderick Bauguess won pole position on Saturday with a 1:24.301 followed by Don Elvington P2, Keith Williamson P3, Teen Mazda Challenge driver Raiden Nicol P4, Yan Dia P5 and Annika Carter P6.
At the green flag, Bauguess got a good start, but then lost third gear on the upshift and the left lane pulled ahead as they approached Turn 1 with Elvington P1, Bauguess P2, Nicol P3, Carter P4, Williamson P5 and Jeremy Barnes P6. Williamson then got a run on Carter coming out of Turn 9 to move up to P4. Elvington briefly locked up in Turn 1 on the next lap and, with a bump from Bauguess in Turn 2 ,lost the rear and the two went off track left as Nicol passed for the lead. Carter also got back around Williamson for P2.
Williamson and Barnes then bump-drafted past Carter on the straight, leaving Nicol P1, followed by Williamson, Barnes, Dia, Bauguess and Carter. Lap four saw Dia pull off with an engine misfire. On lap six, Bauguess got around Barnes in Turn 1 to move up to P3 and set his sights on Williamson in P2. Running only in fourth gear, Bauguess passed Williamson on the straight at the end of lap eight and began reeling in Nicol. Bauguess got to Nicol’s bumper in Turn 2 of lap 12 and then made the inside pass for the lead at Turn 1. Nicol threatened Bauguess for the next couple laps, but Bauguess held on for the win with Raiden Nicol P2, Williamson P3, Barnes P4, Carter P5 and Tom Caniglia P6.
On Sunday, Raiden Nicol won pole position with a 1:24.559, followed by Don Elvington P2, Annika Carter P3, Keith Williamson P4, David Ardoin P5 and Ernie Cole P6. Bauguess, still without third gear, decided to skip qualification and start at the back of the Spec Miata field. On the pace lap, as the Spec Miatas approached Turn 5, the course went to a red flag after a 944 blew its engine and oiled down the track in Turn 2.
Eighteen minutes later, the pace lap resumed. When the Miatas finally took the green flag, Elvington got a good run on the outside to beat Nicol to Turn 1, but then got into the oil dry residue as he approached Turn 2 and lost the position to Nicol. By the end of the first lap, Bauguess had already moved up to P5. On lap two, Williamson bump-drafted Elvington and then ducked under for the pass at Turn 1 to move up to P2. By the end of lap three, Bauguess had claimed P3 and five laps later passed Williamson for P2. TMC driver Raiden Nicol held on for his first NASA Southeast win, with Bauguess P2, Williamson P3, Elvington P4, Cole P5 and Carter P6.
