NASA Southeast Spec Miata rolled into Carolina Motorsports Park on Saturday with 17 racers. Dean Dybdahl won pole position with a time of 1:50.152 followed by Keith Williamson, Grant West, Jason Ball, Peter Rigg and Javier Laurnaga.
A couple of light showers in the afternoon provided a damp, slick track for the race start. The majority of the drivers chose slicks over rains and at the start, West squeezed by Williamson in Turn 3 to take P2 and Rigg washed out in Turn 3 with a little side contact with Ball leaving the order Dybdahl, West, Williamson, Rigg, Laurnaga, and Ball.
On lap three, Dybdahl and West continued to gap the field. Williamson attempted an inside pass on an E30 entering Turn 8, allowing Rigg and Laurnaga to seize the opportunity to get around Williamson. Williamson got back around Laurnaga going back into Turn 1 on the next lap as Rigg gapped the pair. Rigg caught some E30 traffic in laps six and seven, helping Williamson close the gap. Rigg held off Williamson’s attempted pass at Turn 11, but then went long going into Turn 12 allowing Williamson to slip by on the inside. Meanwhile, Dybdahl cruised to the victory as West’s car was having an occasional VVT cutout and could do no more than chase. Race one ended with Dean Dybdahl taking the victory, Grant West P2, Keith Williamson P3, Peter Rigg, P4, Javier Laurnaga P5 and Jason Ball P6.
Race two on Sunday morning began on a wet track with most of the racers opting again to run on slicks. Grid position for race two was determined by the racers fastest lap in Race one with Dybdahl on pole, West P2, Williamson P3, Laurnaga P4, Rigg P5 and Ball P6. At the green flag Dybdahl got away cleanly while Williamson slipped by West to grab P2 and Rigg got by Laurnaga in Turn 3. Dean Dybdahl then put on a clinic on how to race on slicks on a wet track, finishing 17 seconds ahead of Williamson P2 and West P3, Rigg P4. Don Elvington and Daniel Burbes finished P5 and P6 getting around Javier Laurnaga and Jason Ball as they struggled for grip.
Racers finally had a dry track for race three. Grid was also set by the fast lap from race two, leaving Dybdahl on pole, Williamson P2, West P3, Elvington P4, Rigg P5 and Burbes P6. At race start Dybdahl and Williamson went side by side through the first three corners with Williamson dropping in behind Dybdahl going into Turn 4. On lap two Williamson went four wheels off, tracking out of Turn 8 and then the car hooked hard right as he tried to come back on track. Williamson’s spin eventually caused a full-course caution for one lap. Once again Dybdahl gapped the field as Rigg, Laurnaga, Elvington and West had a good battle. West’s engine issues eventually forced him out of the race on lap eight. Dean Dybdahl cruised to another win with a 13-second lead over Peter Rigg P2, Javier Laurnaga P3, Don Elvington P4, Keith Williamson P5 and Daniel Burbes P6.
