NASA Southeast and NASA Florida combined forces for the Octoberfest event in Sebring, Fla. For many of the Southeast racers, this was their first time experiencing the iconic and bumpy Sebring International Raceway. And just days before the weekend started, it was announced that it will be home to the 2026 NASA Championships, bringing an even higher level of excitement for all.
In Spec Miata qualifying Saturday morning, Dean Dybdahl laid down a flyer lap time of 2:38.618, securing pole position. Javier Laurnaga was second fastest with a time of 2:40.001, setting up a strong front row for the first race of the day. The format was a bit different from Southeast drivers were accustomed to, with all cars and all classes racing at the same time. There were six waves of green flags, with the Miatas starting in the last wave.
When the green flag dropped, it was anything but calm. Cars went off in Turn 1, Turn 3, and Turn 5. Everyone was amped up, not wanting to get separated from the pack. Then, on the second lap, a BMW spun in Turn 1. Unfortunately he ended directly in the path of Mack Brown with nowhere to go except directly into it. Brown’s impact was brutal, sending the Spec3’s backend into the air. Safety crews arrived quickly, and both drivers walked away. This brought out a full-course caution for several laps.
In an unusual set of circumstances, the front two Spec Miata leaders were separated from the rest of the pack due to the position of the overall race leader, essentially placing P1 and P2 ahead of everyone, but also starting at the back of the restart. This left no chance for P3 and back to challenge the leaders. Once the racing resumed, the best word to describe it would be “mayhem” as the high-horsepower and momentum cars all navigated around each other, fighting for the same piece of track. Cars were two-, three-, and four-wide with huge differences in speed, horsepower and talent.
Up front, Barnes led the race and gave everything he had to keep Dybdahl in his rearview mirror. But with just one lap to go, Dybdahl got around him on the front stretch to secure the win. Garcia Flores finished in the last podium spot, nicely recovering from his setback at the start. Laurnaga was also a man on the move, working his way from restarting P8 to finishing P4. The final results: Dybdahl in P1, Barnes in P2, Garcia Flores in P3, Laurnaga in P4, and Carson Neel in P5.
For the feature race, Dybdahl was on the pole with Barnes on the outside. At the start, Barnes went wide in Turn 1, opening the door for Garcia Flores to muscle his way into second place. Barnes then took a little off-road adventure in Turn 5, but merged back in where he quickly took P3 and remained there until the end. Dybdahl was again the car to beat and while Garcia Flores was able to close a few times, he just wasn’t able to strike for a pass.
Behind them, Neel and Laurnaga were having a close battle for P4 and P5 respectively. They stayed nose-to-tail lap after lap, but Laurnaga eventually became the victor in that match, securing the fourth position. The final results were Dybdahl with the win, Garcia Flores in P2, Barnes in P3, Laurnaga in P4, and Neel in P5.
As the name suggests, that evening everyone enjoyed a wonderful Octoberfest feast hosted by NASA Florida. It was a fun time with great food, beverages, awards, and outfits.
Sunday morning brought Dybdahl and Garcia Flores starting on the front row. A notable return was Mack Brown starting last after securing a rental car due to Saturday’s incident. Everyone was glad to see him ok and back in the race. From the beginning, Garcia Flores stayed on Dybdahl’s tail for the first four laps until a mistake on lap five set him back. This allowed Barnes to get by and Laurnaga to close in, eventually moving into P3.
Up front, Dybdahl had a pretty decent lead on the last lap, but then broke a ball joint in Turn 16, nursing the car all the way through Turn 17 and across the finish line to win. The front wheel was hanging on by a thread, causing him to crash into the wall at Turn 3 after the race ended. Rich Dybdahl, his father, posted this on social media: “Dean had a big enough lead he actually drove it half a lap with the front right wheel barely hanging on, crossed the finish line for the win, then slammed into a wall on the cool down lap. This kid is nuts! Hell of a way to get a win.”
Just behind the leaders, Garcia Flores and Laurnaga were racing side-by-side through the last turn to decide who would take the last podium spot with just 0.047 seconds separating them at the finish line. The final results were Dybdahl in P1, Barnes in P2, Laurnaga in P3, Garcia Flores in P4, and Pollard in P5.
With several hours between races, Dybdahl was able to get his car fully repaired and on the pole yet again for the final race of the weekend. This time, there was no separation between the waves, so the Miatas were immediately mixing it up with the spec German cars in front of them.
Barnes started on the front row where he and Dybdahl remained in P1 and P2 respectively for the first several laps. But then Barnes had contact with another car in Turn 3, sending him back all the way to P7. Meanwhile, there were some great battles between Julian Pollard and Laurnaga for P2/P3 and Neel and Mack Brown for P4/P5. These pairs raced hard and clean. Cameron Brown was also there mixing it up in the top five for much of the race.
Behind them, Barnes was making his way back up through the pack when he lost a rear caliper exiting Turn 16, leaving him no brakes after the long back straight into Turn 17. In this scary moment, he managed to slide the car sideways, still hitting the wall but avoiding complete disaster. He was able to drive himself back into the paddock, but the race ended early under caution as they made repairs to the wall. Dybdahl ended up sweeping the weekend, Laurnaga in P2, Pollard in P3, Neel in P4, and M. Brown in P5.
