Cold temperatures, rain, and wind gusts of 50 mph — what could be better for a fun weekend of racing? It was a trifecta of bad weather at NASA Southeast’s February event at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C. Weather aside, it was still a great race weekend.
Race one started with Travis Wiley on pole after laying down a qualifying lap time of 1:49.337 earlier in the morning. Dean Dybdahl shared the front row, starting on the outside. In the first turn, Dybdahl locked up his brakes, sending him wide as the pack hammered down, moving him back several spots. But Dybdahl didn’t get rattled and quickly got into a rhythm. Slowly and smoothly, he moved his way back up and closed in on Wiley who led most of the race.
No. 90 Dean Dybdahl swept the weekend despite a lockup on the first start. Dybdahl scored three wins, while No. 21 Eric Gerchak got a third-place finish in race one.
Wiley wasn’t going to give up the lead easily and fought off Dybdahl’s first attempt to pass him on the front stretch. In the back carousel, Dybdahl used an out-of-class car as a pick in Turn 8, getting around Wiley and securing the lead position. There was great racing throughout the field, like with Charles Lankford and John Pallazolo contending for P12/P13. Just as up front, they swapped positions several times and showed poise moving in and out of traffic. Lankford eventually prevailed, securing the P12 position.
As in any given weekend, you don’t need to be in the front to have a good race in Spec Miata! The final results were Dybdahl with the win, Wiley in P2, Eric Gerchak in P3, Javier Laurnaga in P4, and James Newell in P5.
Rain moved in Saturday evening after dinner and awards. The weather turned from bad to worse overnight. Rain soaked the track, but strong wind gusts moved in aggressively blowing over tents throughout the paddock. The morning sessions had to be delayed, but eventually that storm system moved along and we were able to get back to racing.
Julian Pollard notched a third-place finish in race two at Carolina Motorsports Park in February.
Everyone used their Toyo RA1 tires to navigate the wet track. Dybdahl and Wiley again started on the front row, but this time Dybdahl had the pole with Wiley starting on the outside. As with many rain events, the young and fearless drivers were able to navigate faster than everyone else.
Unfortunately for Wiley, he ran out of gas early and was unable to finish the race. Dybdahl held the lead from start to finish with a comfortable lead at the end. Behind him, Newell moved up from P4 to finish second while Julian Pollard made a statement starting in P8 and working his way up to finish third. Laurnaga finished in P4 with Yan Dia rounding out the top five.
Here’s a slice of the Spec Miata action from Carolina Motorsports Park. No. 181 Javier Laurnaga scored a second-place finish in race three. No,. 78 Travis Wiley scored a second-place finish in race one and a third in race three. No. 77 James Newell scored a second-place finish in race two.
By the time race three started, it had turned into quite a beautiful day. The track was perfect for the final race of the weekend. This time, Dybdahl started on the pole with Newell to his outside on the front row. Dybdahl again led the race from start to finish. Behind him, there was a great battle for positions P2-P5. Laurnaga, Newell, Dia, and Wiley were nose to tail, waiting for one of the others to make a mistake or get duped by out of class cars. Laurnaga used the traffic perfectly and did a solid job fending off any challenges. Meanwhile Wiley, who started in P8, patiently picked off Dia and Newell to finish in P3.
In the end, Dybdahl swept the weekend with an impressive 16-second lead over second-place Laurnaga. Wiley grabbed another podium finishing P3, with Newell in P4, and Dia in P5.
