In May, NASA Southeast hosted its annual “Sinko de Mayo” event at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C. Nineteen cars qualified in Spec Miata, with Teen Mazda Challenge driver Julian Pollard securing the pole position with a lap time of 1:50.458.
For race one, the Spec Miata group started in wave one, ahead of the other classes. Javier Laurnaga, with the second-fastest qualifying time, lined up on the front row alongside pole-sitter Pollard. At the green flag, Laurnaga got a great launch and moved into the lead by the exit of Turn 2. Starts at CMP can be chaotic because the field often stacks up heading into the hard left-hand Turn 1. This time was no different. Luis Romero suffered a broken differential after being hit at the start, ending his race before it even began.
The first few laps were action packed. Teen Mazda Challenge driver Dean Dybdahl wasted no time moving up from P6 to P2 in just over a lap. Jeremy Barnes also was charging hard, climbing from P7 to P4 by lap two. By lap five, Augustine Garcia Flores also had broken into the top five. Around this time, Yan Dia suffered a ball joint failure, forcing him off track and out of the race.
The front five delivered some thrilling racing. Dybdahl battled Pollard, Flores battled Barnes, but Laurnaga led as the race neared its end, then transmission issues forced him to retire just a few corners from the finish — absolutely heartbreaking! Dybdahl and Pollard were locked in a fierce battle, with Dybdahl edging out Pollard in the final corner and beating him down the straightaway to take the win. The remaining top five were Flores in P3, Barnes in P4, and Williamson in P5.
Heavy rain and strong winds swept in Saturday night, turning the paddock into a small lake. Broken canopies were scattered throughout the area. Despite the storm, Sunday morning brought a dry track by the time the Lightning group took to the course.
In Race Two, Dybdahl started from pole, with Pollard alongside him. Dybdahl locked up into Turn 1, which made for a hairy opening sequence as the field bunched up and fought for position. He managed to keep the lead, with Pollard close behind. By lap four, Laurnaga had advanced to second.
The final two laps were intense. Laurnaga got loose in Turn 8, where Pollard managed to close the gap and take an inside shot through the kink and propelling him into the lead. But Laurnaga wasn’t done. He charged hard into the final corner, setting up a drag race toward Turn 1. Holding the inside line, he reclaimed the lead with less than a lap to go.
Pollard made another move into Turn 8, but Laurnaga defended brilliantly. This opened the door for Dybdahl, who passed Pollard and sucked up to Laurnaga’s bumper. Still, Laurnaga hit all his marks and held on to win race two. Dybdahl ended up finishing P2, with Pollard in P3, Flores in P4, and Dia in P5. Exciting finishes in P10-14 as well with competitors Scott Brown, David Ardoin, Daniel Burbes and Luis Romero all finishing just .415 seconds apart!
The final race on Sunday saw Laurnaga on pole with Flores alongside. The two ran side by side through turns 1 through 5 before Laurnaga cleared Flores and never looked back. Flores, running in P2, was hampered by a finicky gearbox and just couldn’t chase down the leader. Pollard pushed hard behind Dybdahl, making a move in Turn 8 and taking over the third position around lap four. Dia and Barnes also had a battle early on, but Dia just couldn’t get around that yellow 1.6 machine.
From there on, the top five settled in somewhat, maintaining position for most of the race. With just two laps to go, Keith Williamson closed in on Dia, where they engaged in a spirited battle for P6 and P7. The two were side by side at the white flag, but Williamson had the inside line in Turn 1, outdriving Dia through the next few turns and taking the position. It was another win for Laurnaga with Flores in P2, Pollard in P3, Dybdahl in P4, and Barnes in P5.
