NASA Great Lakes Spec Miata headed to suburban Pittsburgh May 17 and 18 to contest the second round of the NASA Great Lakes season.
Saturday qualifying started dry, but the group got exactly two dry laps in before the rain fell. Justin Hille took the pole, followed by Chris Williams, Chris Price, Robert Keller, and Jonathan Davis. Mark Domo picked off sixth, Gregory Peluso rejoined Spec Miata taking seventh, Todd Ayers eighth, newcomer Spencer Patterson took ninth and Michael Phillips finished tenth in his first time at the track.
The racing was tight and close as the first lap unwound with Hille followed by Williams and Price. On the second lap, double yellows came out because of two 944s at the side of the track. The entire field circulated under double yellow for almost 25 minutes. The final two laps were under green, and In the end, after just four green laps, Hille took home his third consecutive Great Lakes win. Williams finished second with Price just .223 seconds behind.
Sunday qualifying times smashed the current track record with Jonathan Davis posting the fastest lap of the weekend at 1:08.476, more than .5 seconds under the track record. Chris Price followed in second, with Hille in third. The tight group had only .35 seconds separating the top four, and less than three seconds between the first and last qualifiers.
In the first race Sunday, Davis led the field out in his first pole, and the group took the green flag packed in a tight formation. The entire race ran under green and there was a lot of shuffling to take place before the checkered flag came out. When the dust settled, Hille and Williams had moved past Davis and Price. Hille returned to a familiar spot defending a few pass attempts by Price, then Davis, and finally Williams, making it four wins in a row to start the season. Williams took second followed by Davis in third.
Lap times showed that the top four cars had broken the track record. Hille ultimately earned the track record in one of his last laps, turning a very fast 1:08.507 to claim bragging rights.
Sunday’s final race saw a smaller eight-car field take the green. In this race, Davis gave Hille all he could handle, with Hille pulling off the hat trick by the slim margin of .6 seconds over second-place Davis. Spencer Patterson came home alone in third.
