NASA Great Lakes Spec Miata kicked off the season at NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Ky. The driver count followed a strong finish to 2020, with 20 drivers competing. Mechanical and electrical issues sidelined a few, but we expect them all back in 2021.
Included in the mix were three Teen Mazda Challenge drivers. Camden Gruber and Wyatt Wood joined us after showing good speed during 2020 events and, new to NASA Great Lakes, Chase McIntyre joined us for his first races. All three did well on a technically challenging track, with Camden securing solid podium finishes in all three races. Congratulations, Camden! By season’s end, the TMC count could be as high as eight drivers. We’ll see how our “experienced” TMC drivers fare against more competition.
All three races contained a few battles up and down the order. Race three Sunday had Bruce Myrehn go three-wide to the left and pass Andy Sellers, and Wyatt Wood heading into the Turn 1 chicane. Also in race three, Ryan Roberson was in a close battle for position with Will Dodd and Brian Silvestri for several laps. Some great, respectful and exciting driving by all.
In the end, Saturday’s finish saw John Allen in first, with Bruce Myrehn in second and Gruber third, which was the same result in race two on Sunday. John Allen also took the win in race three, with Gruber in second and Will Dodd in third.
Some highlights of the weekend include Ryan Waldo graduating from comp school and completing his first three races. John Allen set the fast lap of the weekend at 2:27.11 and came through in loaning some spare parts to Chase McIntyre after he impacted the tire barriers in The Sinkhole on Saturday. That let McIntyre compete in all three races that weekend.
