Before Spec Miata racing could get under way at Mid-Ohio, Justin Hille was sidelined due to motor issues, Glenn Brown found transmission problems during Friday’s test and tune, and Bob Smith was removed from the weekend by a “locked and smoking brakes” racer in the early Matrix race before the sprint races.
For Saturday’s race, Frank Todaro let Hille drive his car. Thus 13 cars took to the field for Saturday’s qualifying. Chris Price laid down an extremely fast 1:43.051 that was more than half a second faster than the second-place Chris Williams. Jonathan Davis continued his march up to the pointy end of the field putting his car into the third spot.
When the green flag flew Saturday, Price and Williams began a nose-to-tail battle that lasted the entire race. However as the white flag dropped, faster CMC cars closed in and began to pass in the straights, holding up the front runners in the turns. This allowed Davis and Hille, to catch up with just a few turns left. As Williams got stymied by a Mustang in Madness, Davis tried a pass, the two came together and Williams was sent into the grass, while Davis took over second place. Price took advantage, and scampered off unchallenged for the win, continuing an impressive run of five consecutive wins. Davis slotted second and Williams third.
Sunday came with the same tight group of racers, but Todaro took his ride home, leaving Hille to become a spectator for the day.
Qualifying looked very similar to Saturday’s session with Price putting down the fastest recorded lap of the weekend at 1:42.930. Willliams was less than a quarter second behind in second place, and Davis followed in third.
Sunday’s race was more orderly than Saturday’s affair. Price jumped out to the lead with Williams, Davis, and Spencer in pursuit. As the race wore on, Spencer’s car wore out, leaving a three-car battle for the lead. Near the halfway point, Williams took advantage of traffic to pass Price. Price stayed with Williams, but was constantly eyeing the third place Davis, and never really got a chance to overtake Williams. The top three crossed the line within one second of each other, with Williams taking the win, Price finishing second, and Davis in third.
Lap times at the front were consistently in the 1:43.0s with Davis nipping Williams by just .06 seconds to get fast race lap at 1:43.067.
