NASA Great Lakes Spec Iron delivered a weekend of high drama and intense battles at Pittsburgh International Race Complex in July. With tight qualifying, chaotic race starts, and a nail-biting rain-soaked finale, the drivers showcased skill and resilience in a series defined by competition and camaraderie.
Jeff Wood secured pole position for Saturday’s race one. He was followed closely by Jason Scott in second and Christopher Williams in third, setting the stage for a competitive start. The tight grid promised close racing, a hallmark of Spec Iron.
Saturday’s race one began with a clean flying start, but a slight delay for some drivers allowed Jeff Nevi to jump up a couple of spots early. While Wood began to pull away at the front, a fierce three-way battle for second place developed between Jason Scott, Williams and Nevi.
The fight was intense, with the three drivers running nose-to-tail. A key moment came when Williams attempted a pass on Scott, who braked harder than anticipated. “I either hit him or take the inside and try to pass him,” Williams recalled. “It was less than ideal. That slowed me up. And Nevi came into the corner, you know, full head of steam and it was just an easy overtake on me.”
The mistake cost Williams two positions, because Robin Burnett also capitalized. Nevi found himself in second, but his car was beginning to fade. “My brakes were gone, my tires were gone,” Nevi said. With Burnett closing in fast, a late-race caution flag brought the field under yellow, freezing the positions. Wood took the win, followed by Scott, with Nevi holding on for third place. “If there were about three more corners, Robin was going by me,” Nevi admitted. “That was the only reason I was on the podium.”
For race two Sunday morning, the second race grid was set by the fastest laps from Saturday’s race one, putting Scott on pole with Williams alongside him. The start, however, was pure chaos. As the field bunched up on the inside line for Turn 3, Nevi saw an opportunity. “I went around the outside and I went from fourth to first in one corner,” he said. His glory was short-lived. “Then I found out why nobody was on the outside, and it was because there was an American Iron car in the way. I went back to fifth going into Turn 5.”
The mayhem continued moments later when Burnett, who had masterfully navigated the traffic to jump from fifth to second, made a critical error. While trying to follow Scott past a slower, out-of-class Corvette, Burnett misjudged the situation. “I was so afraid and so conscious of the Corvette who was on the apex trying to get out of the way. I honestly I just point-fixated on him and ran him over,” Burnett explained. The tire-to-tire contact launched his car into the air, ending his race and bringing out a red flag.
After the restart, Scott drove to victory. Nevi recovered from his early setback to finish second, while Williams took third. In a remarkable display of driving, Wood, who had started last after a transmission failure in his primary car forced a switch, charged through the field to finish fourth.
The final race of the weekend presented a new challenge: rain. With a wet track in some sections and dry asphalt in others, drivers faced treacherous conditions. Williams started on the front row and seized the lead early after Wood missed a shift. From there, it was a tense battle between Williams and Nevi for the entire race.
“It was raining pretty hard through the Esses,” Williams said. “You didn’t want to totally blow it, but it was challenging conditions.”
Nevi shadowed Williams, looking for any mistake. “I was just telling myself if Chris’s car can do it, mine can do it, so I’m going to follow him,” Nevi said. He pressured Williams, but ultimately couldn’t find a safe way past in the wet. Williams held on for the win, with Nevi securing second and Scott finishing third. The top four drivers finished within four seconds of each other, a fitting end to a weekend of spec racing.
The weekend at Pitt Race highlighted what makes Spec Iron a growing class in the Great Lakes Region: affordable cars, close racing, and a paddock culture built on mutual support. As driver Ken Deja put it, “It’s the camaraderie. It’s more the people. I don’t care if we were golfing or driving, whatever. You know, it’s being with these guys and the support, and everything.”
Awesome write up! Great pictures too!
The races are so intense and fun to watch! Watching the battles in Spec Iron is always entertaining and nail biting. We really get into it!
Pitt Race has top notch facilities, for drivers and spectators. Our family likes to see the cars and listen to the drivers, besides watching all the races!
Thanks for including the cool race pictures in the article. We are always watching the races, and can’t get good car pictures to show our friends and family what it was like during the races.