If there’s one thing we know about Spec Miata racers, it’s that they’re flexible. When things change, they change with it. Santa’s Toy Run weekend at Road Atlanta was a great example of rolling with the punches.
Mother Nature made sure that things were interesting this weekend. Conditions were different all three days as Spec Miata teams came to tackle Road Atlanta’s tricky 12 turns. Friday was damp and misty, but not wet enough to go with rain tires. Even that didn’t prepare the teams for what Saturday brought.
A deluge soaked the track for morning practice. Qualifying was wet, too, but began to dry toward the end of the session. The weatherman said things could clear later. Would that mean a dry race late in the day? Some teams swapped to dry tires as the clouds moved on. Then, an hour before race time, the skies opened up again. The season championship race was held in the wet, on rain tires, and everyone struggled with vision and grip. As the battles raged, Spec Miata racers kept it clean, although the event was red-flagged for a large incident in another class. Wrapping it up, Jose Garcia won the race and the season championship.
Sunday was Santa’s Toy Run and all the Spec Miatas started together at the back of the Lightning pack. It was a perfect day to go racing: sunny and near 60 degrees. What a change from the previous two days. The 50-minute race had all of us nose to tail, battling all race long. This one wasn’t for points. It was just a great way to wrap up the season and help needy kids get the toys they deserved over the holiday season.
And that’s the feeling we had as we all left: smiles, handshakes, laughs and a promise to do it all over again next season.
Results
