Friday and Saturday at Summit Point Motorsports Park were rain soaked and dreary, yet 10 Spec3s were there to put in work on the track across racing and HPDE. Perhaps for the first time in years, back-to-back NASA Mid-Atlantic events started with wet track conditions. Saturday qualifying for the Lightning group required racers to install their wet-weather tires if they had any hope of keeping the car on track, and this presented opportunity for those confident in the slippery conditions.
Alex Rubenstein of the NASA Northeast region, having mastered the rain line in his many years of endurance racing, took the pole for the first race. Race one, oddly enough, turned out to be dry except for some damp curbs and errant puddles with a beautiful blue sky above. Spec3 had its typical standing start, which saw Rubenstein and Taylor Johnson drag racing into Turn 1 followed by Charles Ford, Joey Thomas, Ross Shull, Jon McAvoy, Jake Thiewes, Alex Wieland, and Angel Arias.
Ford, and Thomas, who often benefit from their standing start prowess were quick to make up positions on the start and contested Johnson and Rubenstein for the lead in the opening laps. Ford, McAvoy, and Johnson fought for the top step of the podium flag to flag. Thomas, Rubenstein, and Shull had their own three-way battle as too would Wieland, Thiewes, and Arias. Ultimately, the race was cut short by a full course caution from a car in another class finding a wall and some mud. Charles Ford secured first place mere seconds before the yellow flags emerged. Finishing order was Ford, McAvoy, Johnson, Shull, Thomas, Rubenstein, Thiewes, Weiland and Arias.
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Ride along for some of the excitement from race one at Summit Point Motorsports Park.
The grid for race two on Sunday morning was set by the fastest times in Race 1, leading to a less tumultuous race start than race 1. While race one was on a moist track with its rubber recently washed away, conditions for Sunday morning were dry, cool, and more “rubbered in,” which meant a lap record was on the table for racers donning the new Toyo R. A midrace wobble in Turn 1 saw McAvoy drop from second place to further in the field and Johnson was unable to force Ford into a defensive line most laps, which enabled all three drivers to run clean laps and vie for that lap record. Finishing order: Ford, Johnson, McAvoy, Shull, Thomas, Thiewes, Wieland, Arias, Rubenstein.
McAvoy and Ford broke the existing Spec3 lap record with a 1:24.2 and a 1:24.3 respectively.
Race three presented more of the same excellent battles, albeit, with slower track conditions, and all Spec3 racers left West Virginia with smiles on their faces and an excellent weekend with NASA Mid-Atlantic behind them.
Reigning Spec3 National Champion Charles Ford picked up three wins at Summit Point in April.
