The Spec Thunder Roadsters arrived at Road Atlanta 13 strong. In Friday practice, bad luck struck Michael Molloy early when a drain plug somehow came out of his engine during the second session, causing it to lock up. The remaining 12 roadsters qualified Saturday under near-perfect conditions. In fact, the weather for the entire weekend was terrific. Carl Eckert took first with a 1:40:56, with Darrel Hamilton in second and Randy Suddreth in third.
The Lightning race started late Saturday afternoon with the Thunder Roadsters in the lead group, but behind the Honda Challenge cars at the front. The Thunder Roadsters were immediately in traffic. The HC1 cars are faster on the top end, but the roadsters are quicker through the turns. It made for some interesting racing and a couple of unfortunate body contacts. Suddreth managed to get away in traffic, while Hamilton, Eckert, Brandon Pantas, Kevin Mewborn and Mike Rea battled the entire race. A full-course caution came out late in the race and it finished under double yellow. Suddreth took his first win of the season with Eckert second and Hamilton third. During the race Suddreth turned the fastest Thunder Roadster lap of the weekend with a blistering 1:40.030. Pantas and Mewborn completed the top five.
With daylight saving time going into effect Saturday night, it felt like the roadsters qualified Sunday morning before the sun was fully up. Suddreth grabbed P1 with a 1:40.95, with Darrel Hamilton close behind with a 1:41.07. Brandon Pantas was in third.
The Thunder Roadsters started in front of the second group behind the Spec E30s. An accident in Turn 5 on the first lap caused a black flag followed by a red one that brought the entire field to pit road for several minutes. On the restart, Brad Daugherty stormed to the front and stayed there for the balance of the shortened race. Suddreth and Pantas batted each other hard to the finish, with Suddreth slightly ahead for second and Pantas in third. Sonny Tu and Mike Brooks finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
