Three cars gridded up for GTS2 competition in the 20-car GTS field. An unseasonable rain the night before and that morning meant the track was wet. There was some standing water, but it was not raining, and that meant choosing the right tires and setup was dicey at best.
Dick Hunter, Gene Dackonish and Lee Bohning were all within one second of each other in terms of lap times. Hunter was quickest with a 2:14 flat, followed by Dackonish at 2:14.6 and Bohning with a 2:15 flat.
When the green flag dropped, Bohning jumped out to an early lead. Hunter took back first place on lap three only to lose it again on the next lap.
“The first lap or two I did a tank-slapper in Release, which was kind of scary,” Hunter said. “I was trying to pass somebody, but it was too damp and I had a dry setup.”
Dackonish dropped out during the race. However, as the track dried, Hunter was able to start running his normal lap times and he reeled in Bohning at the halfway point and never looked back.
“It’s my first time here at Miller,” Hunter said. “I came here to the Ford Racing School on Tuesday and that was a huge help. That was absolutely the thing to do, to talk to these guys who are out here every day and to find all the little nuances of this track, and everything they said was spot on. It helped me a lot.”
