NASA Mid South’s Jim Drago has been chasing a NASA Championship for a long time. Not to give away the ending, but he finally got one. Well, that does kind of give it away, doesn’t it?
Drago started from second behind Jared Thomas, with Great Lakes racer Jonathan Davis in third, David Dirks in fourth and Kyle Webb in fifth.
When the green flag dropped, Drago didn’t waste any time and got around Thomas on lap two, a position he would hold until a double-yellow bunched up the field. When the race restarted, Drago powered on for the win and his first NASA Spec Miata Championship.
“It was a really good race. I’ve won everything in the other division that I could, and I’ve been trying to win this NASA Championships for eight or nine years so this is the last box I really wanted to check and I’m glad I was able to do that,” Drago said. “It was a really good race with Jared. I knew he would be fast. I had to get around him pretty quickly. At the start we touched and it knocked my toe off so I was tight through all the infield sections the whole time where he could get to me.”
Thomas trailed Drago for the entire race, attempting here and there to get around him, but he was never able to get around him.
“Our car was on an absolute rail. We hit the setup perfect, but I didn’t bring my drag race car with me this weekend,” Thomas said. “So, that’s what I thought the whole time. I had a much better road race car than him. But, I can’t thank all my sponsors enough: Race Engineering, Mazda, Toyo Tires NASA put on a great show this weekend, NASA. Can’t thank my dad enough.”
From his fifth-place starting position, Kyle Webb survived the four-lap caution period that began on lap 10. He managed to get around Teen Mazda Challenge driver Dirks and local favorite Davis to take third place.
“I knew Dirks was, really struggling to stay on the track,” Webb said. “He really drove out a smart race for a young kid like that. I mean he has some composure, for sure. Jim and Jared just aren’t going to make mistakes and give you that spot. You know, you’ve got to get alongside them to make it happen. And I just didn’t have the grip off the Keyhole to do it.”
