Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/807015
Spec Miata Three Races, Three Winners in Texas Spec Miata Opener The NASA Texas Spec Miata season opener at Motorsports Ranch Houston kicked off with three races and three different winners. This class is dominated by the some of the most talented and consistent drivers in the region. Our drivers range in age from 13 to mid 60s, from rookies to veterans and students to doctors, boys to men and girls to women. For qualifying Saturday, the skies were gray, the temperatures in the 50s with the wind blowing so hard you were glad you had a steering wheel to hold onto. Gale Corley ran the fastest lap on his fourth lap, setting the pole at 1:48.362. P2 through P5 were Hernan Palermo, Alex Bachoura, John Babot and Michael Ross. Race one had all 33 entries finishing on the lead lap, however separated by as much as 1:31. Gale Corley and Alex Bachoura went back and forth several times for the lead, breaking away from the rest of the pack. The race for P3-P7 was heated, with numerous passes for position. Michael Ross was up to P3 and said, “I went into the bus stop and didn’t slow the car enough, and it put me in P7 where I finished.” Alex Bachoura was the winner of race one, followed by Gale Corley in second and John Babot. Third. Winner Alex Bachoura put down the fastest lap with a 1:49.059 on lap seven. The hard charger award went to Stephen Jeu, who moved up seven sports to finish P13. In race two, all drivers started where they finished in race one. Bachoura and Palermo had other commitments, so drivers moved up to fill in those starting spots. Babot took the lead for the first three laps from Corley. Mike Ross took the second spot for a moment until Corley promptly got him back. With approximately one lap remaining, Babot went into Turn 2 with the lead when his engine let go and caught fire. Officials immediately threw the red flag so corner workers could get to the scene. The crews made quick work of the situation and the race ended short. The top five were Corley in first, Michael Ross in second and Vaughn Duarte in third. NASA Texas 2016 regional Spec Miata champion Trevor McCallion took fourth with Alex Alexander fifth. Ross ran the fastest lap of the race in lap four at a 1:48.851. The hard charger award went to Carter White, up six spots to finish P17. For Sunday qualifying, weather conditions were the same as Saturday, a little warmer but still windy and in the 50s. Most drivers said the track was green. Thirty-two Miatas set out to lay down their fastest lap — and fast they were! Ross won the pole with a 1:48.488. Vaughn Duarte qualified second and Alex Bachoura was third. Gale Corley started fourth and Trevor McCallion started fifth. The top 7 qualifiers were separated by a second. Officials waved off the first start. The second warm-up lap, I am sure, was painfully slow for the drivers. The second time was the charm as 32 cars floored it down to Turn 1. Ross took the lead in The Launch — nicknamed The Launch, because you turn before the apex as it launches you. Duarte took the lead on the front stretch to lead laps six through eight. The front four, Duarte, Bachoura, Ross and Corley broke away from the second pack. The second pack, positions five through 11, were running neck and neck. Any slip-up and you could find yourself dropping down six spots or more. The lead went back and forth between the top four. Ross took the win, with Duarte taking second and Gale Corley third. Trevor McCallion finished fourth and Alexander rounded out the top five. Bachoura set down the fastest lap of the race at a 1:49.925, but on the last lap went off track in the battle for the win and came back to finish P8. The hard charger was Phillip McCammon up 10 places to finish P20. — Melanie Taylor. CLICK HERE FOR RESULTS Southeast Region Jones, Williamson Split Wins at Carolina Motorsports Park Saturday’s qualifying was cut short at Carolina Motorsports Park when a car set the grass on fire, limiting the drivers to one timed lap. Keith Williamson grabbed the pole position with Jarrett Jones P2, Andrew Diller P3 and Jason Ball P4. At the start, Yan Dia moved up from P7 to P5 and Ball swapped positions with Diller for P3. A couple of laps in, Dia got a run going on Ball as they approached Turn 14, then got inside and out-braked for the pass to third place. Two laps later, Dia moved up to P2 and on the next lap got a run on Williamson coming out of the carousel to take the lead. Two laps later, accelerating out of Turn 14 , Dia missed a shift and dropped two positions to P3. As Spec Miata leaders begin catching the back of the Spec E30 field, Williamson got held up, and Dia passed on the inside of Turn 8 to retake the lead. On the white-flag lap, Dia bobbled the shift again coming out of Turn 11 and Jones made the pass for the win, with Dia in second and Ball third. On Sunday, Williamson got a good start from pole and by the the third lap had built up about an eight- to 10-car-length lead. Williamson missed a shift coming out of Turn 11, cutting his lead in half. A lap later, eager to catch some Spec E30s, Williamson turned in too early at Turn 3 and went four wheels off track, cutting his remaining lead in half again. Now with his lead squandered, it was another three-car battle for the win. Jones pushed Williamson for a couple laps to try to break away from Dia, but he stayed glued to the lead pair. As the leaders caught a seven-car train of Spec E30s the race strategy shifts to traffic management. Williamson got by the first two, giving him some breathing room, but then a lap later got held up in The Kink. Dia saw his opportunity and got inside Williamson for the pass at Turn 11. Now the three headed nose-to-tail into Turn 14 where Williamson retook the lead. The trio then got back to working their way through traffic for several laps. Seeing another grass fire near the carousel, Dia knew the race could get red flagged at any moment like qualifying the day before. So, he threatened a pass at The Kink and then successfully passed at Turn 11. Dia went wide in Turn 12 and Williamson got under him to retake the lead. With multiple emergency vehicles on track, the order at the front remained unchanged, giving Williamson the win with Dia second and Jones third. — Keith Williamson CLICK HERE FOR RESULTS Eskew On Top at Carolina Motorsports Park Eighteen Spec E30s took the grid in February, and instead of snow flurries, it was T-shirts and shorts. Craig Guthrie was on pole with Rob Eskew at his side. On the second row was Sumpter Smith and newbie Barry Zurbuchen. In the third row was Jason Wistehuff from Mid-Atlantic region, having learned the track awfully fast, with Steven Lako next to him. At the green, Eskew creeped inboard, a move he apologized for later, and put the squeeze on Guthrie. That got Eskew through Turn 1 first. In the early turns it was Eskew, Guthrie, Zurbuchen and Smith. Eskew’s late-apexing style and Guthrie’s fast turn-ins resulted in the pair of them pulling away from the chasing trio of Zurbuchen, Smith and Lako. Guthrie went for the inside of 11 to take the turn from Eskew, but he couldn’t quite get the pass done. Having learned his lesson, Eskew started taking defensive lines to hold Guthrie back. Guthrie was a little faster, but not enough to overcome Eskew’s defense. What he needed was for Eskew to make a mistake. That came on lap four. Trying to keep Guthrie back, he braked late into Turn 14 and slid wide. This allowed Guthrie to exit with better speed and take the lead into Turn 1. For five laps Eskew dogged Guthrie, who got slowed by an out-of-class car in the Turn 8. Eskew passed for the lead, only for Guthrie to fight his way back alongside a few seconds later when Eskew slid wide in Turn 11. Side by side for several more turns, Eskew fought his way clear. In the next three laps Guthrie got alongside, but couldn’t close the deal and finished on Eskew’s rear bumper. Battling to hold third, Zurbuchen over-cooked Turn 14 on lap two while fifth-place Lako dived inside to try to take the turn from Smith. Lako’s move compromised the turn for both, leaving neither able to exploit Zurbuchen’s error. Lako did make the pass stick, so P3 through P5 was now Zurbuchen, Lako and Smith. Several laps later, Zurbuchen missed a shift at the exit of Turn 7 and Lako, and Smith pounced. Lako got into Turn 8 first and Smith skillfully positioned his car in a single Lako-Smith train so Zurbuchen was forced to concede the turn. Smith then, optimistically, stuck his nose in on Lako at turn 13, Lako gave him room, but it was a hopeless attempt on a veteran. Lako and Smith then went though Turn 14 nose to tail. Smith drafted down the front stretch and then sling-shot inside and dived into Turn 1. It was a well-executed pass and Smith moved into third. Lako tried to recover by turning it into an “over and under” but couldn’t pull it off. Seconds later, Lako’s hood insulation stuck in his throttle cable and had to pull off. Sumpter Smith held onto third and Zurbuchen came in fourth. — Scott Gress