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[jaje]

With MAM bookend-ing the summer break the biggest story was the difference in weather as Mother Nature suited up and joined the Spec Miata group with her own version of a cool suit! With low 70's and rainy Saturday morning and then 80's and sunny weather the rest of the weekend we could not have had better racing weather.

With 5 cars in class we again were the largest race group at the event and more new drivers will be joining us over the next several events. I'm so happy our group has grown so well over the year and now is the marquee class in the region. With clean racing, close fields and plenty of manufacturer support we will only get bigger.

Saturday
Qualifying was in the wet with a slowly drying track. Due to the surface being crowned like a normal road the middle actually dried the fastest but the dry line was still as slippery as ice. Local member Lael Cleland was the class of the field being able to keep his car pointed straight and qualified on pole. Warren Dexter with only 4/10 off the pace pushing his car very hard including several spins. Qualifying 3rd was Joel Karns, 4th Zane Dexter, and 5th Dillon Dexter.

Race 1: Was a 2 wave start with single green. A surprise early green flag mean the SM race started with the field immediately exiting turn 14. At the green flag opportunity knocked for the 2nd row as both Karns and Zane immediately made the start 4 wide with Cleland and Warren. By turn 1 all 4 were still in contention with Dillion making in roads as well. Karns was able to sneak his way through into the lead. Zane and Warren battled it out for 2nd where Warren was able to sneak past and chase down Karns when Warren's had to pull into the pits with a flat tire. Dillon then was able to get past Zane and slowly caught up with Karns when an attempt on an inside pass into turn 1 he spun and went off track. Dillion later had to pull into the pits and clean out the radiator. Zane inherited 2nd and he and Lael battled until the finish.

Race 2: NASA CR mixed things up by holding its first ever Pursuit type race across all classes. Warren was able to keep the lead and win overall in the Pursuit race and Karns was able to bring home a 5th place after losing 3 spots on the last lap including 4th place 50 yards from the finish line. Thanks to the minds of Doug Lowe and Bryan Cohn the competition through the entire field to have lead changes all within the last lap made it a huge success.

Sunday
Sunday the order shuffled as the weather was a perfect high 70's and dry. Dillon won pole with Zane a mere 3/10ths off the pace. Warren, Karns and Lael finished out the top 5.

Race 3: Warren and Dillon got a great jump on the field with Zane trying to work his way up between them. Zane got squeezed and Karns was able to sneak by in Turns 1/2 complex. Warren and Dillon traded positions for a couple laps but Warren was able to build a small lead by the end of the race. Zane set out to get 3rd back from Karns but traffic allowed Karns to keep a good gap and run his fastest laps of the entire weekend. Lael nursing worn tires shored up 5th place. Dillon set a new lap record of 1:50.296 in lap 4.

Race 4: What looks like a new MAM standard format - the 2nd race of Sunday was done in the Lemans Style Standing Start with first come, first serve wins pole. Zane took advantage of getting to grid early. At the start of the race Zane got a great start and tried to hold off the Sarsfield Mustang. Warren and Dillon quickly caught Zane with Warren leading the SM field only to overheat later in the race. Zane and Dillon traded spots several times with Dillon finally ahead of Zane and Lael chasing him down. They finished in that order.

Hastings - September 1 / 2
Our next event is back again at Hastings. Please register early for Hastings to get the biggest discount. We also have a new member already signed up with Pat Weber from Colorado.