The second round of the Atlanta Motorsports Park Summer Series took place on a clear but chilly Saturday with a solid turnout for both classes. Raiden Nicol and Keith Williamson were back, aiming to continue their battle from the previous month with Kyle Haney and Jose Garcia also keen to get in on the action this month.
Spec Miata Race One:
Haney started on pole alongside Nicol as all 12 drivers were able to make it through the opening lap unscathed. On the second lap, Garcia passed Nicol for second under braking into turn one and immediately began pressuring Haney for the lead. Nicol lost another position on lap four to Williamson as the top four pulled away from the rest of the field.
On the next lap, Haney, Garcia, and Williamson went three-wide through turn one and managed to avoid contact with one another while holding the same positions. Nicol came back at Williamson with a divebomb into turn six but Williamson regained the position on the backside of the track. Haney finally made a mistake under pressure from Garcia and suffered a massive lockup heading into turn one. He ran wide allowing Garcia to take the lead before dropping behind Fabiani in sixth.
Williamson and Nicol close back up to Garcia in the closing laps but run out of laps before the checkered flag. Less than a second covered the top three with a six-second gap back to Ben Hobbs in fourth place. Haney passed Fabiani for fifth following his error at turn one.
Downforce Race One:
Corey Bobo started on pole with Andrew Nagy, Everett Dickson, and Barry Davison starting behind. Davison spun at turn three but didn’t make contact with the wall and was able to continue. Bobo remained in the lead but Jon Brunot was quickly within striking distance by lap three. Brunot easily got the move done and created a gap out front before he was forced to retire with a technical problem.
The recovery brought out a full-course caution and allowed Davison to catch up to the main pack after his spin on the opening lap. Davison took the lead on the restart and took the win in race one.
Spec Miata Race Two:
Garcia started on pole following his win in race one, as Nicol passed Williamson for second place. Further behind, Fabiani ran wide at the exit of turn one and was left playing catch-up the rest of the weekend.
Nicol began to pressure Garcia for the lead and on lap three the race leader suffered a loss in power and dropped to fourth. Nicol inherited the lead with a two-second lead over Haney. On lap eight Garcia begins his chargeback through the field and passes Williamson. Garcia passed Haney for second with two laps to go but was unable to close the gap to Nicol before the checkered flag.
Downforce Race Two:
Bobo started on pole again but spun in sync with Davison at the entry of turn three. Both drivers were able to continue. The action on lap one allowed Brunot to take the lead despite starting last.
Davison began to make his way through the field as he did in race one, passing Nagy into turn six on the second lap. On lap three Davison took the lead from Brunot on the backside of the track and went on to win. Bobo also recovered from his lap one spin and finished on the podium.