POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (Sept 8, 2021) – This weekend’s Trans Am Championship by Pirelli doubleheader at Watkins Glen is important to Chris Dyson. With only two more races remaining on the schedule after this weekend and already leading the point standings, a good outcome aboard his #20 ALTWELL CBD Ford Mustang in the pair of 100-mile sprint races will bring him significantly closer to a first Trans Am title.
“We may be leading the championship, but it’s not a comfortable lead,” Dyson said, noting that Tomy Drissi and Ernie Francis, Jr., who are second and third in points are still in the thick of the championship battle and have cars capable of winning. “My focus this weekend will be on winning these races and expanding my points lead, Dyson said. “Watkins Glen is one of my favorite tracks, one where I’ve achieved a lot of success over the years. There’s always something special about being back at the place where my professional racing career began.”
There’s deep history for Dyson at the famed New York venue. Looking back 20 years, Watkins Glen was the site of Dyson’s first professional endurance racing start, the Bully Hill 250 round of the 2001 Grand American Road Racing Championship. Dyson co-drove with Eliott Forbes-Robinson and father Rob in a Dyson Racing Riley & Scott Mk III. The car experienced electrical problems that kept it from a podium finish, but in his rookie debut appearance, Dyson posted fully competitive lap times and ran in the top-three during the event. It was the beginning of a career that brought Chris Dyson two IMSA American Le Mans Series championships and multiple race wins at endurance racing’s highest levels.
“Watkins Glen has always meant a lot to me,” Dyson said. “It’s the track where my dreams about racing really started to take hold. I remember being here in 1987 and watching my Dad win the big IMSA GTP event here, and Dyson Racing had a lot of success as a team here in the 90s and into the 2000s. I did the bulk of my early regional and national racing here, too. I won the Watkins Glen Six Hours overall with James Weaver in my rookie season and that was a dream come true. It’s always a great track in just about any car. The Trans Am cars in particular are an absolute thrill to race around this circuit. And it’s technically my “home” track, being in New York and only a few hours away from home. We’re ready to race this weekend and we’ve done everything we could to ensure a strong result.”
According to Dyson, the recipe for a successful weekend began in the team’s shop in Poughkeepsie immediately following the Trans Am Series’ last race at Brainerd. “The guys have been making sure that both cars are in top shape, so we can be sure that mechanical factors won’t be a factor in the outcome. With reliability assured, I can focus on driving.”
Smith Back With Team For Watkins Glen
With Humaid Masaood unable to come from his home in the UK due to business commitments, Dyson’s longtime teammate Guy Smith will be back behind the wheel of the #21 Amamos La Vida Tequila Ford Mustang, having starred in his debut Trans Am appearance and scoring a podium at Road America.
“Guy did a great job at Road America standing in for Humaid,” Dyson noted. “He had never driven a Trans Am car before, but with his intimate knowledge of the circuit he got with the program quickly. His third-place finish after qualifying fifth demonstrated that. Guy also has valuable racent experience at the Glen after racing in the Six Hours in June, and he knows our Trans Am car extremely well now, so I expect he will a major factor this weekend.”
Masaood plans to be back in the #21 for the following Trans Am race weekend at Virginia International Raceway the last weekend of September.
CD Racing’s Kody Swanson Sets Pole & Runs Strongly At Du Quoin USAC Silver Crown 100-Miler
After setting fastest time in Qualifying and electing to start 23rd after changing a tire, Kody Swanson last month won the Bettenhausen 100 at the Illinois State Fairground in his first start aboard the Sean Michael-prepared #9 CD Racing Maxim-Kistler Silver Crown Car. On Labor Day Monday the five-time USAC Silver Crown Series champion picked up right where he had left off two weeks earlier, putting the Dyson car on the pole for the Ted Horn 100 at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds.
Another win looked like it was in the cards, with Swanson leading the first 47 laps over the one-mile oval before the MSD ignition box failed. Repairs cost three laps and resulted in a 17th-place finish.
“While the Trans Am Series has been quiet, we’ve had a successful run of races with our circle track program,” Dyson said. “We were very happy to win at Springfield, and Kody drove superbly at Duquoin, too, but we had a car problem that prevented consecutive wins together. And we are excited to have Tyler Courtney back in the Silver Crown car for the Four Crown at Eldora in a few weeks’ time, hopefully to repeat our win there from back in June.”
The Winners Circle Project
Now in its third year bringing real-world experience in STEAM and other academic areas to students in rural high schools, The Winners Circle Project culminates its 2020-2021 program at Watkins Glen after a year-long competition between student groups from New York State’s Candor and Waverly high schools. Yesterday at a test facility constructed by State Line Auto Auctions, CD Racing driver Chris Dyson shook down and evaluated the schools’ pair of two-seat cars constructed from Factory Five Racing Mk 4 Roadster kits over the past academic year by the rival high school teams with faculty guidance.
The week of evaluation and competition, with criteria and judging by faculty from the State University of New York’s Alfred State College, culminates on Friday at the race track. More than 175 students and staff from Candor, Waverly, Owego Appalachin and Watkins Glen schools will attend the event, which will include pace laps by the Candor and Waverly cars and an awards ceremony.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to have Watkins Glen International, Tony Parella and the Trans Am series host the conclusion of our 2020-2021 program,” said Pius Kayiira, Executive Director & Founder of The Winners Circle Project. “Our organization owes so much to all of our supporters, and we thank them all.”
This year’s pair of cars will be auctioned by State Line Auto Auctions on September 17, with the proceeds going to expand the Winners Circle Project.
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The Winners Circle Project
Partnering with rural high schools, the Dyson Foundation, Factory Five Racing, State Line Auto Auction and other supporters, the purpose of The Winners Circle Project is to inspire fresh, young, innovative minds through STEAM programs embedded in the world of car racing. Through their hands-on participation, the fields of science, technology, engineering, business, arts and math come alive for student participants through, on, and beyond the racetrack!