POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (February 28, 2019) – The road-racing part of Chris Dyson’s 2019 North American racing schedule kicks of this weekend with the running of the 2019 Trans Am season-opening event at Sebring International Raceway. A strong two-day test with his CD Racing #20 Plaid Mustang at Miami-Homestead Speedway in January gives Dyson optimism for a strong season in North America’s premier sedan-racing series.
Dyson, who last year finished second at Sebring on his way to third in the season championship and Rookie-of-the-Year honors, is looking to leverage his full season of experience in the series to the winner’s circle at Sebring and a more consistent championship run. Dyson won the second round of the 2018 season at Road Atlanta and then scored another four top-five finishes, but mechanical and on-track issues spoiled several other prospective race wins and podium finishes.
“It was great to win last year at Road Atlanta, the home track for our friends at Plaid,” Dyson said. “But the rest of the season was uneven for us. Still, we learned a lot even from our bad races. And with the excellent test we had a few weeks ago at Homestead it’s clear we’ve made strong progress over the winter in terms both of performance and reliability. The car, the team and I are all more than ready for the Trans Am season to start.”
Dyson also said that with the strong January test and a full season’s experience in the series, the team was now in a position to field a second car at series races, beginning later in the season. “We’ve ordered a second chassis,” he said. “But we won’t be adding a second car until we’ve got a couple of races completed and get our title campaign off to a strong start.”
Expanded CD Racing Oval Track Program in 2019
Less than a month after finishing his 2018 road-racing season on the podium in an Aston Martin at the Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi, Dyson’s U.S. short-track season began in January with his fifth appearance at the midget-racing Chili Bowl in Tulsa. But while Dyson plans to do USAC East Coast Sprint Car races and the team will enter a car at select USAC National Sprint Car events throughout the season, CD Racing’s main thrust for 2019 will be an expansion of the team’s efforts in the USAC Silver Crown series. In the past, Dyson has driven only in the dirt-track portion of the dual dirt and pavement series, but this year he will also compete in the paved-track events.
“We bought a new Beast chassis from Bob East last year that is being completed at our shop now,” Dyson said. “We have a Kistler engine, like the one we’ve run in our dirt Champ car. Sean Michael, my crew chief who prepares all of CD Racing’s oval-track cars, did a superb job last season and he’s fully prepared for this expanded program. I will do every Silver Crown race that doesn’t conflict with my Trans Am schedule, and when there are conflicts we will put another driver in the car so we can still score championship points.”
Road Course / Oval Track Weekends
On two weekends Dyson will compete in both Trans Am and Silver Crown events. Over the Memorial Day weekend Dyson will be at the Indiana State Fairgrounds for Thursday’s Silver Crown race on the one-mile dirt oval and on Friday just west of Indianapolis at the Lucas Oil Raceway with CD Racing’s pavement Silver Crown car. Dyson will fly from there to Lime Rock Park in Connecticut for Saturday’s Trans Am qualifying, and will race in Monday’s Trans Am event.
On August 10th, Dyson will have an even tighter schedule, racing that morning in the Trans Am at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and then in the evening in his pavement Silver Crown car 300 miles and one state west at the half-mile Salem Speedway in Indiana. “Depending on when practice starts at Salem I’ll either drive or fly,” Dyson said. “But either way, it’s going to be a long day with a lot of good racing.”
“I’m really excited about this whole year and to this schedule,” Dyson said. “It’s a great mixture of road racing and oval racing. I want to be in a car competing as often as possible. I’m really grateful for the opportunity.”
About Plaid
Headquartered in Atlanta, Plaid Enterprises, Inc. is one of the world’s largest, most diverse manufacturers of creative do-it-yourself products. Plaid’s product innovation and dedication to the ever-changing needs of consumers have made the Plaid family of products among the most recognized and desired brands worldwide.
Founded in 1976, Plaid began as a publisher of how-to craft books. The company soon expanded into manufacturing, with paint becoming the primary focus. Today, Plaid is the industry’s leading small batch paint manufacturer, proudly producing paint in its facilities located outside of Atlanta, GA.
Notable brands in Plaid’s portfolio include FolkArt, Apple Barrel, Delta, Bucilla, Martha Stewart Crafts, and one of the industry’s best known, Mod Podge, a favorite since 1967.