POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 5, 2018) – Just three days after announcing that he’d be competing in the series this year, Chris Dyson finished a close second place in the 2018 Trans Am Series season-opening round at Sebring International Raceway. After sharing the podium with defending series champion Ernie Francis, Jr., Dyson pronounced himself satisfied with the weekend.
“This was a good result given it’s the first time out for CD Racing” Dyson said. “It wasn’t clear until Wednesday when we were able to run the car at Palm Beach International Raceway that we’d make the race here at Sebring. Everyone involved really pushed to get our brand-new Mustang completed, tested and debugged. It’s almost pro forma after a good result to thank all the people behind the effort, but I’m really grateful to Mark Meissen, who built us a terrific chassis, our in-house team who gave us an excellent engine, and the CD Racing crew who finished up the car’s details so that we had no major dramas when we went to test. It was a tight timeline with no room for error and everyone came through.”
Two on-track, waving yellows on his push laps during Dyson’s qualifying meant that he started fifth in the 19-car field, but from the start of the race he moved up, eventually taking over second place after a spirited duel with Lawrence Loshak. After a late-race caution period bunched up the field, Dyson was able to dispense with a pair of lapped cars and take out after Francis.
“At one point I was able to get my nose under Ernie’s rear fender, but I just didn’t have enough to get by,” Dyson said. “I think everyone knows that Ernie is a really talented young driver with a great future ahead of him, but I think it’s under-appreciated how many excellent drivers and teams there are in this series. I’m looking forward to some great racing this year with tough competitors.”
The next round of the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli takes place at Road Atlanta, March 29-30. “We’ve got almost three weeks to go through the car and to absorb the lessons from this past weekend,” Dyson said. “I think we’ll be able to get more of the full potential from the car at Atlanta.”