LAKEVILLE, CT, July 5, 2013 – Chris Dyson will start from the front row after his second place qualifying effort today for the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix on the weekend Dyson Racing is celebrating their thirtieth anniversary in professional sports car racing. He took the #16 Thetford/RACER entry he shares with Guy Smith around the team’s home track at an average speed of 117.287 MPH.
“We missed the first session with some mechanical issues and extensive red flag periods, and that was costly,” said Chris Dyson. “We took a step with the car we thought intuitively would work but it was a step too far, so we will just go back to how it was the previous session and continue to focus on the race set-up at this point. We had really good tests at VIR and Road Atlanta before coming here, and we have a good handle on the car in its current state.”
After the late afternoon qualifying session, there was a roast for Rob Dyson to commemorate his thirty year anniversary. Chris Dyson summed up what those years have meant. “It has been an honor to grow up with the race team in my life and with all the wonderful people in this paddock. It has been a privilege that that has been given to me because Dad created the platform for us and it is nice to carry on what he started. I am thrilled to be up here celebrating our 30th anniverasy and looking forward to many more years.”
Rob Dyson finished off the roast by saying that “finally, I want to thank my son Chris. He has been a great fan of mine and I have been a great fan of his. I remember watching him race go-karts in one of my old helmets at the old Rt. 55 Speedway, and I knew I was in trouble from then on! We were actually in the same weight class and I used to race him in go-karts. It is a whole different deal when you run against your son. Chris beat me all but once, and I got to tell you, that one race that I beat him, I feel really good about to this day!
“But I must say that for all of the drivers that have driven for our team, the key was they were great human beings and they loved sports car racing, and they wanted to compete, and they wanted to win. But most importantly, they were decent, hardworking great guys. I want to tell you how much of an honor it is to have become friends with them and so very many great people in racing.”