BRASELTON, Ga. — CD Racing took home its third win of the season in Round 3 of the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli, with Chris Dyson earning his second-consecutive victory at Road Atlanta.
After earning his first pole award of the year, Dyson led from flag to flag in his No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang, tallying the 21st win of his Trans Am career in the Bennett/BridgeHaul Classic at the Mission Foods Atlanta SpeedTour.
Dyson took the green flag with teammate Matt Brabham beside him in the No. 20 GYM WEED Ford Mustang, but third-place qualifier Boris Said quickly took over the second spot in his No. 79 ECC/Anchor Bolt & Screw Dodge Challenger.
While Brabham and Said battled over the second position, Dyson opened up a large gap over his competitors. Brabham was able to fight his way back into second on lap nine, and the two CD Racing cars began to drive away from the field.
David Pintaric in the No. 57 Kryderacing Ford Mustang was solidly holding onto the fourth position until lap 16, when he made contact with a wall and received front-end damage. This paved the way for Tomy Drissi in the No. 8 Lucas Oil Ford Mustang and Amy Ruman in the No. 23 McNichols Co. Chevrolet Corvette to round out the top five.
It appeared that CD Racing was on its way to a third-consecutive 1-2 finish until Brabham’s second-place Mustang suddenly fell off the pace and coasted onto pit road. Brabham was diagnosed with an engine failure, and his retirement resulted in a 16th-place finish overall, putting him ninth in class. Dyson’s No. 16 sister car held strong, and the two-time champion took the checkered flag for the 21st time in his career. Said followed Dyson across the finish line, with Drissi not far behind.
Ruman was challenged by Keith Grant in the No. 40 Showtime Motorsports Camaro in the closing laps, but she held him off, finishing fourth with Grant behind her in fifth.
“I’ll tell you what, there’s no easy laps here around Road Atlanta, so you’ve got to keep your head up the entire time,” said Dyson. “Even though I had a lead, I had to stay on top of the car the whole way. Thank God it was such a great weekend. We got here and the car was fast pretty much right away, so we were able to just keep building.
“This is the best weekend we’ve had all season. I’m so proud of the guys at CD Racing for putting us up front. I couldn’t be happier, I’m so grateful. What a magical weekend for the team.”