DYSON DOMINATES AT LIME ROCK PARK TRANS AM; TAKES CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD
May 28, 2019
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (May 28, 2019) — If you were a Hollywood producer the pitch might seem just a little too much on the nose: racing driver has a violent crash Thursday night that sends him to the hospital in Indianapolis. Badly bruised up and aching, the driver checks out of the emergency room at 4:30 the next morning, telling his dad “I’ve got to get home to New York so I can practice tomorrow for the big race on Monday.“ He then proceeds to dominate both practice sessions on Saturday, and then taking Sunday to rest and recuperate at home, the battered hero captures the pole position for the race and proceeds to lead all the way from the green flag to the checkered on Monday. His dominating performance vaults him into the lead for the season championship
In the Winners Circle, surrounded by family and friends he says this is the most satisfying victory in his two decade career as a professional racing driver.
Yep, it sounds a little too Hollywood. But in the case of Chris Dyson and the Memorial Day Classic Trans Am headline race at his home track, Lime Rock Park, it’s all true. Driving his #20 Plaid Mustang, Dyson dominated practice and qualifying around the fast 1.53-mile Connecticut road circuit and then fought off challenges from two competitors to lead the 100-mile race from the first turn through the final straightaway.
But Dyson’s odyssey to the Lime Rock Park Winners Circle began Thursday night, 800 miles to the west, at the Indiana State Fairgrounds one-mile dirt track, with his USAC Silver Crown Open-wheel race car tumbling violently down the backstretch.
“I remember as they were loading me into the ambulance I was thinking that I needed to be in the Trans Am car at Lime Rock on Saturday morning,” Dyson recalled. “I won’t kid you, just climbing into the car for practice was painful. And I’m still pretty sore, but it’s amazing how the power of the human mind can work to focus on the task at hand and block out the discomfort. I really leaned on the guys and my physio Alyson (Kimball) and they helped me battle through it all. It’s so satisfying to win this race at my home track with my family and so many of our friends here. It makes the perseverance so worthwhile. It feels like I’ve been in a dream that had some strange twists – but the best possible outcome!”
“We had some minor mechanical issues with the Mustang in a couple of the earlier races and that put us behind in the points,” Dyson continued. “But I’m confident we have that behind us. We’re leading the championship now and I’m optimistic about the rest of the season.
Dyson last raced at Lime Rock in 2013. And although he won there in 2011 on his way to the American Le Mans Series championship, in those events the track layout included a chicane that was added to slow the ground-effect prototype race cars at a critical point of the circuit.
“I haven’t raced on the traditional Lime Rock layout since 2001, near the beginning of my professional racing career,” Dyson said. “I can tell you it’s a joy to drive these 850-horsepower cars around this track. It’s all about speed and momentum and at Lime Rock, there’s no place to let your mind wander, even for an instant. It’s just brilliant! I am already looking forward to my next race here. That’s the appeal of Lime Rock; it never gets old. And experiences like the day we just had here on Monday, I will never forget."
