Dyson Hopes Experience Pays At Barber

LEEDS, Ala. — Hot off a dominant last-to-first win last month at Virginia International Raceway, Chris Dyson is looking to capitalize on that momentum as he aims for a second consecutive victory in the Trans Am by Pirelli’s penultimate round of the season at Barber Motorsports Park.

This weekend marks the series’ first visit to the Alabama circuit, but Dyson has raced there twice over the course of his career – in 2003 in the Grand Am Cup and then in 2015 representing Bentley in the Pirelli World Challenge Series.

Designed by noted track architect Alan Wilson as a complement to motorcycle enthusiast and collector George Barber’s museum, the hilly 2.38-mile circuit is the action center of the beautifully landscaped suburban Birmingham facility.

“Barber may have been designed to be motorcycle-friendly,” Dyson said. “But it’s also a fun racetrack for cars. Super challenging and technical, with lots of elevation changes and uneven entries and exits. Will my prior experience here give me an advantage over some of my competitors who’ve never raced here?

“Perhaps a little; in the Trans Am there’s not much track time before qualifying and the race. On the other hand, I expect they’ve been spending time in simulators learning the circuit so they’ll be pretty much up to speed even before the first practice session on Friday.”

It’s been a season of big highs and disappointing lows for the three-time series champion. The VIR win moved Dyson into a tie for second place with Mark Donohue in the winner’s list compiled over the six-decade history of America’s longest-running road-racing series.

Injuries suffered in a hard crash (due to mechanical failure) in the season-opener at Sebring forced Dyson to also miss the season’s second race. But in six of the eight races since then Dyson has started on the front row, winning three times.

“Every race this year the car’s been a potential winner when we roll the car off the trailer,” Dyson said. “If it weren’t for that one big mechanical failure and several just unlucky on-track incidents we would be in the thick of another fight for the championship. In terms of results it’s been feast or famine; we win a race and then have a problem the next. That said, while all of us on the team may have been at times disappointed, no one has gotten discouraged.

“After an unlucky result – losing a race we should have won – we just put our heads down and start getting ready for the next race. We aren’t going to win the championship this year, but the goal remains the same – go all out for the win every race.”

SPEED SPORT 1 will have LIVE coverage of Trans Am by Pirelli and CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 racing from Barber Motorsports Park Sunday starting at 10:30am Eastern. Click HERE for details and viewing options.