WavingBearFlag Starts 2016 Strong!

Most of us here at WavingBearFlag.com are still writing 2015 on our checks, but the road racing season in the southeast is well under way. WBF was represented in the NASA-SE season opener at a cold and snowy Roebling Road Raceway by Adam Thomas. Thomas was the only ST2 entry on the weekend (Hey, a win is a win, right?) but showed good speed with a 1:18.1 best lap time and a P3 overall finish in Sunday's Thunder race.

Just two weeks later at Road Atlanta, Thomas teamed with WBF member Andrew Diller and several other NASA and SCCA regulars in an Excelerace Mazda Miata for a 14hr Enduro with ChumpCar World Series. The team ran consistently quick, clean laps and finished the day 4th in class and 16th overall in a strong 110 car field.

If the first few weeks of the season are any indication, Team WBF is looking forward to a successful year.

Diller Wins Twice in Alabama! Farley honored at AMP.

Halloween weekend was busy for the WavingBearFlag crew. Andrew Diller took home P1 in the Spec Miata class in both races Saturday at the NASA-MS event at Barber Motorsports Park. Diller qualified on pole and followed up his debut SM win at Road Atlanta with a great performance in Alabama. However, his luck did not continue to Sunday. After a huge save in the wet at the museum corner, he was 0.7sec off the Spec Miata pole pace for the Aussie Pursuit Race. Diller battled the weather, but was eventually forced to retire with electrical issues likely caused by the wet conditions.

WBF members Adam Thomas and Zack Mortimer brought their SU Stock Car out for its first race of the season but were plagued with mechanical issues. The car was recently reconfigured from fuel injected to carbureted and a leak at the new intake gasket sidelined them for Saturday's first race. With that issue remedied, Thomas started P17 for the second race of the day. The car was performing well and Thomas was working his way through the field when an oil pressure issue forced him to retire. The issue was minor and easily corrected, but the team decided to pack it in for the weekend.

WBF member Steven Bunnell instructed at the event in a very capable Acura V6-swapped NB Miata and helped the rest of the crew keep their cars on track. His Spec Miata build is on track for a 2016 debut.

Mortimer, Thomas, Diller, and Bunnell at Barber Motorsports Park.

Friend of WBF, Jay Stroud of Racing Analytics, lead his ChumpCar World Series team to a class victory at Atlanta Motorsports Park, finishing P2 overall only seconds behind the leader. The team drove the last car built by Rob Farley at Viral Performance. The win was dedicated to his memory.

Andrew Diller Wins at Road Atlanta!

WBF Member Andrew Diller finished off an eventful weekend at Road Atlanta with a win in the second Spec Miata race of the weekend at NASA's Hotlanta Challenge. Diller struggled with intermittent electrical problems all day Saturday. Aided by Steven Bunnell and Adam Thomas, it was determined that the ECU had packed it in and as nobody wants to race a 2-cyl Miata, it looked like the weekend was over.

Andrew Diller attempts to retrieve the chicken bones used in the ECU voodoo exorcism. He was unsuccessful.

As luck would have it, Jason Moritz was heading home on Saturday evening and had planned to leave his car with Racing Analytics at their Dawsonville, GA facility. Diller agreed to deliver the car in exchange for a chance to drive in Sunday's race.

After a bit of fiddling with the harnesses and a quick spin around the paddock, Diller was set to race the next day.

Sunday began with a mid-pack qualifying effort but quickly Diller charged to the front of the Spec Miata pack shortly after the start, finally passing Yan Dia with only a couple of laps remaining. It was clear sailing from there with Diller winning going away.

Andrew Diller (right) poses next to his borrowed race car with WBF member Adam Thomas.

Newest Member of the WBF Fleet Gets Caged

WBF Member Steven Bunnell recently sold his SN95 Mach 1 in order to go Spec Miata racing. Rather than doing the smart thing and buying a proven car with a history and a current logbook, he took the standard WBF route and purchased a worn out road car, removed the interior, and began replacing the lost mass with dollar bills.

The crew finished its second weekend of notching, beating, welding, grinding, swearing, beer-drinking, and consuming fried chicken and tacos just in time to let Steven sit in the car for a final test fit of the seat, make a few race car noises, and send him packing back home to Alabama.