Press Contact: Dennis Punch Howard Motorsports (704) 530-4754 cell
Daytona Beach, FL (July 5, 2007) … The father-son team of Rob and Chris Dyson co-piloted the #16 Thetford / Norcold Porsche Crawford to a 16th-place finish in the Brumos Porsche 250 at the Daytona International Speedway on Thursday evening. It marked the best finish of the 2007 Grand-Am Rolex Series season for the veteran sports car drivers, surpassing their previous best of 17th at VIR on April 29th.
The Brumos Porsche 250 is a “one day show” for the Rolex Series, with practice, qualifying, and the 70-lap race all packed into the same day. It’s a grueling affair for drivers and crews with typical July Florida weather creating issues aside from the competition on the course. With rain early in the day, followed by hot, humid conditions, teams were put to the test on Thursday at the “World Center of Racing”.
Rob Dyson was selected to qualify the #16 Thetford / Norcold Porsche Crawford and posted a fast lap of 1:49.167 / 117.398 mph to earn the 16th starting position in the 39-car field for the annual summertime event at Daytona.
From his 16th starting position, Rob Dyson maintained his track position until a full course caution waved on lap eight. Crew Chief Catherine Wallace called Dyson to the pits for fuel only during this caution as the team took advantage of this early caution. After the restart, Dyson had a brief issue with the lights flashing, but the problem was quickly solved and the veteran racer resumed action.
The elder Dyson was running 16th when he made his pit stop on lap 42 for driver change, tires, and fuel. Son Chris Dyson climbed aboard the Thetford / Norcold Porsche Crawford and began his stint in the race. A problem developed restarting the car during this pit stop, and Dyson reentered the race in 17th position three laps down to the leader.
However, the remainder of the race would be uneventful, and Chris Dyson would take the checkered flag in the 16th position. Ironically, the #16 car started 16th and finished 16th.
“The car was really pretty good today,” Rob Dyson stated after his stint. “It was a little tight, but the Howard Motorsports team did a great job making adjustments and giving us a good car to race. We had a few issues earlier in the day, but it’s such a joy to race here at Daytona, that we put all that behind us. This is an historic race and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to race in it.”
