Portland Atlantic

PORTLAND, OR, JUNE 19, 2005 — If you are going to be out of town on June 25, fire up the VCR or TIVO and catch the broadcast of today`s Toyota Atlantic Race from Portland International Raceway. Chris Dyson had an in car camera on his Thetford/Norcold Toyota Atlantic car and was engaged in a race long battle with Al Unser III. With less than a second separating them most of the 35 lap race, they raced nose to tail and side by side for forty minutes.

Dyson finished seventh in the second Toyota Atlantic race of the weekend on this two mile natural road course. “The car was so much better than yesterday,” noted Chris Dyson. “It was strong coming through the infield, under braking and going onto the back straight. We were quicker, but Al Unser drove a smart race and this is a track that is conducive to keeping a faster car behind you. We were on the pace today and should have been fighting up front. The result did not show how competitive the car was. It is encouraging that we were able to make the car better, but the flip side is that it makes you that much more frustrated with the result.”

Dyson started seventh after a qualifying session yesterday that was punctuated with red flags. Both yesterday and today, the field made it through the Festival Curves without incident. Like Cleveland and Long Beach, the first turn of the first lap here more often than not is the sight of some kind of contremps. (Perhaps it should be renamed the Festival Funnel). It was a clean race with no yellows and was led from start to finish by Tonis Kasemets who with his win yesterday, moves into the Toyota Atlantic points lead.

Chris Dyson and the Thetford/Norcold Atlantic team will race next weekend in Cleveland, another doubleheader race weekend on a track that is more of any equal opportunity venue when it comes to passing.