Chris Dyson today announced the formation of CD Racing, an entity focused on his personal racing activities apart from his longtime role as a driver and executive in his family’s Dyson Racing Team.
In addition to covering a range of short track oval-racing entries for the 2018 season, Dyson also announced that CD Racing will campaign a Ford Mustang in the 2018 Trans Am Championship’s headline TA1 class.
Dyson, a two-time American Le Mans Series driver champion, noted that his role at Dyson Racing Team of Vice President and Sporting Director would be unchanged and that the team is in the process of evaluating several options for a major 2018 and multi-year racing program.
“As my personal racing interests have broadened over the past several years and taken up a significant portion of my time and focus, it made sense to organize them all of them in a single entity,” Dyson said, noting that he had done something similar though on a smaller scale in 2004 and 2005 when he raced in the Formula Atlantic series in addition to the ALMS.
“It was a less formal arrangement than what I’m doing with CD Racing, but the principle was the same. We ran out of the same shop facility and some key personnel came from Dyson Racing.
“But the Formula Atlantic campaign ran separately so neither the focus for the ALMS or Atlantic efforts would be diluted. I was able to focus completely on my job as driver for both programs.”
The Trans Am program will be headquartered in the existing Dyson Racing Team facility in Poughkeepsie. Dyson’s Ford Mustang was built by Mark Meissen Enterprises and will utilize engines sourced internally.
“I’ve watched Trans Am develop over the past several years under Tony Parella’s leadership, getting stronger each season,” Dyson said. “The cars always looked like they would be a nice challenge to drive and there’s plenty of solid competition with a good mix of veterans and young up-and-comers.
“I did a race late last summer at Watkins Glen and was able to get some first-hand experience.
“Based on that, I started looking hard at running a program myself in 2018. I examined all the options for chassis and engine and I think we have an excellent package. It has been a push for everyone to make it all happen in time, so our expectations are realistic this week.
“Our rollout test this week at Palm Beach International Raceway went well, so I think we’ll be in reasonably good shape when the season starts at Sebring on Friday.
CD Racing will also campaign a midget and a sprint car this season.
The short-track effort is based in Pennsylvania and overseen by veteran crew chief Sean Michael.
“Over the past five years, my passion for open-wheel short-track racing has grown,” Dyson said. “I’ve been fortunate to work with some of the top people in the sport, and at this point, especially with my existing racing and business commitments, it made sense to establish a base close to home, so we can race whenever possible. Sean did a great job preparing our new Beast midget for the Chili Bowl in January.
“We very nearly made the Qualifying Night A-Main feature at the Chili Bowl and I expect our other cars in our program to have the same excellent level of preparation that we had in Tulsa.”
“This year we have a lot to look forward to, and I am really looking forward to competing frequently again.”
The 11-race 2018 Trans Am Championship kicks off March 2-4 at Sebring. CD Racing’s short-track program schedule is still in the process of being finalized.
