Born : June 21 1946
Biography Rob Dyson
Rob Dyson got interested in motorsport in the summer of 1961. His father was on a business trip in Indianapolis, and his mother decided to bring dad a visit, together with the 2 sons. A business associate of Dyson’s dad took him and his brother to the Indianapolis Speedway for a visit. The visit to the track and the stories of what happened there impressed the young Rob Dyson a lot. And so did the visit to the Indianapolis Speedway Museum. From that moment on, Dyson knew he wanted to be part of that world. The next year, they visited the Indy 500 again, and bought a souvenir at the souvenir shop that stood at Dyson’s office many years later.
The beginning of the career
When Rob Dyson finished graduate school at Cornell, he said to himself, ‘why don’t I go racing for a year and see what it is like. So he decided to buy a car that was simple to work on, and easy to find parts for. The Datsun 501 seemed to be the perfect fit. Dyson bought one that was half-built and ran it at an SCCA regional at Watkins Glen in 1974 and ended up winning his first race. Together with his first crew member, Pat Smith, Rob worked after work on the Datsun. Rob ran SCCA Regionals in the Northeast in 1974 and ’75 and ran his first SCCA National in 1977. That was a real step up because they were racing against the factory teams of Bob Sharp, Bob Tulius, and Joe Huffacker. Rob won a National Championship in 1981 with a Nissan 200 SX, which he ran to the end of the following year.
IMSA GTO
In the early 80s it was time to move up. In 1983 Rob ran a Pontiac Firebird in IMSA GTO and selected Trans-Am races. By this time it was a crew of three – Pat and two other guys including John Pultz (Boz) who started working for Rob in 1978 after following him into the driveway after a race at Lime Rock. Rob had the Firebird built and to be charitable, the car was not at the top of the class. But it was a good learning experience as they ran a mixed schedule of IMSA and Trans Am, finishing third at the Elkhart Lake 500 miler.
IMSA GTP
Dyson considered buying a March GTP car to move up another step. His good friend Bob Akin, however, convinced Dyson that Porsche was the only way to go. Besides, Bob said, no one collects Marches. Rob went to Al Holbert to buy a 962, but they were sold out, but he said that Bruce Leven was selling chassis 101 and Rob bought it. Rob and his co-driver, Drake Olson, arrived at Lime Rock for the eighth round of the 1985 season. He inquired about being part of Goodyear’s free tire program and was told they had to win the race. They did, and added two more wins that year.In 1986, Rob ordered a second car, Porsche 962-120 and Rob and Price won at Riverside and Sears Point. Price was second in the championship and earned their second Porsche Cup. Virtually every aspect of the Dyson 962 was modified, including a new high downforce nose and air tunnels under the car designed by noted aerodynamicist, Dick Yagami.
James Weaver joined the team at the Road Atlanta race in 1987 and he and Price won the race. The team had four more podiums and won at Watkins Glen and Road America. Price was second in the championship, and took the Porsche Cup, the team’s third in a row. 1988 was the year of the Nissan with their eight wins in a row. But Rob took the only two Porsche victories that year with wins at Miami and his victory at San Antonio broke Nissan’s win streak.
The Dyson Racing team had a new Porsche 962 at the first race of the season in 1990, the Daytona 24 Hours. Team members called it “Box Stock Betty” because Porsche insisted they run it without any modifications. But the team realized the car needed more downforce and bypassed the dictates of the factory and redid the bodywork. Weaver was third in the next race at Miami with Scott Pruett and ended the season with another podium at Watkins Glen and a win at Tampa. James was sixth in driver’s points, driving the only Porsche in the top ten.
James ran ten races in the Porsche in 1991, with his best finish being a fourth at Miami. The team had sold the car in 1992, but borrowed it to race the 24 Hours of Daytona at the beginning of 1993, and finished second in GTP. It was the only sports car race they ran that year and moved over to an Indy Lights effort for James Weaver the reminder of the year.
Open Wheel
Dyson Racing left IMSA in 1989 to run a Champ Car for James Weaver. It was a short-lived experiment as they found themselves on the outside looking in when it came to getting the equipment needed to be competitive. James’s best race finish was 11th at Long Beach. After the IMSA GTP season ended in 1993, The team did use the rest of 1993 to field James Weaver in an Indy Lights car with the best finish of fifth at the fourth race of the year in Detroit.
World Sports Car Racing
In 1994, the GTP era ended and IMSA created the World Sports Car series. The team bought a Spice and put a Ferrari 348 engine in it. The cars were supposed to run with street based engines, but soon race engines became the norm. Dyson Racing participated in eight of the nine races, not running the 12 Hours of Sebring, with their best finish a third at Indianapolis.
Dyson Racing moved to the Ford-powered Riley and Scott chassis in 1995 and began a seven-year ran that netted them 36 wins including two wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona. In 1995, they did not finish off the podium for nine straight races from Road Atlanta to New Orleans, including five wins and a 1-2 finish at the last race of the season at New Orleans. James Weaver missed winning the championship by two points.
In 1996, Butch Leitzinger was third in the World Sports Car Championship. The team garnered seven podiums including a hat trick sweep of the last three events of the season.
In 1997, Dyson Racing took the top three positions in the championship: Butch Leitzinger followed by Elliott Forbes-Robinson and James Weaver. They started the year with a win at the 24 Hours of Daytona and were on every podium for the season with five wins out of eleven races. The following year was no less successful. Butch Leitzinger won his second World Sports Car championship in a row, and was second in the Can Am Championship. (Run by the U.S. Road Racing Championship.) James Weaver was the Can Am champion and Elliott Forbes-Robinson and Dorsey Schroeder took third and fourth in Can Am.
Don Panoz bought Professional SportsCar Racing in 1999, and the American Le Mans Series was created, but the change of ownership did not slow up Dyson Racing. Elliott Forbes-Robinson won the ALMS Championship and he shared the Can Am Championship with Butch Leitzinger. The team added a second 24 Hours of Daytona win to their roster.
Pictures courtesy unknown and Dyson Racing Team
