Emotional Victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - Speedway Digest

Marine Staff Sgt. Liam Dwyer and his teammate Andrew Carbonell grabbed victory today in the ST category of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. This is the fifth consecutive victory at Mazda Raceway for Freedom Autosport, whose cars finished first and second. Carbonell passed leader Tom Long in Turn 9 of the final lap to take the checkered flag. Mazda MX-5 cars swept the podium, finishing first, second, third and fifth.

Dwyer, who lost his lower left leg and suffered many other severe injuries when he stepped on an IED in Afghanistan in 2011, had a special guest at the track this weekend. Sgt. Aaron Denning was the man who saved Dwyer’s life and earned the Bronze Star medal of valor for his efforts. He was seeing Dwyer race for the first time. Denning threw the green flag to start the race, and will be the Grand Marshal for tomorrow’s TUDOR United SportsCar Series race at Mazda Raceway.

Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through nearly 700 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at www.mazdausamedia.com.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.