Lites: Series Utah qualifying notes

BENNETT CONTINUES HOT STREAK, SITS ON POLE FOR ROUND 7

TOOELE, UTAH (July 10, 2010) Jonathan Bennett continues to dominate the charts in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship, putting his #54 Inspire Motorsports/Composite Resources DP02 on the pole for this afternoon's Round #7, part of the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park.

Starting on the front row with Bennett will be #4 Antonio Downs (Eurosport Racing/Lamex Foods), followed by Bennett's teammate (and birthday boy), #13 Gary Gibson (Inspire Motorsports/Perfect Pedal), with Anthony Nicolosi (#8 Performance Tech/Medical Connections) rounding out the top four.

After languishing in "8th and 6th land" in the early part of the season, Bennett has found his form in the last two race weekends, with a pole position and a second place finish two weeks ago in New Jersey.

But before he could really start his qualifying runs today, some changes to the car had to come into form. It caused some minor moments for the driver, but as the session progressed and the car balanced out, Bennett quickly made his way to the top of the grid.

"I knew that with the changes we'd made to the car, it would take a little while for the handling to come in," explained Bennett. "For a driver, it's a little bit of a lack of security!

"But once the handling equalized out, the balance was great. I held my breath and concentrated and knocked out a good lap. I'm really happy for me and for the guys!"

Bennett is also quite happy with the team's momentum.

"I have to say, it's a very nice place," Bennett smiles.

Lee Alexander, driving the #23 Factory 48 Motorsports West WX10, heads the L2 field, starting in 17th position.

Race one of the weekend and Round 7 of the 2010 Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship will drop the green flag at 1:30pm MDT this afternoon for a 30 minute event. Round 8 will take place Sunday at 12:45pm.

The Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship features racing between two sports racer prototype classes, Lites 1 and Lites 2, presenting a dimension of competition as drivers must be aware of classes with distinctly different speeds as they navigate the race track. This is the same challenge faced by the drivers of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patr?n.

-source: imsa