NA-F2000: Series Mid-Ohio round 11 qualifying notes

F2000: Chris Miller Drops Record, Takes Pole at Mid-Ohio

Lexington, OH -- In his usual fashion, championship points leader Chris Miller took pole for this afternoon's first F2000 race of the weekend at Mid-Ohio at the last possible second, shattering the standing track record by some eight tenths of a second. Miller turned a lap of 1:24.117 to steal the pole away from Ben Searcy, who was fastest in practice and also set his best time on his final flying lap.

Miller commented: "The changes we made to the car overnight worked out. It was hard to find a gap during the session but right at the end I found one and just went for it. The radio came unplugged during the last stint so I had no idea I had pole. Starting at the front and staying out of trouble will be important, and the three points are huge."

More importantly, Miller and JDC added three more points to their lead over Matthew Inge, who finds himself starting fourth.

Inge said: "That didn't go as planned; we made some changes during the session but not enough. The plan for the race is simple. We need to win. I've got to get to the front of the field and stay there."

Remy Audette spent most of the session on top of the charts and will start third.

"We were pushing as much as possible. I spun a couple times in turn seven but I think it will be a good race" said Audette.

The top three cars are separated by less than a tenth of a second. The top twenty cars are within two seconds and the top seven cars were under the track record.

Fabio Orsolon rounds out the top five, starting next to his Alegra teammate, Victor Carbone in row three.

Tim Minor, top Master, Mark Defer, Jerry Szykulski and Chris Gumprecht rounded out the top ten. Masters Class points leader Tom Fatur was 15th, with other Masters Class contenders Robert Wright in 21st and Craig Clawson 25th.

This afternoon's race gets underway at 2:55pm. The F2000 Series website, www.F2000ChampionshipSeries.com, will have live updates as the battle for the 2009 title goes down to the wire.

-credit: www.F2000ChampionshipSeries.com