First Runoffs race grids set at Road America

Grids Set For First Seven of 28 SCCA Runoffs Races At Road America
By SCCA PR staff

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Sept. 22, 2010) -- After three days of qualifying, the grids for the first seven races have been set at the 47th SCCA National Championship Runoffs Presented by Subway at Road America. Provisional poles changed hands in an additional seven classes on Wednesday to set up Thursday's final day of qualifying.

A combined session for Touring 3 and Super Touring Under marked the first of the classes whose grids were finalized during Wednesday's series of 20-minute sessions at the 14-turn, four-mile circuit. Sage Marie, of Huntington Beach, Calif., saw his time of 2:34.706 (93.080 mph) from Monday hold up through all three qualifying sessions to earn the T3 pole in his No. 4 Honda Racing/HPD/BFGoodrich Honda S2000. Joel Weinberger, of Hinsdale, Ill., improved his Runoffs qualifying record to 2:29.038 (96.620 mph) in the No. 3 Continental Audi/Fall-Line MS Audi A4. Weinberger was the provisional polesitter after Tuesday's second qualifying.

Jason Knuteson, of Danville, Ind., also saw his Formula 500 qualifying time of 2:22.896 (100.773 mph) from Monday's opening day hold serve throughout the three sessions. Knuteson's No. 92 Mitchell Racing Services/Hoosier Scorpion S1 Rotax 493 also established a class record.

Like the Touring 3 and Formula 500 classes, the Spec Miata, GT-Lite and D Sports Racing polesitters set their quick laps on Monday. Defending Champion Steve Gorriaran, of Providence, R.I., posted a best time of 2:42.983 (88.353 mph) in the No. 44 Gorilla Racing/Driven Performance/Racer Motors Mazda Miata to by just over a second from Tony Coello, of East Troy, Wis. In GTL, Peter Shawdowen, of Loxahatchee, Fla., saw his new class record of 2:32.390 (94.494 mph) in the No. 72 Road n Race/Goodyear/HPD/Red Line Honda CRX stand, as did the early-week effort of Chris Farrell, of Salt Lake City, Utah, in DSR. Farrell posted a best time of 2:02.901 (117.167 mph) in his No. 58 C&M Manufacturing/GDRE/Hoosier/Sunoco Stohr WF1/Suzuki.

In E Production, Jon Brakke, of Fargo, N.D., improved his time on Wednesday to clinch the pole position. Brakke sat on the provisional pole since Monday in his No. 89 Margaret Peterson Bars Mazda Miata, but improved his time on Wednesday afternoon to a fast lap of 2:27.508 (97.622 mph) to secure the pole by 0.844-second over Greg Ira, of Plantation, Fla.

In addition to the completed grids, 14 other classes held their second qualifying sessions on Wednesday.

Matthew Staal, of Torrance, Calif., took the top spot in the Showroom Stock B class with a best time of 2:42.183 (88.789 mph) in the No. 53 Honda Racing/HPD/BFGoodrich Honda Civic Si. Staal eclipsed the time set on Monday by Michael Scornavacchi in the No. 25 Hoosier/Carbotech/Angry Sheep BMW Z4. Scornavacchi was unable to turn a time in Wednesday's session after contact with the wall left his car with heavy damage on Monday.

Steve Sargis, of Frankfort, Ill., climbed to the top of both the H Production and F Production charts on Wednesday. Driving the No. 18 SBS Batteries/Goodyear Tire Triumph Spitfire 1500 in FP, Sargis set a new qualifying record with a time of 2:30.789 (95.498 mph) to sit on pole 2.536-seconds ahead of Rick Harris, of Derby, Kan. In HP, Sargis posted a best time of 2:41.988 (88.895 mph) in a different No. 18 SS Batteries/Goodyear Tire Triumph Spitfire, topping Milwaukee's Michael Moser.

Michael Lewis, of Poway, Calif., lowered the GT-1 qualifying record and moved onto the provisional pole in his No. 12 Goodyear/Cyclo/Red Line Jaguar XKR with a time of 2:05.208 (115.009 mph). Lewis topped Cliff Ebben, of nearby Appleton, Wis., who posted the fasted time in class on Monday.

In Sports 2000, Corey Fergus, of Powell, Ohio, claimed the provisional pole position from Matthew Direnzo, of Medford, N.J., with a lap of 2:16.082 (105.819 mph) in the No. 07 Hoosier Tires/Carbotech Brakes Carbir CS2/Ford that lowered his qualifying record set in 2009. Fergus was the polesitter a season ago in S2000.

In its first dry session of the week for the class, Jason Vinkemulder, of Spring Lake, Mich., climbed to the top of the Formula Mazda class with a best time of 2:16.437 (105.543 mph). Vinkemulder's lap eclipsed the FM qualifying record by a half-second and topped the previous session in the rain by nearly 24 seconds.

Steve Forrer (C Sports Racing), Scott Tucker (Touring 1), Michael Varacins (Formula Vee), Mark Boden (GT-2), Niki Coello (Formula Continental), Mike Henderson (GT-3), Brian Schofield (Spec Racer Ford), and Jerry Onks (Super Touring Over) all went quicker on Wednesday and held their positions as provisional polesitters. With his time on Wednesday, Forrer established the fastest SCCA Club Racing lap ever at Road America with a time of 2:01.607 (118.414 mph).

Qualifying continues for the fourth and final day on Thursday morning at 8 a.m. (CDT). Live timing is available all week at www.scca.com/runoffs. Racing will commence on Friday, Sept. 24 and run through Sunday, Sept. 26 for all 28 classes.

-source: sports car club of america