RACE: National Runoffs: Tuesday qualifying report

Another Day of Contrasting Weather for SCCA Runoffs Qualifying

TOPEKA, Kan. (Oct. 7, 2008) -- On the second day of qualifying for the 45th SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, it was the morning classes who struggled to find grip in wet and windy conditions, and the late-day groups who were blessed with sunny skies. While seven classes took to the track for their first official session, another 12 entered their second batch of qualifying times at Heartland Park Topeka.

A steady rain didn't stop most of the Showroom Stock B field from making its first qualifying laps on the 2.5-mile road course. Driving the Honda/BFG Tires/Traqmate Honda Civic Si, Chase Lin, of Lewis Center, Ohio, holds the provisional pole with a time of 2:02.974 (73.183 mph).

Brandon Aleckson, of Watsonville, Calif., is the first driver to earn a provisional Runoffs pole in Formula Enterprises. In the class's first year of Runoffs' eligibility, Aleckson led the very first qualifying session with a lap of 1:51.625 (80.627 mph) in the GoPro Camera/Tico Const./Westek Ele Formula Enterprises.

Three Kansans can be found in the top four on the F Production grid at the moment, with Ken Prather, from Wakarus, Kan., leading the way. Prather turned a provisional pole time of 2:01.015 (74.371 mph) in his Prather Racing/Moss Motors MGA.

After a soggy qualifying session on Monday, GT-3 got some dry qualifying time, allowing John Black, of Olympic Valley, Calif., to post a time of 1:39.048 (90.865 mph) and take the provisional pole in a Nissan 350Z.

James Goughary, of Houston, Texas, further improved his GT-2 provisional pole time. Goughary, who had already entered a time under the qualifying lap record on Monday, knocked another half second off his fastest lap to enter a 1:37.060 (92.726 mph) in his Red Line Oil Nissan 350Z.

Another record was also set in D Sports Racing. Driving a GDRE Dauntless/WRD Goodyear Stohr WSL/GDRE, Mark Jaremko, of Spokane, Wash., entered a 1:23.530 (107.746 mph) to take the provisional DSR pole.

Day three of qualifying will begin on Wednesday at 8 a.m. (EDT). Sunny weather is forecasted for the remainder of the event. For full results, live timing, entry lists and schedule, visit www.scca.com/runoffs.

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SCCA National Championship Runoffs qualifying leaders after Tuesday, with class, driver name, driver hometown, car and pole time. Asterisks located after the time indicates a new pole time. Double asterisks after a time indicates a lap under the existing track record. Asterisks located after class name indicates a new polesitter.

A Sedan, B Thomas Hines, Slidell, La., Ford Mustang, 1:59.064, 75.59 mph

C Sports Racing, Chris Farrell, Salt Lake City, Utah, Stohr WF1/Suzuki, 1:49.318, 82.329 mph

D Sports Racing*, Mark Jaremko, Spokane, Wash., Stohr WSL/2007 GDRE, 1:23.530**, 107.746 mph

E Production, Greg Ira, Plantation, Fla., Datsun 240-Z, 1:42.754, 87.588 mph

Formula 500, Clint McMahan, Covington, Ga., McMahan FDS001 Rotax, 1:56.714, 77.112 mph

Formula Atlantic, Fabio Castellani, Streamwood, Ill., Swift 014/Toyota, 1:46.192, 84.752 mph

Formula Continental, Niki Coello, East Troy, Wis., Van Diemen RF-01 Ford, 1:30.848, 99.066 mph

Formula Enterprises, Brandon Aleckson, Watsonville, Calif., Formula Enterprises/ Mazda, 1:51.625**, 80.627 mph

Formula Ford, Jeremy Treadway, Putnam Station, N.Y., Swift DB6 Ford, 1:51.380, 80.804 mph

Formula Mazda, Jamie Sloan, Tucson, Ariz., Star Formula Mazda, 1:32.698**, 97.089 mph

F Production, Ken Prather, Wakarusa, Kan., MGA, 2:01.015, 74.371 mph

Formula Vee, Bob Neumeister, Pueblo, Colo., Vortech VW, 1:47.811, 83.479 mph

GT-1, Tony Ave, Maiden, N.C., Ford Mustang, 1:45.383, 85.403 mph

GT-2, James Goughary, Houston, Texas, Nissan 350Z, 1:37.060**, 92.174 mph

GT-3*, John Black, Olympic Valley, Calif., Nissan 350Z, 1:39.048*, 90.865 mph

GT-Lite, Chris Bovis, Lawrence, Kan., Honda CRX, 2:03.013, 73.163 mph

H Production, Jay Griffin, Titusville, Fla., Honda Civic Si, 2:08.300, 70.148 mph

Showroom Stock B, Chase Lin, Lewis Center, Ohio, Honda Civic Si, 2:02.974, 73.186 mph

Showroom Stock C*, Joel Lipperini, Pittston, Pa., Honda Civic Si, 1:56.376*, 77.336 mph

Spec Miata, Eric Foss, Fort Worth, Texas, Mazda Miata, 1:52.670, 79.879 mph

Spec Racer Ford, Mike Miserendino, Los Angeles, Calif., Spec Racer Ford, 1:47.754, 83.524 mph

Sports 2000, Jeffrey Wayland, Ontario, N.Y., Carbir CS2 Ford, 2:07.917, 70.358 mph

Touring 1, Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa., Chevrolet Corvette C6, 1:57.849, 76.369 mph

Touring 2, Don Knowles, Pittsboro, N.C., Pontiac Solstice GXP, 1:44.857**, 85.831 mph

Touring 3, Rob Hines, Arlington, Va., Honda S2000, 1:49.589, 82.125 mph

-credit: scca