Ave Turns Quickest Lap in Opening SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series Practice at Miller

TOOELE, June 5, 2010: In the first official practice session ever for the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series at Miller Motorsports Park, Tony Ave posted the quickest time in his No. 4 Tony Ave Racing/Pro Motor Engines Chevrolet Corvette.

Ave, of Maiden, N.C., clocked a best lap at 1:29.919 (88.079 mph) around Miller’s 2.2-mile, 15-turn East Course layout. It was Ave’s first Trans-Am experience at Miller, but the veteran racer did compete in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series event at the facility in 2006. He heads into this afternoon’s qualifying session looking for his second pole position of the season and started both of this season’s first two races from the front row.

Session times were close, with seven tenths of a second covering the top-six drivers. Second quickest was 2009 Trans-Am Series champion Tomy Drissi, of Hollywood, Calif., in the No. 5 THE A-TEAM: THERE IS NO PLAN B Jaguar XKR at 1:30.038 (87.963 mph). Posting the third-quickest time of the session was Simon Gregg, of Ponte Vedra, Beach, Fla., in the No. 59 Derhaag Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette. Gregg’s best lap was a 1:30.128 (87.875 mph).

Fourth-quickest in the session was series points leader RJ Lopez, of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in the No. 6 Disco 106/ECR Engines/Goodyear Chevrolet Corvette. Lopez posted a best lap at 1:30.276 (87.731 mph). Daniel Ramoutarsingh, of La Romain, Trinidad, rounded out the top five at 1:30.360 (87.649 mph).

TOOELE, Utah - Results from practice session #1 for Sunday's SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Championship Round 3 race at Miller Motorsports Park, with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour.

1. (4) Tony Ave, Maiden, N.C., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:29.919, 88.079.

2. (5) Tomy Drissi, Hollywood, Calif., Jaguar XKR, 1:30.038, 87.962.

3. (59) Simon Gregg, Ponte Verda Beach, Fla., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:30.128, 87.875.

4. (6) RJ Lopez, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Chevrolet Corvette, 1:30.276, 87.731.

5. (8) Daniel Ramoutarsingh, LaRomain Trinidad, Jaguar XKR, 1:30.360, 87.649.

6. (81) Michael Skeen (R), Charlotte, N.C., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:30.624, 87.394.

7. (3) Kyle Kelley (R), Signal Hill, Calif., Chevrolet Camaro, 1:32.407, 85.707.

8. (24) JR Smith, Salt Lake Cityh, Utah, Chervolet Corvette, no time.

9. (73) George Smith, Stansbury Park, N.J., C5 Corvette, no time.

10. (04) Greg Pickett, Benicia, Calif., Jaguar XKR, no time.