Drissi Approaches SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series Track Record in Morning Practice at Road America

ELKHART LAKE, June 18, 2010: Defending SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series champion Tomy Drissi turned the fastest lap from a pair of morning practice sessions at Road America and inched close to the existing Trans-Am lap record.

Drissi, of Hollywood, Calif., posted a best Trans-Am lap of the day thus far at 115.559 mph (2:06.107) in the No. 5 Knight and Day Jaguar XKR in the second session this morning. The lap was less than two tenths of a second slower than Tony Ave’s one-lap record of 115.674 mph (2:05.981) set in qualifying last year.

Second quickest on the day was Mike Skeen, of Charlotte, N.C., in the No. 81 Baker Manufacturing/Next Table Chevrolet Corvette. Skeen – who qualified on the front row in his 2010 series debut two weeks ago at Miller Motorsports Park – logged a best lap at 115.815 mph (2:06.924).

Ave, of Charlotte, N.C., was third quickest in the session at 114.503 mph (2:07.270) in the No. 4 Tony Ave Racing/Pro Motor Engines Chevrolet Corvette. Ave picked up the first victory of his Trans-Am career at Miller two weeks ago and leads the championship standings heading into this weekend.

RJ Lopez, of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, led the first Trans-Am session of the day and wound up fourth on the combined morning chart at 114.410 mph (2:07.373) in the No. 6 Disco 106/Goodyear/ECR Engines Chevrolet Corvette. Amy Ruman, of Kent, Ohio, rounded out the top five in the No. 23 McNichols/Goodyear/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette at 113.803 mph (2:08.052). Ruman is making her first Trans-Am start this weekend since competing in the season opener at New Jersey Motorsports Park last month.

The third and final Trans-Am practice session of the day is scheduled to run from 2:10 to 2:40 pm CDT this afternoon.