Wisconsin's French Leads Successful First Day at Kohler/SCCA Chicago Region June Sprints

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 24, 2005) - Brian French, of Sheboygan, Wis.,
qualified first in both Formula Atlantic and C Sports Racing,
highlighting a nearly perfect day of practice and first-round qualifying
at Road America, site of the 2005 Kohler/SCCA Chicago Region June
Sprints(r). 

All eight groups, which featured 23 classes, ran practice sessions to
start Friday, with the first four groups returning to the four-mile
track in the afternoon for the first of two qualifying sessions. 

In Group 1, Canadian Jacek Mucha tried to steal the show in the C Sports
Racing's first qualifying session by snaring the lead from French, of
Sheboygan, Wis., with a 2:09.919 110.838 mph) in his
Phoenix/Innotech/Red Line/Hoosier Ralt JMS, with just minutes remaining
in the 30-min. session. French one-upped him, however, as he smoked the
Road America course with a 2:08.399 (112.150 mph) in his Motorsports
Enterprises Ltd. Ralt JMS. Local driver Jeff Miller, of Elkhart Lake,
Wis., is third in his Kohler Wynnfurst after the first session after
posting a 2:14.416 (107.130).

Michael Reupert, of Hubertus, Wis., will enter Saturday morning as the
man to beat in D Sports Racing after he tallied a 2:15.954 (105.918 mph)
in his Goodyear/Red Line Oil Lola AMW. Rod Morley, of Provo, Utah,
averaged 105.702 mph and is second (2:16.232), followed by Elkhart
Lake's Jason Miller, in his Sterling/Kohler Wynnfurst (2:18.017, 104.335
mph).

Multi-time SCCA Club Racing Runoffs(r) Champion John Fergus, of Powell,
Ohio, leads S2000 going into the second day with a fast time of 2:19.487
(103.235 mph) in his Hoosier Tire/The Fergus Companies Carbir CS2. Bart
Wolf, of Elkhart Lake, Wis., is second currently with a 2:20.607
(102.413 mph) in his Wolf's Jeep/Hoosier Tire/NIA Carbir CS204.


In the second Group, defending F500 winner Aaron Ellis, of Indianapolis,
Ind., holds the Formula 500 lead after one qualifying session after his
2:29.492 (96.326 mph) came with five minutes left in the afternoon run.
Ellis, in his Valvoline/Goodyear/Simpson Red Devil AE 03, leaped ahead
of Brian Novak, of Dearborn, Mich., who held the top spot for virtually
the entire session in his Hoosier Tire/HRP Motorsports RaDavon J10
before Ellis made his move. Rusty Cook, of Stone Mountain, Ga., is third
currently, just a few tenths short as he recorded a 2:29.959 (96.026) in
Goodyear Tires/Red Line Oil Maverick 01. 

Brad Stout, of St. Louis, Mo., won Formula Vee here last year after
overcoming a broken brake drum during qualifying. This year, so far,
Stout has stayed out of mechanical trouble and leads FV in his
Goodyear/Penske/LRE/Noble Vortech with a 2:45.719 (86.894 mph) after the
first qualifying session. Michael Varacins, of Burlington, Wis., trails
Stout in his Speed Sport Engineering/Veetech SpeedSport AM 5 (2:46.440),
and is followed by Brandon Peterson, of Edwards, Colo., who is driving
the PeakPerformance/Ed Ohayre Motors Mysterian MZ (2:47.029). 

Group 3, which features four classes, was led by E Production competitor
Ken Kannard, of East Troy, Wis., who posted a 2:33.304 (93.931 mph) in
his Northwest Cable Const./Hoosier Tire Nissan 240Z. Lawrence Loshak, of
Glendale, Wis., finished Friday just off of Kannard's pace with a
2:33.708 (93.684 mph), which came 20 minutes into the 30-min. session.
2003 National Champion Jon Brakke, of Fargo, N.D., is 1.1 seconds behind
Loshak with a 2:34.869 (92.981 mph) in his Calibrated Combustion
Motorsports Mazda Miata.

In F Production, Steve Sargis, of Frankfort, Ill., turned consistent
laps in the 2:39 range, topped it off with a 2:39.164 (90.472 mph) and
holds the lead going into Saturday morning's final qualifier. Behind
Sargis' SBS Batteries/Adam&Mark Engines Triumph Spitfire, Gerald Lamb,
of Oswego, Ill., also made it into the 2:39 range with a 2:39.865
(90.076 mph) and is second in his Team Clean Powdercoating and Fab. MGB.
Rob Futher, of Grand Rapids, Mich., is third in his MG Midget
(2:41.012).

Chuck Mathis, of St. Jacob, Ill., leads G Production going into the
weekend after nailing down a 2:47.002 (86.226 mph) in his
Hoosier/Portuning/Swain/AMT Engines Volkswagen Rabbit. Andy Deatherage,
of Cleveland, Ohio, is second currently in his Woody's
Service/Hoosier/WiseCo/Swift Suzuki Swift GT (2:48.816), and Steve
Nagle, of Westmont, Ill., is third (2:52.831) in the Ability Metal.com
Volkswagen Scirocco. 

Parma, Michigan's Chris Crisenbery is on top of H Production after the
first day. His class-leading 2:50.276 (84.568 mph) came in his Rascal
Racing/Goodyear/Red Line Triumph Spitfire. Richard Root, of Kenosha,
Wis., drove his Stuckey Construction Volkswagen Rabbit to the tune of a
2:54.453 (82.543 mph), which was good for second quick, while John
Salisbury, of Gurnee, Ill., finished the day third (2:55.221) in his AH
Sprite.

The newly-formed GT-Lite class (a mix of GT-4 and GT-5 rides) is led by
Bill Davidson, of Dexter, Mich. Davidson was best among the GT-Lite
entrants after running a 2:42.482 (88.625 mph). Following him is Daryl
Wessel, of Waukesha, Wis., who turned in a 2:46.141 (86.673 mph) in his
WRT Specialties/Reina Intl. Auto Fiat 131. Bill Partridge, of
Mooresville, Ind., sits third (2:46.582) in his
Goodyear/Nissan/Laughli's Menswear Nissan Sentra. 

As clean as the other three qualifying groups were, Group Four was
anything but. A full-course yellow flag flew for more than 15 minutes as
tow vehicles were called to recover a stopped car at turn 12. Upon
returning to an open track, five Formula Atlantic competitors had times
wiped out - three because of sound violations and two more after
post-session tech. Brian French capped off his fantastic Sprints start
by taking command of FA in his Motorsports Enterprises Ltd Ralt RT41
with a 2:08.054 (112.452 mph). Graham Rahal is living up to the family
name and is second currently (2:09.064) in his Bobby Rahal Automotive
Group/Bosch Renier Star Mazda Pro. Mike Andersen, of Green Pond, N.J.,
is third (2:09.774) after Friday's run in his Andersen Walko
Racing/Valvoline Star Mazda. 

Niki Coello, of East Troy, Wis., completed the list of first-day leaders
by hammering out a 2:17.070 (105.055 mph) in the Pouredfoundations.com
Van Diemen RF 01 and staking claim to the top spot in Formula
Continental. Steve Welk, of Greenfield, Wis., is second (2:17.409) in
his Arm's Up Motorsports/Avon Tires Van Diemen RF 01, and leads Brian
Tomasi, of Elgin, Ill., who is third after posting a 2:17.477 in the
Hoosier Racetire/NOVA/RMX/Subway Van Diemen. 

Saturday's action begins bright and early with the first three groups
completing their qualifying final qualifying sessions beginning at 8
a.m. After the morning wraps up with the remaining groups' qualifying,
Groups 1, 2 and 3 will race starting at 2:30 p.m. All times are Central.

For complete results, including practice times for Groups 5-8, and
schedule information, visit www.scca.com.

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