Hall Surprises East Coast Drivers, Takes Miata Cup Shootout Pole In Atlanta
BRASELTON, Ga. (Sept. 29, 2005) - Justin Hall may have never seen Road Atlanta prior to this week, but the SCCA Pro Racing Mazdaspeed Miata Cup Presented by Hankook Pacific Tour Champion from Davis, Calif., managed to top all the Atlantic Tour drivers to win the pole for Friday's Miata Cup Atlantic-Pacific Shootout at Road Atlanta, part of the Petit Le Mans week. Driving the No. 12 Off Camber Racing 1990 Mazda Miata, Hall turned a lap of 1:46.337 (85.991 mph) early in the 30-minute session, and the time stood. Chuck Newman, of LaGrange, Ga., earned his first-ever front row starting position in the No. 57 Sunbelt Performance Engine/BSI Racing 1994 Mazda Miata with a fastest time of 1:46.453 (85.897 mph). Hall's teammate, Brad Rampelberg, of San Jose, Calif., will start third after turning a fast time of 1:46.634 (85.751 mph). "I had to think that there would be a definite home-track advantage when you run an East-West shootout at a track held on one of the coasts," Hall said of the event. "I was, to an extent, very surprised to be up on pace as quickly as we were. "Pole would absolutely not have happened without the support of my teammate Brad [Rampelberg]. So having my teammate behind me during the race is going to mean that much more. We were able to go P1 and P3 in qualifying today by working together as teammates and we hope that we're able to carry that forward into the race tomorrow." Atlantic Tour Champion Tom Long, who sat in ninth for most of the session in his No. 16 RaceSports/Race Engineer 1990 Mazda Miata, jumped to fourth on the final lap of the session with a fastest time of 1:46.641 (85.746 mph). L. Pat Sandlin, of Memphis, Tenn., will start fifth in his No. 58 Sunbelt Performance Engine/BSI Racing 1994 Mazda Miata after turning a lap of 1:46.664 (75.727 mph). In all, the top nine cars are within a half second of pole. The 26-car field will take the green flag Friday at 11 a.m. BRASELTON, Ga. - Starting Lineup for Friday's SCCA Pro Racing Mazdaspeed Miata Cup Presented by Hankook Atlantic-Pacific Shootout event to crown the 2005 North American Champion, part of the Petit Le Mans week at Road Atlanta with position, car number in parenthesis, driver, hometown, car, fastest time and speed in miles per hour. 1, (12), Justin Hall, Davis, CA, 1990 Mazda Miata, 1:46.337, 85.991. 2, (57), Chuck Newman, LaGrange, GA, 1994 Mazda Miata, 1:46.453, 85.897. 3, (13), Brad Rampelberg, San Jose, CA, 1990 Mazda Miata, 1:46.634, 85.751. 4, (16), Tom Long, Raleigh, NC, 1990 Mazda Miata, 1:46.641, 85.746. 5, (58), L. Pat Sandlin, Memphis, TN, 1994 Mazda Miata, 1:46.664, 85.727. 6, (70), Elivan Goulart, Huntington, CT, 1994 Mazda Miata, 1:46.699, 85.699. 7, (0), Mark Pombo, Duluth, GA, 1990 Mazda Miata, 1:46.701, 85.697. 8, (28), Jason Saini, Lake Forest, IL, 1994 Mazda Miata, 1:46.714, 85.687. 9, (56), Todd Buras, Melbourne, FL, 1994 Mazda Miata, 1:46.762, 85.648. 10, (1), Payton Wilson, Gainesville, VA, 1999 Mazda Miata, 1:46.978, 85.476. 11, (47), Jim Daniels, Germantown, TN, 1990 Mazda Miata, 1:47.078, 85.396. 12, (11), Bobby Carter, Brentwood, CA, 1991 Mazda Miata, 1:47.714, 84.891. 13, (97), Erik Stearns, Van Buren, OH, 1993 Mazda Miata, 1:47.816, 84.811. 14, (10), Ryan Pilla, Amagansett, NY, 2001 Mazda Miata, 1:47.905, 84.741. 15, (26), Chris Puskar, Chesterland, OH, 1991 Mazda Miata, 1:47.938, 84.715. 16, (71), Hugh Sutton, Springfield, Mo, 1995 Mazda Miata, 1:47.964, 84.695. 17, (09), John C. Kuitwaard, Wantagh, NY, 1991 Mazda Miata, 1:48.034, 84.640. 18, (25), Tom McCarthy, Los Altos Hills, CA, 1999 Mazda Miata, 1:48.039, 84.636. 19, (40), Benjamin Hohn, Easton, CT, 1993 Mazda Miata, 1:48.194, 84.515. 20, (72), Lucas McConnell, Springfield, VA, 1990 Mazda Miata, 1:48.238, 84.480. 21, (29), Terry McCarthy, Mountain View, CA, 1995 Mazda Miata, 1:48.299, 84.433. 22, (7), Derek Jones, Philadelphia, PA, 1996 Mazda Miata, 1:48.637, 84.170. 23, (6), Jeff Courtney, Slinger, WI, 1991 Mazda Miata, 1:48.743, 84.088. 24, (05), Tim McQuiston, Hartford, WI, 1990 Mazda Miata, 1:49.554, 83.466. 25, (01), Mathew Pombo, Duluth, GA, 1990 Mazda Miata, 1:49.677, 83.372. 26, (55), Charles Putman, Mills, WY, 1990 Mazda Miata, 1:50.395, 82.830. www.scca.com <http://www.scca.com> , www.sccapro.com <http://www.sccapro.com> , www.world-challenge.com <http://www.world-challenge.com>