Daniels Wins Pole for MX-5 Cup Round Four at Mid-Ohio

For Immediate Release

 

Daniels Wins Pole for MX-5 Cup Round Four at Mid-Ohio

 

LEXINGTON, Ohio (June 23, 2006) - Despite not going out in the wet
morning practice session, Jim Daniels, of Germantown, Tenn., needed only
four laps under dry conditions to capture the pole for Saturday's SCCA
Pro Racing SIRIUS Satellite Radio Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook
Round Four race. The MX-5 Cup race is part of the EMCO Gears Classic
presented by Keybank race weekend at Mid-Ohio. Erik Stearns, of Van
Buren, Ohio, will start on the outside of the front row, while Carlos
Garcia, of Miami, Fla., will start third.

 

Daniels, who is coming off two consecutive podium finishes, looks
capture his second win of the season after he set a fast qualifying time
of 1:40.139 (81.175 mph) around the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course.
Driving the No. 76 specmiata.com/Team MER Mazda MX-5, Daniels set his
fast lap early in the session, then watched the rest of the session from
pit lane.

 

"The specmiata.com car crew did a great job," Daniels said of his crew
following his qualifying run. The setup was under me. We have to qualify
and race on the same tires, so I go out there with the [tire] pressures
set a little high. So, three or four laps in is really all you can get.
We went out there basically by ourselves. I did not get a chance to get
any air from anyone, but I put it on the pole. The crew called it [his
qualifying time] in to me, so I came in. I started watching the I-Card
from the car and hoped I did not have to go back out and it [his time]
held up.

 

Daniels teammate Stearns qualified his No. 97 Team MER/Dick's Auto
Salvage Mazda MX-5 second with a time of 1:40.211 (81.116 mph). Stearns,
a local resident who is quite familiar with Mid-Ohio, looks to put on a
good show in front of his family and friends.

 

"I got separated a little bit on the warm up lap from Jason [Saini] and
Jim [Daniels] and for the most part I was just trying to catch up to
those guys," Stearns said of his fast qualifying run. "I got a good run
going down the backstraight and made up the difference. I really think
that is when I set my fast lap.

 

Garcia, who was third quickest in his No. 60 BSI Racing/Miami Dade
Health Mazda MX-5 in the wet morning practice, was also third fastest in
qualifying. Garcia turned a fast lap of 1:40.511 (80.874 mph).

 

Jason Saini, of Fort Worth, Texas, will join teammates Daniels and
Stearns at the front of the field as he qualified fourth in his No. 28
MER/specmiata.com/Autobarn Mazda MX-5, while MX-5 Cup point leader Todd
Buras, of Melbourne, Fla., qualified his No. 56 BSI
Racing/supportthem.com Mazda MX-5 fifth.

 

Round Four of the SCCA Pro Racing SIRIUS Satellite Radio Mazda MX-5 Cup
Presented by Hankook starts at 2 p.m. (EDT) Saturday, June 24.

 

For more information about the SCCA Pro Racing SIRIUS Satellite Radio
Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook, including schedule, entry list and
event coverage, visit www.mx-5cup.com.

 

-30-

 

LEXINGTON, Ohio - Qualifying results for Saturday's SCCA Pro Racing
SIRIUS Satellite Radio Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook at Mid-Ohio
Sports Car Course, with position, car number in parentheses, driver,
hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour.

 

1,(76), Jim Daniels, Germantown, Tenn., Mazda MX-5, 1:40.139, 81.175.

2,(97), Erik Stearns, Van Buren, Ohio, Mazda MX-5, 1:40.211, 81.116.

3,(60), Carlos Garcia, Miami, Fla., Mazda MX-5, 1:40.511, 80.874.

4,(28), Jason Saini, Fort Worth, Texas, Mazda MX-5, 1:40.618, 80.788.

5,(56), Todd Buras, Melbourne, Fla., Mazda MX-5, 1:40.672, 80.745.

6,(13), Anders Hainer, Hidden Hills, Calif., Mazda MX-5, 1:41.015,
80.471.

7,(3), Larry Wright, Evanston, Ill., Mazda MX-5, 1:41.134, 80.376.

8,(19), Larry Webster, Ann Arbor, Mich., Mazda MX-5, 1:41.148, 80.365.

9,(09), John Kuitwaard, Wantagh, N.Y., Mazda MX-5, 1:41.777, 79.868.

10,(10), Ben McCrackin, Corpus Christi, Texas, Mazda MX-5, 1:41.845,
79.815.

11,(23), Deborah Loth, Fort Worth, Texas, Mazda MX-5, 1:41.885, 79.784.

12,(11), Ara Malkhassian, Houston, Texas, Mazda MX-5, 1:41.934, 79.745.

13,(40), Ben Hohn, Easton, Conn., Mazda MX-5, 1:42.023, 79.676.

14,(57), Mike Gatto, Atlanta, Ga., Mazda MX-5, 1:42.074, 79.636.

15,(58), Steven Jay. Bernheim, Encino, Calif., Mazda MX-5, 1:42.261,
79.490.

16,(26), Tim Probert, Houston,Texas, Mazda MX-5, 1:42.322, 79.443.

17,(36), Justin Pohl, Longview, Texas, Mazda MX-5, 1:42.358, 79.415.

18,(39), Brad McAllister, Portland, Ore., Mazda MX-5, 1:42.667, 79.176.

19,(43), Barry A. Fromberg, Plano, Texas, Mazda MX-5 Cup, 1:42.841,
79.042.

20,(67), Randy Hale, Haddam, Conn., Mazda MX-5, 1:45.054, 77.377.

21,(88), Pratt Cole, Salt Lake City, Utah, Mazda MX-5, 2:00.431, 67.497.

 

Photo Credit: Juha Lievonen (c) 2006

Photo Caption: MX-5 Cup polesitter Jim Daniels (front) leads teammates
Erik Stearns and Jason Saini during Friday afternoon's qualifying
session at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Curt K.
_______________
Curtis Kitchen
Public Relations Manager
Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Inc.
ckitchen@scca.com  
800-770-2055