Kleinubing Wins Third-Straight SPEED TC Pole at Inaugural Utah GP
For Immediate Release Hat Trick: Kleinubing Wins Third-Straight SPEED Touring Car Pole At Inaugural Utah GP TOOELE, Utah (July 14, 2006) - Despite being outside of the top 10 during practice on Thursday, Pierre Kleinubing, of Coconut Creek, Fla., topped the competition for the inaugural Larry H. Miller Dealers Grand Prix of Utah pole position at Miller Motorsports Park, his third-straight SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car pole. Championship rival Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., will start Saturday's race second. Driving the No. 42 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura TSX, Kleinubing turned a fastest time of 3:09.233 (85.342 mph) around the 4.486-mile, 24-turn road course on his first flying lap. It is Kleinubing's 29th-career pole, tying him with team owner Peter Cunningham for the most in series history. "I'm as surprised as anyone," Kleinubing said of his pole qualifying time. "I was struggling yesterday, when I was 11th fastest. But, fortunately enough, I have great teammates and I pretty much copied what Peter [Cunningham] was doing in his car. And, I went for it and it paid off." Pobst, who sat on the pole earlier this season, at St. Petersburg, turned a quick time of 3:09.417 (85.260 mph) in his No. 73 Tri-Point Motorsports/Mazdaspeed Mazda 6. While Pobst will be happy with the four bonus points for his effort, Kleinubing extended his lead over Pobst to 13, with his five point bonus. Cunningham, who sits third in points, will start behind the Championship leaders in third after turning a fast time of 3:09.550 (85.200 mph) in his No. 1 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura TSX. Teammate Eric Curran, of East Hampton, Mass., made it three RealTime cars in the top four, with a lap of 3:09.820 (85.078 mph) in his No. 43 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura RSX. Charles Espenlaub, of Lutz, Fla., will start fifth in his No. 97 Sparco/Oakley/Tindol Motorsports Mazda 6, followed by Jeff Altenburg's Mazda 6, the BMW 325i of James Clay, Dino Crescentini's Mazda 6, Seth Thomas' BMW and Brandon Davis' Acura TSX. The standing start for Saturday's Round Five race is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. (MDT). Live Timing and Scoring Presented by SRT and Live Race Notes will be available during the race via the SCCA Pit Board through the event home page www.world-challenge.com <http://www.world-challenge.com/> . SPEED Channel will broadcast the race on July 22 at 3 p.m. (EDT). -30- Attached: Image of Pierre Kleinubing en route to the pole for Saturday's SCCA SPEED Touring Car race at Miller Motorsports Park. Image credit: (c) 2006 Mark Weber/SCCA TOOELE, Utah - Starting lineup for Saturday's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Round Five race, part of the Larry H. Miller Dealers Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park, with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour. 1, (42), Pierre Kleinubing, Coconut Creek, Fla., Acura TSX, 3:09.233, 85.342. 2, (73), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Mazda 6, 3:09.417, 85.259. 3, (1), Peter Cunningham, Grafton, Wis., Acura TSX, 3:09.550, 85.199. 4, (43), Eric Curran, East Hampton, Mass., Acura RSX, 3:09.820, 85.078. 5, (97), Charles Espenlaub, Lutz, Fla., Mazda 6, 3:10.129, 84.940. 6, (72), Jeff Altenburg, Ellicott City, Md., Mazda 6, 3:10.377, 84.829. 7, (36), James Clay, Blacksburg, Va., BMW 325i, 3:10.580, 84.739. 8, (74), Dino Crescentini, Malibu, Calif., Mazda 6, 3:10.886, 84.603. 9, (38), Seth Thomas, Cumming, Ga., BMW 325i, 3:10.899, 84.597. 10, (20), Brandon Davis, Denver, Colo., Acura TSX, 3:10.945, 84.577. 11, (06), Kuno Wittmer, Montreal, Canada, Mercedes-Benz C230, 3:10.987, 84.558. 12, (13), Brian Smith(R), Simpsonville, S.C., Dodge SRT-4, 3:11.011, 84.548. 13, (66), Dan Aweida(R), Boulder, Colo., Dodge SRT-4, 3:11.778, 84.209. 14, (67), Robb Holland(R), Denver, Colo., Dodge SRT-4, 3:11.853, 84.177. 15, (25), Christian Miller(R), Newark, Calif., Volkswagen Jetta, 3:12.078, 84.078. 16, (17), Chip Herr, Lititz, Pa., Audi A4, 3:12.188, 84.030. 17, (34), Nick Esayian, Encinitas, Calif., Acura RSX, 3:12.264, 83.997. 18, (99), Jeff Courtney(R), Slinger, Wis., Audi A4, 3:12.687, 83.812. 19, (18), Freddy Baker, Bedford, Ohio, Audi A4, 3:13.649, 83.396. 20, (24), Jim Osborn, Ooltewah, Tenn., BMW 325Ci, 3:14.221, 83.150. 21, (96), Charlie Putman(R), Mills, Wyo., Mazda 6, 3:15.371, 82.661. 22, (39), Paul Goldman, Menlo Park, Calif., BMW 325i, 3:16.080, 82.362. 23, (94), Mary Katharine(R), Delray Beach, Fla., Mazda Protege, 3:18.042, 81.546. 24, (49), Branden Peterson, Breckenridge, Colo., Honda Civic Si, 3:25.601, 78.548. 25, (11), Jon Prall, Los Gatos, Calif., BMW 325Ci, 4:06.030, 65.640. 26, (95), Michael Galati, Olmsted, Ohio, Mazda 6, no time. _______________________ Eric Prill Director of Marketing Communications Sports Car Club of America SCCA Pro Racing/SPEED World Challenge 785-357-7222, 785-232-7228 fax 800-770-2055 toll free 785-250-7920 mobile eprill@scca.com www.scca.com <http://www.scca.com> , www.world-challenge.com <http://www.world-challenge.com/>