Cunningham Tops First SPEED Touring Car Practice at Road America
For Immediate Release Cunningham Tops First SPEED Touring Car Practice at Road America ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 18, 2006) - Local Peter Cunningham of Grafton, Wis., clocked the fastest time in the first of two practice sessions for Round Seven of the SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship, part of the Generac 500 at Road America. Brandon Davis of Denver, Colo., and Chip Herr of Lititz, Pa., completed the top three. Cunningham put in a lap of 2:18.102 (98.397 mph) at the 4.048-mile road course, behind the wheel of the No.1 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura TSX. While Cunningham topped the timesheets early, Davis and Herr's fast times didn't come until the closing laps of the session. "I think the guys behind me got caught up in traffic on the first time lap," two-time defending race winner Cunningham said. "We were doing all we could to see what it would be like 'cause we're qualifying at the same time tomorrow morning." "If feels fantastic," Cunningham said about returning to his home track. "We always like coming here and I've done well here when we've run, so I'm looking forward to a good weekend." Denver race winner Davis finished the practice second-quick in his No. 20 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura TSX with a time of 2:28.326 (98.248 mph), followed by the No. 17 STaSIS/Clear Capital Audi A4 of Herr, putting in a lap of 2:28.413 (98.190 mph). Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., in his No. 73 Mazdaspeed/Tri-Point Motorsports Mazda 6, and the No. 97 Sparco/Oakley/Tindol Motorport Mazda 6 of Charles Espenlaub, from Lutz, Fla. completed the top five. The final practice session will commence Friday at 5:20 p.m. (Central). Qualifying will be held Saturday at 9:00 a.m. followed by the race at 4:30 p.m. To follow all SCCA SPEED Touring Car sessions via Live Timing & Scoring presented by SRT and live lap notes, please visit the SCCA pit board at www.world-challenge.com. -30- Attached: Peter Cunningham leads the first round of practice at Road America. Credit: (c) Mark Weber/SCCA ELKHART LAKE, Wis. - Results from the first practice session for Saturday's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Round Seven race, part of the Generac 500 weekend at Road America, with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour. 1, (1), Peter Cunningham, Grafton, Wis., Acura TSX, 2:28.102, 98.397. 2, (20), Brandon Davis, Denver, Colo., Acura TSX, 2:28.326, 98.248. 3, (17), Chip Herr, Lititz, Pa., Audi A4, 2:28.413, 98.190. 4, (73), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Mazda 6, 2:28.556, 98.096. 5, (97), Charles Espenlaub, Lutz, Fla., Mazda 6, 2:28.566, 98.089. 6, (42), Pierre Kleinubing, Coconut Creek, Fla., Acura TSX, 2:28.594, 98.071. 7, (43), Eric Curran, East Hampton, Mass., Acura RSX, 2:28.733, 97.979. 8, (06), Kuno Wittmer, Montreal, Canada, Mercedes-Benz C230, 2:28.889, 97.877. 9, (67), Robb Holland(R), Denver, Colo., Dodge SRT-4, 2:29.038, 97.779. 10, (34), Nick Esayian, Encinitas, Calif., Acura RSX, 2:29.080, 97.751. 11, (72), Jeff Altenburg, Ellicott City, Md., Mazda 6, 2:29.370, 97.561. 12, (36), James Clay, Radford, Va., BMW 325i, 2:29.478, 97.491. 13, (39), Toby Grahovec(R), Palos Park, Ill., BMW 325i, 2:29.554, 97.441. 14, (74), Dino Crescentini, Malibu, Calif., Mazda 6, 2:29.890, 97.223. 15, (83), Karl Poeltl(R), Knoxville, Tenn., BMW 325i, 2:30.451, 96.860. 16, (99), Jeff Courtney(R), Slinger, Wis., Audi A4, 2:30.748, 96.670. 17, (38), Seth Thomas, Cumming, Ga., BMW 325i, 2:31.032, 96.488. 18, (96), Charlie Putman(R), Mills, Wyo., Mazda 6, 2:31.304, 96.314. 19, (13), Brian Smith(R), Simpsonville, S.C., Dodge SRT-4, 2:31.359, 96.279. 20, (21), Seth Neiman, Woodside, Calif., BMW 325Ci, 2:32.157, 95.774. 21, (18), Freddy Baker, Bedford, Ohio, Audi A4, 2:33.120, 95.172. 22, (25), Christian Miller(R), Newark, Calif., Volkswagen Jetta, 2:34.016, 94.618. 23, (94), Mary Katharine(R), Delray Beach, Fla., Mazda Protege, 2:36.702, 92.996. 24, (11), Jon Prall, Los Gatos, Calif., BMW 325Ci, no time. Erin Cechal SCCA Public Relations Specialist ecechal@scca.com 800/770-2055