Cunningham's Morning Session Time Tops SPEED Touring Car Practice at Road America
For Immediate Release Cunningham's Morning Session Time Tops SPEED Touring Car Practice at Road America ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 18, 2006) -- Local driver Peter Cunningham of Grafton, Wis., clocked the fastest time in the first of two Friday practice sessions for Round Seven of the SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship, part of the Generac 500 at Road America, to sit atop the standings for the day. Brandon Davis of Denver, Colo., and Eric Curran, of E. Hampton, Mass., completed the top three. Cunningham put in a lap of 2:28.102 (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. The defending series' Champion said he did a qualifying simulation with new tires, since Saturday's qualifying session is at the same time. "I think the guys behind me got caught up in traffic on the first time lap," two-time defending race winner Cunningham said of his morning run. "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. 43 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura RSX of Curran, who improved on his morning time to move to third with his afternoon run of 2:28.365 (97.058 mph). Chip Herr, of Lititz, Pa., was fourth quick on the day in his No. 17 STaSIS/Clear Capital Audi A4, standing on his morning time, as did Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., in his No. 73 Mazdaspeed/Tri-Point Motorsports Mazda 6. The afternoon session was slowed by a number of incidents around the course, in which five cars had to be retrieved from the gravel or after contact. 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: Image of Peter Cunningham, who topped both practice sessions for SPEED Touring Car at Road America. Credit: (c) 2006 Mark Weber/SCCA ELKHART LAKE, Wis. - Combined practice for Saturday's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car 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, (43), Eric Curran, East Hampton, Mass., Acura RSX, 2:28.365, 98.222. 4, (17), Chip Herr, Lititz, Pa., Audi A4, 2:28.413, 98.190. 5, (73), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Mazda 6, 2:28.556, 98.096. 6, (97), Charles Espenlaub, Lutz, Fla., Mazda 6, 2:28.566, 98.089. 7, (42), Pierre Kleinubing, Coconut Creek, Fla., Acura TSX, 2:28.594, 98.071. 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, (13), Brian Smith(R), Simpsonville, S.C., Dodge SRT-4, 2:29.352, 97.573. 12, (72), Jeff Altenburg, Ellicott City, Md., Mazda 6, 2:29.370, 97.561. 13, (36), James Clay, Radford, Va., BMW 325i, 2:29.478, 97.491. 14, (39), Toby Grahovec(R), Palos Park, Ill., BMW 325i, 2:29.554, 97.441. 15, (38), Seth Thomas, Cumming, Ga., BMW 325i, 2:29.828, 97.263. 16, (74), Dino Crescentini, Malibu, Calif., Mazda 6, 2:29.890, 97.223. 17, (25), Christian Miller(R), Newark, Calif., Volkswagen Jetta, 2:30.334, 96.936. 18, (83), Karl Poeltl(R), Knoxville, Tenn., BMW 325i, 2:30.451, 96.860. 19, (99), Jeff Courtney(R), Slinger, Wis., Audi A4, 2:30.748, 96.670. 20, (11), Jon Prall, Los Gatos, Calif., BMW 325Ci, 2:31.010, 96.502. 21, (96), Charlie Putman(R), Mills, Wyo., Mazda 6, 2:31.304, 96.314. 22, (21), Seth Neiman, Woodside, Calif., BMW 325Ci, 2:32.157, 95.774. 23, (18), Freddy Baker, Bedford, Ohio, Audi A4, 2:33.120, 95.172. 24, (94), Mary Katharine(R), Delray Beach, Fla., Mazda Protege, 2:36.702, 92.996. _______________________ 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/>