Wilson Splashes Way To MX-5 Cup Pole at Rain-Soaked Road America
For Immediate Release Wilson Splashes Way To MX-5 Cup Pole at Rain-Soaked Road America ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Sept. 23, 2006) - Payton Wilson, of Chantilly, Va., was the class of the field in a rain-drenched qualifying session for Sunday's SCCA Pro Racing SIRIUS Satellite Radio Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook finale, part of the Champ Car weekend at Road America. Jason Saini, of Fort Worth, Texas, was second. Driving the No. 59 BSI Racing/Miami Dade Health Mazda MX-5, Wilson took his first-ever series pole by more than a second, turning a fast lap of 3:08.298 (77.392 mph) around the 4.048-mile circuit. "I love driving in the rain," said Wilson, who has six career poles in the precursor to the MX-5 Cup, the Mazdaspeed Miata Cup. "Any chance I get, whether it's at a driver's school or whatever, any time it rains, I'll go out and do some laps to get the experience. The rain line around here is night and day different from the dry. You basically go where no one else has. It's amazing how much grip there is out on the track in the rain." With about two minutes to go, Wilson was two seconds clear of the next closest driver at a 3:10.413. However, as drivers finished their final laps, the top of the grid shuffled. Pratt Cole, of Salt Lake City, Utah, was the first to finish and jumped to the top with a 3:10.300 (76.933 mph) in the No. 88 DEX/Western Companies Mazda MX-5. However, Wilson had one bullet left, and knocked another two seconds off. After Wilson finished his session, Saini gave one last effort in his No. 28 MER/specmiata.com/Autobarn Mazda MX-5, turning a 3:09.421 (76.933 mph) to line up second for Sunday's race. Series Champion Jim Dainiels, of Germantown, Tenn., was fourth with a 3:10.441 (76.521 mph), followed by Ara Malkhassian, of Houston, Texas, with a 3:10.792 (76.380 mph). Sunday's 45-minute season-ending race is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. (CDT). Live timing and scoring for the event is available at www.mx-5cup.com <http://www.mx-5cup.com/> . All SCCA Pro Racing SIRIUS Satellite Radio Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook races will be broadcast on SPEED this December. -30- ELKHART LAKE, Wis. - Starting lineup for Saturday's SCCA Pro Racing SIRIUS Satellite Radio Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook Round Eight race, part of the Champ Car World Series weekend at Road America, with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour. All cars are 2006 Mazda MX-5s. 1, (59), Payton Wilson, Chantilly, Va., 3:08.298, 77.392. 2, (28), Jason Saini, Fort Worth, Texas, 3:09.421, 76.933. 3, (88), Pratt Cole, Salt Lake City, Utah, 3:10.300, 76.578. 4, (76), Jim Daniels, Germantown, Tenn., 3:10.441, 76.521. 5, (11), Ara Malkhassian, Houston, Texas, 3:10.792, 76.380. 6, (39), Brad McAllister, Portland, Ore., 3:13.150, 75.448. 7, (40), Ben Hohn, Easton, Conn., 3:14.093, 75.081. 8, (8), Carlo Sparacio, Federal Way, Wash., 3:14.147, 75.060. 9, (19), Larry Webster, Ann Arbor, Mich., 3:14.447, 74.944. 10, (2), Drew Staveley, Walnut, Calif., 3:14.639, 74.871. 11, (56), Todd Buras, Melbourne, Fla., 3:17.208, 73.895. 12, (10), Ben McCrackin, Corpus Christi, Texas, 3:17.375, 73.833. 13, (09), John Kuitwaard, Wantagh, N.Y., 3:17.679, 73.719. 14, (43), Barry A. Fromberg, Plano, Texas, 3:18.061, 73.577. 15, (55), Burt Levy, Westchester, Ill., 3:18.726, 73.331. 16, (26), Tim Probert, Houston, Texas, 3:19.967, 72.876. 17, (3), Mike Dalton, Evanston, Ill., 3:20.160, 72.805. 18, (23), Deborah Loth, Fort Worth, Texas, 3:20.954, 72.518. 19, (96), Weldon Munsey, Huntington Beah, Calif., 3:25.734, 70.833. 20, (44), Steve Bottom, Newport Beach, Calif., 3:29.099, 69.693. 21, (57), Dale Alexander, Tampa, Fla., 3:33.356, 68.302. 22, (53), Tim McQuiston, Hartford, Wis., 3:43.917, 65.081. 23, (67), Randy Hale, Haddam, Conn., 3:53.186, 62.494. Attached: Image of Payton Wilson at Road America Credit: Juha Lievonen _______________________ 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/>