SCCA PRO (LAGUNA SECA) - Herr Tops Morning Practice at SPEED Touring Car Finale

Herr Tops Morning Practice at SPEED Touring Car Finale Chip Herr, of Lititz, Pa., topped the time sheets in morning practice for Round Ten of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship. Peter Cunningham, of Grafton, Wis., and Brandon Davis, of Denver, Colo., were second and third fastest, respectively, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Herr hit the top of the timing monitors early and continued to whittle down his time throughout the 20-minute practice session. By the end, a 1:35.929 was the (83.987 mph) was good enough to keep the No. 17 STaSIS/Clear Capital/Nalley Audi A4 on top.

"We made some really great changes," Herr said. "We put a stiffer bar on the car that we've never used before. Yesterday, I tested it and today I think we proved it's going to work for qualifying at least.

"We haven't historically done well here. I finished fifth here last year and I qualified 10th. I don't know if I'll be able to pass a bunch of cars again on the start like I did last year. There's a lot of people here battling for Championships so it's going to be tough. I don't want to be in the midst of it, but I'm going to be there."

Four-time World Challenge Champion Cunningham ended the session second fastest in his No. 42 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura TSX. The winningest driver in series history entered a time of 1:36.450 (83.533 mph). Teammate Davis in the No. 43 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura TSX completed the top three with a time of 1:36.478 (83.509 mph).

Currently second in the Drivers' Champion, Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., was fourth on the time sheets, turning a 1:36.538 (83.457 mph) in his No. 73 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development MAZDA6. Defending SCCA SPEED Touring Car Champion Pierre Kleinubing, of Coconut Creek, Fla., made it three Acuras in the top five, clocking a 1:36.804 (83.228 mph) in his No. 1 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/Real Time Racing Acura TSX.

Driving last year's race-winning car, Kuno Wittmer (Acura RSX) was sixth, followed by Ian Baas (Audi A4), Nick Esayian (Acura TSX), Jeff Altenburg (MAZDA6) and Charles Espenlaub (MAZDA6).

The second SCCA SPEED Touring Car practice session is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. (PDT). Live timing and lap notes are available at www.world-challenge.com . Results from the first practice session for Sunday's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship Round Ten race, part of the Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway, with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour.