Skerlong Targets Street Course Success

Mukilteo, Washington, August 14, 2008 - Canada has proved to be a favorable venue for Seattle’s Carl Skerlong in the 2008 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda with the sophomore racer collecting a third place finish in Round 3 at Circuit Mont-Tremblant in June and a second place finish last month in Round 5 at Edmonton’s Rexall Speedway.

The streets of Trois-Rivieres in Quebec play host to Round 8 this weekend, Friday 15th – Sunday 17th August, with Skerlong hoping he can finally go one better than his previous Canadian outing and claim his first career Atlantic victory. A check in the win column is the only thing currently missing from Carl’s accomplishments this season as the 19-year-old wracked up his first series pole position in Edmonton in July and has three podium finishes to his credit also.

Sitting fifth overall in the Driver Standings heading into this weekend’s race at Trois-Rivieres, the Washington teenager has proved to be a model of consistency racing the #14 King Taco Swift Mazda-Cosworth at the sharp end of the grid for Pacific Coast Motorsports. With five top-five finishes in seven race starts and six top-five qualifying performances, Carl has kept himself in title contention with the series heading into the home stretch with four races remaining.

Disappointed not to add to his podium tally at last weekend’s double-header at Wisconsin’s Road America, where he demonstrated his remarkable control by bringing home his stricken car to a fifth place finish in Round 7, Skerlong is simply keen to get back racing this weekend and is relishing the prospect of Quebec’s 1.521-mile Trois-Rivieres street circuit.

“We have a good street course car,” stated Skerlong ahead of his final Canadian outing. “I think we’ve got a good shot at this event, not least with the track being new to virtually everybody. It’ll be nice to have a fresh start as I’m looking to rebound a bit from last weekend’s races at Road America where I’d hoped for more. We know the importance of qualifying for these events, especially on a track as short as this one, so we’ve got to be on in it almost immediately on Friday. I don’t really know too much about the Trois-Rivieres layout although I’ve raced it a few times on a computer simulator.

“I’ve heard a lot of different rumors about the track but I guess I’ll find out everything for myself in practice. I do know it’s a quick lap around there and it’s meant to be pretty bumpy, a bit like San Jose from last season. We’re definitely not out of the running for the championship so I’m hoping we can put it all together this weekend and get a strong result. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and enjoying the passion of the Canadian race fans. They really love their racing here so it always makes for a great atmosphere!”