Dempsey Extends Championship Lead with Pole Position Point

BRASELTON, September 24, 2009: Peter Dempsey of Juncos Racing qualified in the pole position this afternoon after being fastest in two out of the three previous sessions this weekend at the Petit Le Mans event in Road Atlanta. The Irishman also snatched another point for qualifying in first position, extending his points lead in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear to eight points (400-392) over fellow competitor Adam Christodoulou. Starting in second position beside Dempsey on the front row is 17-year old Conor Daly who currently lies third in the Championship with 342 points.

Teammate Toshihiro Deki qualified in 19th position and will start only two positions behind rival Expert Series competitor, Chris Cumming. The Japanese native is currently leading the Expert Series Championship by 24 points (172-148) and with only two races to go, the Star Mazda Championship rookie is nearing the end of his quest to win the 2009 Expert Series Championship title.

Deki qualified with the first group in a two-group qualifying session, while Dempsey was scheduled to qualify with the second group. An incident at the end of the first group’s 20-minute qualifying session caused a red flag, postponing the start of the second group’s session and cutting its total time down to only ten minutes. The abbreviated second session only allowed Dempsey to complete six laps before the checkered flag came out, making his qualifying result even more impressive.

Last season, Dempsey started the Road Atlanta race from the pole position, but a collision with another driver near the end of the race took away his chance to win the race as well as the 2008 Star Mazda Championship title. This season, the 23-year old hopes to have much better luck in the race tomorrow and turn out a much better result than last year.

“Qualifying went extremely well, considering the session was shortened by ten minutes”, says Dempsey. “It was important that we could go out and get up to speed quickly. The Juncos Racing car ran as well as it has all weekend, and we made the pole for the fourth time this year. Hopefully, we can bring this form into the race tomorrow and go for our fifth win of the season.”

“I’m disappointed with my result because I know I could’ve done better today, but I know I just need to finish this race this best I can”, says Deki. “If I can stay consistent, I can gain more Championship points and hopefully maintain my lead in the Expert Series. I’m looking forward to competing for that lead in the race tomorrow.”