ASA Press Release - BODINE ON THE POLE FOR THE FREE STATE 500
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PRESS RELEASE January 30, 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For Immediate Release Contact: Kevin Ramsell,ASA Public Relations Director (kramsell@asa-racing.com [mailto:racingpr@me.com]) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Veteran Bodine turns fastest qualifying lap for Inaugural Free State 500 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Phakisa Freeway, Welkom, Saturday, January 30 - A large and appreciative crowd enjoyed the sunshine and the excitement of official qualifying for the inaugural ASA Transcontinental Series Free State 500 at Phakisa Freeway near Welkom this afternoon. It was the veteran Geoff Bodine, a former Daytona 500 champion, who turned the fastest lap of the four 15-minute qualifying sessions, which saw the 24-car field go out in groups of six to qualify their American V8 stock cars on the starting grid for tomorrow's 207-lap 500-km race. The 60-year-old legend from New York State, driving a Rick McCray Chev Impala, recorded a fastest lap of 36,015 sec at an average speed of 239,9 km/h around the 2,5-km Phakisa Freeway super oval. He will be joined on the front row of the grid for Sunday's 13h00 rolling start by 19-year-old countryman Marc Davis from Mitchelville, Maryland whose best lap in the WHUR 96.3/The World Network/Marc Davis Motorsports Chev Lumina was 36,182 sec. Row two will be filled by Chris Wimmer of Wausau, Wisconsin in a Philly's Subs Chev Impala (36,506 sec) and lone Briton John Mickel, from Cambridge in England, in an RS Capp Chev Monte Carlo(36,643 sec). Russ Blakeley from Whitewater, Wisconsin (Five Star Race Car Bodies/B&B Race Engines Ford Fusion, 36,934 sec) and fastest woman driver Toni McCray from Highland, California (Lucas Oil Chev Monte Carlo, 37,049 sec) are on row three. Row four will be filled by Steve Carlson from West Salem, Wisconsin (Five Star Race Car Bodies/B&B Race Engines Ford Fusion, 37,058 sec) and Tiffany Daniels from Smithfield, Virginia (Snowtheracehorse/Marc Davis Motorsports Toyota Camry, 37,086 sec) Highest-placed South African is 29-year-old WesBank V8 racer Jaco Correia of Klerksdorp in North West Province (Liqui Moly Chev Monte Carlo) in ninth with a time of 37,475 sec. Starting alongside him on the fifth row of the grid will be Drivetech Racing School's chief instructor Mark Ebert from Tucson, Arizona (Phezulu Plant/JCB Ford Fusion, 37,790 sec).with a 10th-best time of 37,745 sec. Former national V8 sprint car short oval champion Johan Cronje of Welkom will start in 11th place; Danie Correia of Welkom, younger brother of Jaco, will be 14th in a Liqui Moly Chev Monte Carlo; reigning class A5 national rally champion Gugu Zulu (Phakisa Freeway Chev Monte Carlo) will line-up in 19th place on the grid; Cape Town's Johan Spies, the reigning national super salon short oval champion, is 21st in his Speedspot Motorsport Cape Town Chev Monte Carlo) after suffering a blown engine in qualifying; and 19-year-old Johan Coetzer from Welkom will start 23rd after continuing to struggle with a reduced rev limit on his Phezulu Plant/JCB/Speed Pro Racing/Signs4U Ford Fusion. In the United States, the broadcast will be shown LIVE on Sirius XM Satellite Radio starting at 6:00 a.m. EST/5:00 a.m. Central/4:00 a.m. Mountain/3:00 a.m. on Sirius 90/XM 244. The race will be re-broadcast later that day. Post-qualifying quotes: Geoff Bodine: "We've fallen in love with this country. We love the people, the climate, the wild animals. This race will go down in the history books. Being the fastest qualifier is just a bonus. "The top three qualifying times are close, but in the race things change. Racing is a lot different from qualifying." Marc Davis: "We've had a lot of fun here, not just on the track. This event is huge and I'm very glad to be a part of it. We're running a virtually brand new car and it was a short-notice deal to come to South Africa. But we're happy with the progress we've made. We're sure it'll be a great race." Jaco Correia: "We've waited a long time for this kind of racing to come to South Africa and I'm really enjoying being a part of it. We're very happy with our performance so far and are looking forward to improving some more in tomorrow's race." Gugu Zulu: "I'm thrilled to be here. We're making history and I'm glad to be part of it. But we'd like to have had a more competitive car. I am going to have to rely on my fitness to survive and get the best result we can. We'll be relying on some of those in front of us to run into problems. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." SuperSport will broadcast a 13-minute preview of the race weekend at 18h30 this evening on SS6 and SS6 Africa. There will be a 26-minute report on today's qualifying at 18h45 on Sunday on SS6 and SS6 Africa. Sunday's race will feature in a 52-minute highlights programme at 17h20 on February 4 on SS2 and SS2 Africa. Ends Pos No. Name Class Best Tm 1 8 Geoff Bodine ASATS 36.015 2 96 Marc Davis ASATS 36.182 3 52 Chris Wimmer ASATS 36.506 4 09 John Mickel ASATS 36.643 5 F22 Russ Blakeley ASATS 36.934 6 90 Toni McCray ASATS 37.049 7 F66 Steve Carlson ASATS 37.058 8 19 Tiffany Daniels ASATS 37.086 9 11 Jaco Correia ASATS 37.475 10 97 Mark Ebert ASATS 37.790 11 22 Johan Cronje ASATS 37.868 12 98 Shaun Richardson ASATS 37.972 13 73 Gary Lewis ASATS 38.148 14 68 Danie Correia ASATS 38.252 15 55 Greg Barnhart ASATS 38.788 16 80 Mark Shaffer ASATS 39.747 17 41 Ron Norman ASATS 39.831 18 85 Lance Fenton ASATS 40.081 19 20 Gugu Zulu ASATS 40.295 20 61 Tim Olson ASATS 40.977 21 900 Johan Spies ASATS 41.332 22 31 Dustin/Don Dudley/UHlir ASATS 42.119 23 00 Johan Coetzer ASATS 42.571 24 08 Rick McCray ASATS 0 0 25 88 Ron Barfield ASATS 0 0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FOLLOW THE AMERICAN SPEED ASSOCIATION ON... 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