A Two-Lap, Wet Qualifying Session Challenges Juncos Racing Drivers

Braselton, October 1, 2010: Today's qualifying session was anticipated to be wet, but the shortened amount of qualifying laps was what ended up being unexpected for the whole field. After only two laps of green flag qualifying, a red flag came out which stopped the session for a good twenty minutes. By the time the session restarted, the rainfall was at its heaviest, causing most drivers to opt out of attempting to go out and obtain a quicker lap time. Despite the unfavorable circumstances, the four Juncos Racing drivers managed to solidify starting positions of second, fifth, ninth and 13th for tomorrow's race.

The biggest excitement-turned-disappointment for the team was debut driver Martin Scuncio's performance this afternoon. On his second lap, the Argentinean-born driver turned out a lap time that would have put his #60 Juncos Racing Mazda about six-tenths ahead of the rest of the field and on the pole position. Unfortunately for Scuncio, the red flag came out just seconds before he passed the start/finish line resulting in him losing the quick lap time. Though the 19-year-old was only able to clock in one official lap time, he will be starting his first ever race in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear in fifth position tomorrow.

"The car was great," said Scuncio. "We had a really fast second lap that would have put me on the pole, but then the red flag came out and we lost the lap time. We're definitely okay for tomorrow, though. The car is perfect, and I can't wait to race it in my first Star Mazda race."

Teammate Rusty Mitchell was another driver whose lap time potential was affected by the faulty session. The 27-year-old's best lap out of the two he was able to get in will see him starting tomorrow's race in ninth position.

"I was trying to warm up the tires at the start of qualifying, so we only got one clean lap in and weren't really pushing," said Mitchell. "It's unfortunate that there was a red flag followed by heavy rain, but hopefully I can get a good start tomorrow. We've got a really good car, so I think the race will be interesting."

Rookie Tatiana Calderon will join teammate Rusty Mitchell tomorrow in his quest to gain track positions during the race. Like Scuncio, Calderon was only able to produce one official lap time before being cut off by the early red flag. The 17-year-old from Bogota, Colombia will start tomorrow's race in 13th position.

"We only had one lap to qualify, so it was really difficult to have the feel of track and the car," said Calderon. "I feel good about the race tomorrow because I think we had a good first practice session yesterday. We had a tire problem in the second practice, but that has been fixed now and feels much better, so I definitely think the car is going to be good for the race tomorrow."

The season finale will take place on the 2.54-mile road course of Road Atlanta tomorrow at 11:55 a.m. EST. The 45-minute event will be broadcast live on HDNet thanks to the series' partnership with Visit Florida, the state's official tourism and marketing organization. Though Daly has already claimed the 2010 driver's championship, he remains in serious contention for the first annual Visit Florida Cup title, a seven race "championship-within-a-championship" for which the final results will play out tomorrow. For more information, please go to www.juncosracing.com.