Cooper Scores First Career Playboy MX-5 Cup Pole Position At Road Atlanta

BRASELTON, April 29, 2011: SCCA Pro Racing Playboy MX-5 Cup points leader Mike Cooper, of Syosset, N.Y., picked up his first career pole position in qualifying for Saturday’s second round of the 2011 season as part of The Mitty at Road Atlanta festivities.

Cooper posted a best lap at 1:40.882 (90.640 mph) in the No. 6 VEND3.com MX-5 for AMG Racing to take the top starting position and move into sole possession of the championship lead by five points over Jeff Mosing by a count of 67-62. He heads into Saturday’s race looking for his second consecutive series victory after taking the season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway next month.

“It’s really exciting to finally get a pole, first off,” Cooper said. “We set up the tire pressures to go out there and do only a few laps. We actually got blocked coming down the main straight on our first flyer and it messed up the first lap and the second lap, so we really had to work hard after that. We had to work the tire hard. It would have been nicer to get it done early and put the car away, but we had to take our time.”

Cooper expects drafting to be a key component of Saturday’s 45-minute race around the challenging, 2.54-mile Georgia road circuit. That makes teammates a valuable commodity and he will have three fellow AMG Racing drivers in the field in Justin Hall, Scott Dollahite and Scott Shelton.

“Obviously, you’d like to work with your teammate, but you work with whatever you can get for the first two laps,” Cooper explained. “If something comes along where I can work with Justin or both Scotts, I’m more than open to it.”

Joining Cooper on the front row will be 2007 MX-5 Cup champion Jason Saini, of Cresson, Texas. Saini clocked a best lap at 1:40.997 (90.537 mph) in the No. 28 Autobarn Mazda of Countryside/New Balance/Phiten/SunTrust/C.J. Wilson’s Children’s Charities MX-5 to take second on the grid for C.J. Wilson Racing. Saini is currently third in the driver standings.

Dean Copeland, of Bowie, Md., will start third in the No. 7 Copeland Motorsports/Sync Speed MX-5 with a best lap at 1:41.036 (90.502 mph). Hall, of Davis, Calif., will line up fourth in the No. 4 Atlanta Motorsports Group MX-5 with a best lap of 1:41.057 (90.483 mph), and Kevin Kopp, of Great Falls, Va., completed the top five in the No. 22 Piper Motorsport/Brimtek Motorsports MX-5. Kopp’s best lap was a 1:41.209 (90.347 mph).

Round 2 of the nine-race 2011 SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup season is slated to start at 1:30 p.m. (EDT) on Saturday afternoon. To follow each session’s notes and timing, please visit www.mx-5cup.com.