On Friday, the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge held qualifying sessions for Saturday’s 150-minute race. Last week, Scott Maxwell won the pole in changeable conditions at Watkins Glen to tie Matt Bell for most all-time in the series with 12. It did not take long for Maxwell to break the tie.
Maxwell drove his No. 15 Ford Shelby GT350R-C for Multimatic Motorsports to a lap of 87.574 seconds (101.084 mph) to claim the pole position. It is Maxwell’s second pole in a row and 13th overall in the series.
Last week, Maxwell had no clue that he had actually tied Maxwell until he was told about it in the Media Center. On Friday, that wasn’t the case. Regardless, he’s quite happy to claim the pole.
“It’s nice to get the record, especially here at Mosport (Canadian Tire Motorsport Park),” Maxwell said after the run. “More than anything, it’s great for the team – it shows they’re doing a great job. I was surprised I had that many poles.”
Maxwell was two-tenths of a second faster than CJ Wilson Racing‘s Danny Burkett in the No. 33 Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport. Let’s just say that the Manitoba native is very happy to be racing in his native country.
Danny did everything he could including summoning the power of the Lumberjack. He will start P2 for Saturday's race. pic.twitter.com/9lSKnYfL4H
— CJ Wilson Racing (@CJWilsonRacing) July 8, 2016
Yes, that is Burkett in his special fire suit for this weekend.
Paul Holton, who actually got practice time this weekend, qualified third in the No. 76 Ford for Compass360 Racing. Like Multimatic Motorsports, CTMP is Compass360 Racing’s home race.
In Street Tuner, Bimmerworld team owner James Clay turned in a lap of 93.048 seconds (95.138 mph) to take the class pole in his No. 84 Optima Batteries-sponsored BMW. Clay beat out Freedom Autosport‘s Chad McCumbee by just over a tenth of a second in his Mazda MX-5. Honda of America Racing Team‘s Chad Gilsinger was third quickest.
The 150-minute race is scheduled to get underway at 12:25 p.m. EDT. It can be streamed for free at either imsa.com or fanschoice.tv. The race will air via tap delay on Jul. 17 at Noon.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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