On Friday morning (Oct. 6), C360R’s Paul Holton claimed the overall pole for the FOX Factory 120, the final race of the 2017 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge season.
Holton’s lap of 87.956 seconds (103.961 mph) was the fastest lap of the weekend by a decent margin.
Holton, in between being complimented by the Continental Tire Ladies, said that he was very happy with his performance.
“The Compass guys gave me a great racecar [Friday] morning,” Holton told Frontstretch. “We were a little tight on sticker [tires], which is exactly how we want the car. Couldn’t ask for anything more out of it, especially now that we’re getting close to flat through Turn 12. It really separates the men from the boys.”
Holton’s lap was nearly six-tenths of a second faster than Chris Green in the No. 69 McLaren. Green had the fastest driver in the 20-minute pre-qualifying warmup, but C360R’s No. 76 did not set a time.
KohR Motorsports’ Jack Roush Jr. will start third, followed by Rennsport One’s Dylan Murcott. However, things are not great for the points leaders. During the session, Murcott’s Porsche ground to a halt on-course. The session was not stopped due to the issue, but Murcott missed out on much of the session.
VOLT Racing’s Alan Brynjolfsson will start fifth in his No. 7 Ford Mustang GT4.
In Street Tuner, the times came down multiple seconds over the 15-minute session. On his seventh lap of the session, Murillo Racing’s Christian Szymczak put the No. 34 Mazda MX-5 on pole with a lap of 95.089 seconds (96.163 mph).
Szymczak’s lap was only four-hundredths of a second faster than BimmerWorld Racing’s James Clay. Justin Piscitell, qualifying the No. 56 Porsche Cayman in place of the injured Jeff Mosing, will start a strong third. Freedom Autosport teammates Chad McCumbee and Britt Casey Jr. round out the top five.
Results of IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge FOX Factory 120 Qualifying
The FOX Factory 120 is scheduled to start at 1:50 p.m. Friday afternoon from Road Atlanta. The race will be live streamed at both IMSA.com and FansChoice.tv.
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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