LEXINGTON, Oh. — AR Motorsports’ Thomas Merrill won the pole Saturday afternoon (June 7) for Sunday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio with a lap at 94.159 mph. It is his first career pole.
“[We found] most of our speed in clear track,” Merrill said after the session. “What can I saw about this AR Motorsports crew. New to IMSA, this is only the second race for this team and it’s an unbelievable result.”
Merrill won the pole by .115 seconds over TeamTGM’s Paul Holton. Turner Motorsport’s Dillon Machavern qualified third, then CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing’s Sean McAlister and Winward Racing’s Bryce Ward.
Qualifying saw Rennsport One’s Luca Mars go fastest early on in his Porsche. However, he was eventually usurped by Turner Motorsport’s Dillon Machavern and Ibiza Farm Motorsports’ Moisey Uretsky.
The surprise in practice was AR Motorsports’ Thomas Merrill. Merrill was fastest overall in Practice No. 2 earlier in the morning and managed to sustain that pace to put himself on top.
Just past the halfway point of the session, Holton went fastest overall in his Aston Martin with a lap at 94.033 mph, a lap just .009 seconds faster than Merrill. Given the close margin, both Holton and Merrill had to continue to push.
Merrill set the fastest time of the session in Sector No. 2 with less than a minute to go in a final push. Sure enough, he was able to carry that quick sector to set the pole-winning lap with a little more than 10 seconds to go.
In TCR, Montreal Motorsports Group’s Karl Wittmer put himself on the provisional pole early on in his Honda Civic. He then bettered his time while setting the fastest times of all in Sector No. 2 and No. 3. Eventually, he improved his lap of record to 93.707 mph.
Behind Wittmer, Precision Racing LA’s Celso Neto and Victor Gonzalez Racing Team’s Tyler Gonzalez were the main contenders early in the session to challenge Wittmer. Later on, HART’s Chad Gilsinger put himself in the mix.
Ultimately, no one was able to touch Wittmer. The Quebec native set the fastest time in all three sectors and never dropped out of the lead en route to winning the pole with a new class record.
Wittmer’s lap was .306 seconds faster than Bryan Herta Autosport’s Mason Filippi. Gonzalez was third, then Mark Wilkins and Gilsinger.
The qualifying session went caution-free. Rebel Rock Racing’s Frank DePew had an off-course excursion in turn 9, but managed to resume without issue.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio Qualifying Results
The O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio is scheduled to go green at Noon ET Sunday afternoon. Coverage will start at 11:55 a.m. ET on both the IMSA Official YouTube channel and on Peacock.
That said, the weather forecast for Sunday is pretty terrible. Available forecasts indicate that there will be a decent amount of rain during the race, the heaviest possibly being near the start.
For his part, Merrill told Frontstretch that he has raced in the rain at Mid-Ohio once before, but it was roughly a decade ago prior to the track’s most recent repave. Anyone who watched the NASCAR Xfinity Series B&L Transport 170 from 2016 will remember that Mid-Ohio can be treacherous in the rain. It should be an interesting race.
Despite the bad weather, Frontstretch will be on-site at Mid-Ohio to bring you all the splashy action.
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.