Wisconsin’s French Leads Successful First Day at Kohler/SCCA Chicago Region June Sprints

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 24, 2005) – Brian French, of Sheboygan, Wis., qualified first in both Formula Atlantic and C Sports Racing, highlighting a nearly perfect day of practice and first-round qualifying at Road America, site of the 2005 Kohler/SCCA Chicago Region June Sprints®.

All eight groups, which featured 23 classes, ran practice sessions to start Friday, with the first four groups returning to the four-mile track in the afternoon for the first of two qualifying sessions.

In Group 1, Canadian Jacek Mucha tried to steal the show in the C Sports Racing’s first qualifying session by snaring the lead from French, of Sheboygan, Wis., with a 2:09.919 110.838 mph) in his Phoenix/Innotech/Red Line/Hoosier Ralt JMS, with just minutes remaining in the 30-min. session. French one-upped him, however, as he smoked the Road America course with a 2:08.399 (112.150 mph) in his Motorsports Enterprises Ltd. Ralt JMS. Local driver Jeff Miller, of Elkhart Lake, Wis., is third in his Kohler Wynnfurst after the first session after posting a 2:14.416 (107.130).

Michael Reupert, of Hubertus, Wis., will enter Saturday morning as the man to beat in D Sports Racing after he tallied a 2:15.954 (105.918 mph) in his Goodyear/Red Line Oil Lola AMW. Rod Morley, of Provo, Utah, averaged 105.702 mph and is second (2:16.232), followed by Elkhart Lake’s Jason Miller, in his Sterling/Kohler Wynnfurst (2:18.017, 104.335 mph).

Multi-time SCCA Club Racing Runoffs® Champion John Fergus, of Powell, Ohio, leads S2000 going into the second day with a fast time of 2:19.487 (103.235 mph) in his Hoosier Tire/The Fergus Companies Carbir CS2. Bart Wolf, of Elkhart Lake, Wis., is second currently with a 2:20.607 (102.413 mph) in his Wolf’s Jeep/Hoosier Tire/NIA Carbir CS204.

In the second Group, defending F500 winner Aaron Ellis, of Indianapolis, Ind., holds the Formula 500 lead after one qualifying session after his 2:29.492 (96.326 mph) came with five minutes left in the afternoon run. Ellis, in his Valvoline/Goodyear/Simpson Red Devil AE 03, leaped ahead of Brian Novak, of Dearborn, Mich., who held the top spot for virtually the entire session in his Hoosier Tire/HRP Motorsports RaDavon J10 before Ellis made his move. Rusty Cook, of Stone Mountain, Ga., is third currently, just a few tenths short as he recorded a 2:29.959 (96.026) in Goodyear Tires/Red Line Oil Maverick 01.

Brad Stout, of St. Louis, Mo., won Formula Vee here last year after overcoming a broken brake drum during qualifying. This year, so far, Stout has stayed out of mechanical trouble and leads FV in his Goodyear/Penske/LRE/Noble Vortech with a 2:45.719 (86.894 mph) after the first qualifying session. Michael Varacins, of Burlington, Wis., trails Stout in his Speed Sport Engineering/Veetech SpeedSport AM 5 (2:46.440), and is followed by Brandon Peterson, of Edwards, Colo., who is driving the PeakPerformance/Ed Ohayre Motors Mysterian MZ (2:47.029).

Group 3, which features four classes, was led by E Production competitor Ken Kannard, of East Troy, Wis., who posted a 2:33.304 (93.931 mph) in his Northwest Cable Const./Hoosier Tire Nissan 240Z. Lawrence Loshak, of Glendale, Wis., finished Friday just off of Kannard’s pace with a 2:33.708 (93.684 mph), which came 20 minutes into the 30-min. session. 2003 National Champion Jon Brakke, of Fargo, N.D., is 1.1 seconds behind Loshak with a 2:34.869 (92.981 mph) in his Calibrated Combustion Motorsports Mazda Miata.

In F Production, Steve Sargis, of Frankfort, Ill., turned consistent laps in the 2:39 range, topped it off with a 2:39.164 (90.472 mph) and holds the lead going into Saturday morning’s final qualifier. Behind Sargis’ SBS Batteries/Adam&Mark Engines Triumph Spitfire, Gerald Lamb, of Oswego, Ill., also made it into the 2:39 range with a 2:39.865 (90.076 mph) and is second in his Team Clean Powdercoating and Fab. MGB. Rob Futher, of Grand Rapids, Mich., is third in his MG Midget (2:41.012).

Chuck Mathis, of St. Jacob, Ill., leads G Production going into the weekend after nailing down a 2:47.002 (86.226 mph) in his Hoosier/Portuning/Swain/AMT Engines Volkswagen Rabbit. Andy Deatherage, of Cleveland, Ohio, is second currently in his Woody’s Service/Hoosier/WiseCo/Swift Suzuki Swift GT (2:48.816), and Steve Nagle, of Westmont, Ill., is third (2:52.831) in the Ability Metal.com Volkswagen Scirocco.

Parma, Michigan’s Chris Crisenbery is on top of H Production after the first day. His class-leading 2:50.276 (84.568 mph) came in his Rascal Racing/Goodyear/Red Line Triumph Spitfire. Richard Root, of Kenosha, Wis., drove his Stuckey Construction Volkswagen Rabbit to the tune of a 2:54.453 (82.543 mph), which was good for second quick, while John Salisbury, of Gurnee, Ill., finished the day third (2:55.221) in his AH Sprite.

The newly-formed GT-Lite class (a mix of GT-4 and GT-5 rides) is led by Bill Davidson, of Dexter, Mich. Davidson was best among the GT-Lite entrants after running a 2:42.482 (88.625 mph). Following him is Daryl Wessel, of Waukesha, Wis., who turned in a 2:46.141 (86.673 mph) in his WRT Specialties/Reina Intl. Auto Fiat 131. Bill Partridge, of Mooresville, Ind., sits third (2:46.582) in his Goodyear/Nissan/Laughli’s Menswear Nissan Sentra.

As clean as the other three qualifying groups were, Group Four was anything but. A full-course yellow flag flew for more than 15 minutes as tow vehicles were called to recover a stopped car at turn 12. Upon returning to an open track, five Formula Atlantic competitors had times wiped out – three because of sound violations and two more after post-session tech. Brian French capped off his fantastic Sprints start by taking command of FA in his Motorsports Enterprises Ltd Ralt RT41 with a 2:08.054 (112.452 mph). Graham Rahal is living up to the family name and is second currently (2:09.064) in his Bobby Rahal Automotive Group/Bosch Renier Star Mazda Pro. Mike Andersen, of Green Pond, N.J., is third (2:09.774) after Friday’s run in his Andersen Walko Racing/Valvoline Star Mazda.

Niki Coello, of East Troy, Wis., completed the list of first-day leaders by hammering out a 2:17.070 (105.055 mph) in the Pouredfoundations.com Van Diemen RF 01 and staking claim to the top spot in Formula Continental. Steve Welk, of Greenfield, Wis., is second (2:17.409) in his Arm’s Up Motorsports/Avon Tires Van Diemen RF 01, and leads Brian Tomasi, of Elgin, Ill., who is third after posting a 2:17.477 in the Hoosier Racetire/NOVA/RMX/Subway Van Diemen.

Saturday’s action begins bright and early with the first three groups completing their qualifying final qualifying sessions beginning at 8 a.m. After the morning wraps up with the remaining groups’ qualifying, Groups 1, 2 and 3 will race starting at 2:30 p.m. All times are Central.

For complete results, including practice times for Groups 5-8, and schedule information, visit www.scca.com.