Tommy Archer snares pole for WCGT at Mid-Ohio

[Rich Wesorick]

LEXINGTON, Ohio (July 19, 2008) – Tommy Archer, of Duluth, Minn., captured his second SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT pole of the season and will lead the field at the start of Sunday afternoon’s Mid-Ohio SPEED GT Presented by Remington race. Brandon Davis, of Huntington Beach, Calif., will start second.

Driving the No. 13 Foametix/Woodhouse Performance Dodge Viper, Archer set a time of 1:25.673 (94.882 mph) on his first flying lap around the 2.258-mile track. It is Archer’s second top qualifying effort of the year, after winning from the pole position at Miller Motorsports Park in May. Following an engine failure at the previous round in Watkins Glen, Archer’s team has been working non-stop to get him back up to speed.

“The Woodhouse Performance team has worked really hard as well as the Dodge engineers to come up with the fix for what the issue was,” Archer said. “I think they’ve got it worked out. The handling of the car is decent. John Mills, the new engineer, and I are having a blast doing this. He’s part time and I’m part time, but when we’re [at the track], we’re full time trying to make it go fast. He hit on something yesterday afternoon that really felt good and we expanded on that and it went faster today. “

After setting the pole time, Archer continued to make changes to the car, anticipating what the track conditions might be for the race more than 24 hours after Saturday morning qualifying.

“You think about that kind of stuff all through the weekend,” Archer said. “When you make your setup changes, you’re thinking ahead. You have to anticipate what might happen in the race. That’s why in the qualifying session, I made four stops. I was working hard to figure out what I wanted in the car for Sunday.”

Driving the No. 10 ACS/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra, Davis appeared to be relegated to the second row until a late-session run resulted in a best lap of 1:26.055 (94.460 mph).

Davis’ lap relegated Jeff Courtney to third in the No. 99 KENDA/JTM/MPI Coin/Badger Dodge Viper with a best time of 1:26.215 (94.285 mph). It is Courtney’s career-best starting position, topping a seventh place effort in 2007. Courtney’s best SPEED World Challenge finish (fourth) came at Mid-Ohio in the 2006 Touring Car race.

Tommy Milner, of Leesburg, Va., continued the impressive return of Aston Martin to SPEED GT competition, qualifying fourth in the No. 21 Rahal Letterman Racing Aston Martin DB9 with a best time of 1:26.239 (94.259 mph). It was the best-ever qualifying effort for an Aston Martin car in series competition.

Michael McCann, of North Canton, Ohio, put his No. 16 Remington Shaving Cadillac CTS-V fifth on the grid at his home track with a fastest lap of 1:26.768 (93.684 mph).

Three-time Mid-Ohio winner Michael Galati (Porsche 911 GT3), point leader Randy Pobst (Porsche 911 GT3), Andy Pilgrim (Cadillac CTS-V), defending race winner Eric Curran (Chevrolet Corvette) and Ritch Marziale (Dodge Viper) completed the top 10.

Sunday’s Mid-Ohio SPEED GT Presented by Remington is set to make its standing start after the IndyCar Series race, Sunday at 4 p.m. (EST). To follow live lap notes and timing and scoring, access the SCCA Pit Board at SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge. Sunday’s race is scheduled to air Thursday, July 24 at 1 p.m. (EST) on SPEED.

LEXINGTON, Ohio - Starting lineup for Sunday's Mid-Ohio SPEED GT Presented by Remington race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour.
1, (13), Tommy Archer, Duluth, Minn., Dodge Viper, 1:25.673, 94.881.
2, (10), Brandon Davis, Huntington Beach, Calif., Ford Mustang Cobra, 1:26.055, 94.460.
3, (99), Jeff Courtney, Slinger, Wis., Dodge Viper, 1:26.215, 94.285.
4, (21), Tommy Milner, Leesburg, Va., Aston Martin DB9, 1:26.239, 94.259.
5, (16), Michael McCann, Canton, Ohio, Cadillac CTS-V, 1:26.768, 93.684.
6, (23), Michael Galati, Olmsted, Ohio, Porsche 911 GT3, 1:26.776, 93.675.
7, (1), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:26.841, 93.605.
8, (8), Andy Pilgrim, Boca Raton, Fla., Cadillac CTS-V, 1:26.993, 93.442.
9, (30), Eric Curran, East Hampton, Mass., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:27.087, 93.341.
10, (56), Ritch Marziale, Tempe, Ariz., Dodge Viper, 1:27.152, 93.271.
11, (66), Tim McKenzie, Madison, Wis., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:27.332, 93.079.
12, (11), Mike Davis, Huntington Beach, Calif., Ford Mustang Cobra, 1:27.462, 92.941.
13, (5), Jason Daskalos, Albuquerque, N.M., Dodge Viper, 1:27.632, 92.760.
14, (4), Dino Crescentini, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:27.641, 92.751.
15, (57), Stu Frederick(R), Del Mar, Calif., Dodge Viper, 1:27.857, 92.523.
16, (2), Cindi Lux, Aloha, Ore., Dodge Viper, 1:27.941, 92.434.
17, (17), Robert Foster, Phoenix, Ariz., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:27.990, 92.383.
18, (31), Sonny Whelen, Old Saybrook, Conn., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:27.998, 92.374.
19, (34), Tony Gaples, Libertyville, Ill., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:28.213, 92.149.
20, (06), Joey Scarallo, Smithtown, N.Y., Pontiac GTO, 1:28.242, 92.119.
21, (9), Gunter Schaldach(R), Aspen, Colo., Dodge Viper, 1:28.390, 91.965.
22, (18), Kyle Foster(R), Phoenix, Ariz., Dodge Viper, 1:28.962, 91.373.
23, (29), Eric Olberz, La Canada, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:29.556, 90.767.
24, (89), Fred Roberts, Mississauga, Ontario, Dodge Viper, 1:29.795, 90.526.
25, (7), Phillip Martien(R), Finksburg, Md., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:29.886, 90.434.
26, (76), John Bourassa, Jupiter Island, Fla., Porsche 911 Turbo, 1:30.028, 90.292.
27, (24), Sean Allen(R), Manhattan Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:31.103, 89.226.
28, (68), Russ Oasis, Miami, Fla., Dodge Viper, 1:31.217, 89.115.
29, (12), Doug Peterson, Bonita Springs, Fla., Chevrolet Corvette, no time.
30, (14), James Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, no time.
31, (72), Jeff Altenburg, Ellicott City, Md., Lexus IS-350, no time.

[GTS Dean]

Thanks for the news flash Rich!

[Warfang]

Go Tommy!

[rcl4668]

Thanks for posting. Good luck to Tommy and Cindi Lux this weekend.

/Rich

[Brad04Mamba]

10 out of 31 cars are vipers, thats impressive.

[George Farris]

Archer won - wire-to-wire!

The race will be broadcast Thursday, July 24 at 1 p.m. (EDT) on SPEED.

[Marv S]

Great drive by Archer.

Seeing too many familiar past VRL drivers in something other than a Viper on the list, though.

What happened with Cindi Lux?

Originally Posted by George Farris

Archer won - wire-to-wire!

The race will be broadcast Thursday, July 24 at 1 p.m. (EDT) on SPEED.

[George Farris]

From the write-up, not in the top 10.

[DRose]

Way to go Tommy!

I am counting down the days to see them all at Belle Isle.

[Rick530]

Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Boxer12]

I guess they got the rules issues sorted out, that's good. Guys like Tommy should be in the seat, not on the sidelines. Nice race on a very technical track!