Summit Point, W.V. (May 5, 2012) – While some ponies were prepping to make a run for the roses in Kentucky, drivers at the BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Northeast Super Tour at Summit Point Raceway used their horsepower to set grids for Sunday’s seven group races.
Each of the race groups got two 30-minute sessions to post their best qualifying lap at the 10-turn, 2.0-mile circuit – one before lunch, and one after.
Kevin Leigh led Group 1 across the stripe with the fastest time in the Production, GT-Lite and STU group. His E Production No. 97 BMW Z3 turned a lap of 1:21.138, a full second ahead of Bobby Lentz’ GTL No. 60 Nisan Sentra in 1:22.243. Jerry Hinkle earned the F Production pole in the No. 66 Lotus 7, with Randy Canfield taking the H Production pole in the No. 41 Austin-Healey Sprite.
Group 1 will be a split start on Sunday morning, separating Super Touring Lite on DOT tires from the Production category cars on racing slicks. Greg Amy will lead the second wave of cars to the green flag after a time of 1:26.599 in the No. 33 Acura Integra.
Amy Ruman’s No. 23 Chevrolet Corvette was the fastest car in Group 2, ripping around the course in 1:11.839. Robert Lentz, the father of the GT-Lite polesitter, matched his son with the GT-2 pole in the No. 64 Nissan 300ZX after a time of 1:15.130. Steven Lusting’s No. 51 Acura Integra was the quickest GT-3 car at Summit Point.
More big bore cars compose the Group 3 grid, where Thomas Kriner will take the green flag in his Super Tour Over No. 49 Chevrolet Corvette. Hot on his heels is a three car battle at the top of the Touring 1 field, led by David Sanders’ No. 73 Chevrolet Corvette. Gregory Eaton (American Sedan No. 45 Ford Mustang) and Brian Kleeman (Touring 2 No. 08 Ford Mustang GT) each also earned class poles.
Jim Thill edged Brian Price by just 0.122 to take the Spec Miata pole on Saturday afternoon. Thill turned a lap of 1:27.349 to lead Group 4. Jerry Wannarka (Touring 3), Emilee Tominovich (SSB), and Barry Brown (SSC) took their respective class poles and will start at the rear of the SM field.
A Formula F and a Formula 500 are at the top of Group 5 overall, but the closest race in the group may be in the 14-car Formula Vee class. Bob Perona (Formula F No. 73 DF-3) and Mike Brent (Formula 500 No. 47 Invader Qc-1) each turned times in the 1-minute, 17-second range, but less than one second separate the FV polesitter from the 8th qualifier. Richard Shields’ No. 17 Vdf-2 snagged the top spot with a 1:25.281, followed by Roger Siebenaler and Jonathan Weisheit.
Scott Rettich earned a pole in two classes today – and it happened to come in back-to-back groups. After taking Group 6, Spec Racer Ford, with a lap of 1:23.933, then hopped into his No. 17 Formula Enterprises machine for Group 7 and rattled off the class pole 1:11.362.
Group 7 was the fastest group of the day – led by the No. 39 Swift 016 Formula Atlantic machine of Chris Fahan in 1:07.475. Steve Forrer ran second in the group with a 1:07.575 in the C Sports Racing No. 84 Ralt RT41 to take his class pole. In addition to Rettich, Garrett Kletjian (DSR), Chuck Moran (Formula Continental), and Bruce Crockett (Formula Mazda) also bested their respective classes.
The BFGoodrich Tires Northeast Super Tour races from Summit Point begin at 8:30 EDT Sunday morning.
Live timing, starting grids and event notes are available from the event page here.
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BF Goodrich National Race at Summit Point Raceway
