Championship points leader Adrian Carrio, of Monument, Colorado, took control in this morning’s qualifying session to capture the pole position for Round Twelve of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear and all but lock up the championship. Piloting the #14 World Speed Motorsports Rockford Fosgate Mazda, Carrio waited until the closing seconds of the session before unleashing a lap of 1:20.532 (100.045 MPH) around the 2.238-mile circuit to lead the field of forty-one drivers participating in the Star Mazda season finale.
With his sixth pole position of the season Carrio picks up one more bonus point, which barring disqualification or exclusion from the race provides him with an insurmountable lead. “It was a fantastic session, the car was really good for the whole session and I was just digging so hard to get the last tenth out of the car at the end of the session,” the seventeen year old explained. “We came in and gave the tires a bleed-down right at the end and put together a great lap. I have to thank the crew at World Speed Motorsports, Rockford Fosgate and a special thanks to Shames Construction for helping me out this weekend.”
The final qualifying session of the season was an eventful one with the top three drivers separated by four-hundredths of a second. While Carrio was able to claim the pole both Ryan Justice and Rob Bunker held the top spot for part of the session. Justice, driving the #38 Northwest Autosport World Food Program Mazda, was second quick in the session with a lap of 1: 20.557 (100.014 MPH) despite missing the time after making contact with the tire wall in turn six after his car bottomed out in the corner. Bunker, in the #18 AIM Autosport Mazda, continued his strong run in the second half of the season with the third fastest time today at 1:20.572 (99.995 MPH).
“We’ve felt that we belonged up at the front all weekend and we finally got a chance to show it in qualifying today,” the Bridgewater, New Jersey native explained. “We’re all really close at the front of the field and it’s exciting to know that we’ll be right there competing for the victory. AIM Autosport has helped me so much as a young driver working with setup and making me faster and after trying a lot of different things we’ve found a setup that works for us.”
Carrio’s championship rival Kevin Lacroix, who had been matching Carrio lap for lap during the practice sessions, struggled a bit during qualifying and could only muster the eighth fastest time in the session at 1:21.189 (99.235 MPH) in the #74 John Walko Racing Uni-Select Auto Parts Mazda. Needing a victory in order to have any hopes of taking the title, Lacroix, who wrapped up the Rookie-of-the-Year title at Road Atlanta, will have his work cut out for him in the race.
Pos No. Name Best Tm In Lap Diff Gap Best Spd
1 14 Adrian Carrio 1:20.532 13 - - 100.045
2 38 Ryan Justice 1:20.557 8 +0.025 +0.025 100.014
3 18 Rob Bunker 1:20.572 7 +0.040 +0.015 99.995
4 3 Mark Wilkins 1:20.851 12 +0.319 +0.279 99.650
5 69 Ron White 1:20.955 8 +0.423 +0.104 99.522
6 92 Daniel Herrington 1:21.021 7 +0.489 +0.066 99.441
7 53 Mike Potekhen 1:21.179 13 +0.647 +0.158 99.247
8 74 Kevin Lacroix
1:21.189 10 +0.657 +0.010 99.235
9 23 Logan Gomez 1:21.253 5 +0.721 +0.064 99.157
10 33 Ryan Phinny 1:21.265 12 +0.733 +0.012 99.142
11 9 Gerardo Bonilla 1:21.265 14 +0.733 - 99.142
12 28 Russell Walker 1:21.606
11 +1.074 +0.341 98.728
13 77 Brian Thienes 1:21.692 10 +1.160 +0.086 98.624
14 86 Charles Anti 1:21.832 9 +1.300 +0.140 98.455
15 29 Phil Fogg Jr. 1:21.977 14 +1.445 +0.145 98.281
16 2 Brad Jaeger 1:22.044 15 +1.512 +0.067
98.201
17 52 Ken Losch 1:22.514 14 +1.982 +0.470 97.642
18 8 Ross Smith 1:22.624 9 +2.092 +0.110 97.512
19 87 Doug Peterson 1:22.906 5 +2.374 +0.282 97.180
20 85 Jay Poscente 1:22.980 11 +2.448 +0.074 97.093
21
4 Micky Gilbert 1:23.095 13 +2.563 +0.115 96.959
22 93 John Faulkner 1:23.110 11 +2.578 +0.015 96.941
23 12 Jules Duc 1:23.846 9 +3.314 +0.736 96.090
24 50 Brian Johnson 1:24.424 9 +3.892 +0.578 95.433
25 24 Jon Brownson
1:24.567 10 +4.035 +0.143 95.271
26 56 Dan Tomlin III 1:24.776 11 +4.244 +0.209 95.036
27 64 Patrick O’Neil 1:24.967 4 +4.435 +0.191 94.823
28 46 John Mayes 1:25.233 7 +4.701 +0.266 94.527
29 26 Chris Cumming 1:25.446
9 +4.914 +0.213 94.291
30 58 Dan Tomlin Jr. 1:26.223 6 +5.691 +0.777 93.441
31 68 Dave House 1:26.394 7 +5.862 +0.171 93.256
32 25 Thomas Wieringa 1:26.532 9 +6.000 +0.138 93.108
33 65 JW Roberts 1:26.581 7 +6.049
+0.049 93.055
34 91 Michael Guasch 1:26.785 8 +6.253 +0.204 92.836
35 35 Tom Mabey 1:26.917 9 +6.385 +0.132 92.695
36 96 Browning Williams 1:27.259 7 +6.727 +0.342 92.332
37 66 Emmett Murphy 1:27.327 6 +6.795 +0.068 92.260
38 71 Steven Hickham Jr. 1:27.965 9 +7.433 +0.638 91.591
39 36 Marc Arseneau 1:28.427 4 +7.895 +0.462 91.112
40 88 Dan Weyland 2:03.033 1 +42.501 +34.606 65.485
41 47 Scott Jenkins -.—- 0 - - -
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