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TOOELE VALLEY — The Utah Grand Prix got underway at Miller Motorsports Park today, and Patrick Long qualified on pole position for Saturday's SCCA Pirelli World Challenge Championship race, posting a lap at 1:50.834/99.002mph on the 3.048-mile Outer Course. Long's No.1 TruSpeed Porsche 911 GT3 will share the front row with the No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe of Johnny O'Connell, who qualified at 1:51.358. Randy Pobst (No. 6 Volvo S60), Andy Pilgrim (No. 8 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe) and James Sofronas (No. 8 Porsche 911 GT3) completed the top five in the GT class.
In the GTS class, Peter Cunningham set the fast time at 2:00.18/91.357 in his No. 42 RealTime Racing Acura TSX, good for 16th overall in the 34-car field. Jack Baldwin was second fastest at 2:00.474 in his No. 68 Porsche Cayman S, with Michael Galati (No. 36 Kia Optima), Andy Lee (No. 20 Chevrolet Camaro) and Colin Braun (No. 36 Kia Optima) rounding out the top five.
Of the four local drivers in the field, 16-year-old Madison Snow of Pleasant Grove was the fastest, placing 14th overall in the GT class in his No. 47 TruSpeed Porsche 911 GT3. In the GTS class, Ben Crosland of Salt Lake City was seventh in class/25th overall in his No. 25 Ford Mustang FR500S, with Dan McKeever of Grantsville ninth in class/24th overall in the No. 23 Miller Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302S. Tom Felt of Springville did not post a time in his No. 74 Honda S2000.
Snow's results in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama were better, as he qualified on pole in the Platinum class for that event with a track-record lap of 1:53.759/96.457 in his No. 62 Snow Racing/Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, more than half a second faster than the second- fastest qualifier, Sean Johnston, in the No. 10 Wright Motorsports team car, with D. Bryce Miller (No. 35 GMG Racing) qualifying third. In the Gold class, for older Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars, Angel Benitez Jr. was first in class and 14th overall, ahead of Steve Goldman (No. 3 Competition Motorsports) and Madison Snow's mother, Melanie (No. 56 Snow Racing/Wright Motorsports).
The IMSA Cooper Tires Prototype Lites class had practice only on Friday, with their qualifying set for Saturday and their two races scheduled for Sunday. Mikhail Goikhberg (No. 10 JDC Motorsports) set the fast time in practice at 1:46.502, ahead of 16-year-old Tristan Nunez (No. 16 Performance Tech) at 1:46.603 and Jon Brownson (No. 34 Eurosport Racing) at 1:47.131.
The Touring Car and B-Spec classes of the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge Championship are racing separately from the GT and GTS classes and on a different track configuration (the 2.18-mile West Course), and their qualifying session was topped by Jan Heylen in the No. 43 HPA Motorsports Volkswagen Jetta GLI at 1:38.861, ahead of Michael Cooper's No. 03 Atlanta Motorsports Group Mazdaspeed 3 at 1:39.249 and Todd Lamb's No. 71 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic. In the B-Spec class, Conner Ford set the pace at 1:52.044 in his No. 93 PR1 Motorsports Honda Fit, good for 13th overall in the 21-car field. Craig Capaldi was second in class in his No. 86 Leo Capaldi Racing Ford Fiesta, with Road & Track editor Shaun Bailey third in class in the No. 0 Mazdaspeed 2. Local driver Braden Miller of Salt Lake City was sixth in class in the No. 09 Miller Racing Ford Fiesta.
In qualifying for the Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA West, Jim Walsh was the class of the field with a lap at 1:55.590 in his No. 96 Red Dog Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, edging the No.7 Racers Group entry of Steve Miller by a razor-thin 0.115 sec. John Baker (No. 47 Wright Motorsports) was third-fastest. In the Gold class for older cars, Loren Beggs (No. 03 911 Designs) was first in class and fifth overall at 1:57.864, ahead of Michael Zuieback (No. 2 Air Power Racing) and Wes Hoaglund (No. 48 Competition Motors).
In the Pacific F2000 series, Tooele's Ian Lacey set the fastest time in qualifying, clocking in at 1:24.859/95.198 on the 2.18-mile West Course in his No. 12 DFR Racing Van Diemen RF-01. Bobby Kelley (No. 21 DFR Racing Van Diemen) and Camden Geise (No. 6 DFR Racing Van Diemen) completed the top three.
The Utah Grand Prix is Miller Motorsports Park's first major event of the year. On Saturday, the headlining NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will have qualifying at 1:30 p.m., with their feature race scheduled for 4:25 p.m. The SCCA Pirelli World Challenge Championship will race at 2:35 p.m. Other races on Saturday will be two races for the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge Championship Touring Car and B-Spec classesat 9:00 a.m. and 9:45 a.m., Race 1 for the Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA West at 10:30 a.m., Race 1 for the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama at 12:30 p.m. and Race 1 for the Pacific F2000 Championship at 1:45 p.m.
Off the track, there will be lots of fun activities for fans including karting at the Miller Kart Track, rides on Utah's only electro-mechanical Zip Line, autograph sessions with the racers, stunt bike demonstrations and more. In addition, the MMP Clubhouse will be open to everyone for an after-party called "Clubhouse After Dark" on Saturday evening.
General admission tickets for the Utah Grand Prix are priced at $25 for Saturday and $10 for Sunday. Kids aged 12 and under are free throughout the weekend, and active- duty military personnel are eligible for a 50-percent discount on tickets.
To obtain tickets for or information about the Utah Grand Prix, or for information regarding Miller Motorsports Park, call 435-277-RACE (7223) or visit the track's website at www.MillerMotorsportsPark.com.
