Pursley Gets the Three-Peat at Miller Motorsports Park

TOOELE VALLEY, UTAH (April 28, 2012) — Greg Pursley rallied from a flat tire to claim the Utah Grand Prix for the third year in a row Saturday at Miller Motorsports Park. It was his 10th career NASCAR K&N Pro Series West victory.

Pursley, driving the No. 26 Gene Price Motorsports Ford, took the lead on the white-flag lap from rookie Austin Dyne, who was making his second career start in the No. 9 William Rast Ford. Eric Holmes in the No. 20 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota also got past Dyne on the final lap to claim second while Dyne wound up third. Pursley's teammate, Dylan Kwasniewski (No. 5 Bay Bio Diesel Chevrolet) and Austin Cameron (No. 12 AC Motorsports Toyota) finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Scott Ivie was sixth, followed by Kyle Heckman, Cameron Hayley, David Mayhew and Carl Harr. Local driver Michael Self of Park City ran well in the top-10 early in the race, but mechanical issues relegated him to a 18th-place finish.

Pursley was fastest in practice Saturday morning and earned his 12th career Coors Light Pole Award in the afternoon qualifying session. But he had to pit on Lap 39 for a flat left-rear tire as he had been cutting into Dyne's lead. Dyne had led since Lap 26 following a round of green-flag pit stops on the 2.2-mile East Course. A Lap-44 caution helped Pursley make up ground and he was eighth on the final restart, but the field stacked up in Turn 1 on the restart which allowed several cars to pick their way through to the front.

In the race for the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge Championship GT and GTS classes, polesitter Patrick Long overcame a poor start to win the race in his No.1 TruSpeed Porsche 911 GT3 on the 3.048-mile Outer Course. Long's car balked on the standing start, allowing the No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe of Johnny O'Connell to take the lead into the first corner. Long kept chipping away at O'Connell's lead, took over the top spot mid-race and never looked back. O'Connell finished 3.032sec behind, with Mike Skeen taking third in his No. 02 Hawk Performance Chevrolet Corvette. O'Connell's teammate Andy Pilgrim (No. 8 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe) and David Welch (No. 77 GoPro/StopTech Ferrari 430 GT) completed the top five.

The GTS class battle came to a dramatic conclusion in the final corner on the last lap. The two Kia Optimas of Colin Braun (No. 36) and Michael Galati (No. 38) were battling for the lead and made contact, spinning both cars and collecting the then-third-placed No. 42 RealTime Racing Acura TSX of Peter Cunningham. As a result, fourth-placed Andy Lee inherited the lead and, just a few seconds later, the class win in his No. 20 Best IT Chevrolet Camaro. Braun and Galati recovered in time to claim second and third in class, with Jack Baldwin (No. 68 Hot Wheels Porsche Cayman S) taking fourth and Cunningham's teammate Nick Esayian (No. 34 RealTime Racing Acura) fifth.

The local drivers in the race had mixed fortunes. Best of the bunch was Ben Crosland of Salt Lake City (No. 25 Dalsin Development Ford Mustang FR500S), who finished seventh in the GTS class and 18th overall. Madison Snow, the 16-year-old phenom from Pleasant Grove, salvaged ninth place in the GT class after a late-race spin cost him an eighth-place finish in his series debut. Unfortunately, Dan McKeever of Grantsville (No. 23 Miller Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302S) and Tom Felt (No. 74 Vendrome Honda S2000) both experienced mechanical trouble and failed to finish the race.

In the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama, despite the sunny weather it was a veritable "Snow storm" as the mother-and-son team of Melanie and Madison Snow both posted class wins. Sixteen-year-old Madison started from pole in the Platinum class and led from start to finish in his No. 62 Snow Racing/Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, posting a 0.991sec margin of victory over his Wright Motorsports teammate, Sean Johnston (No. 10), with D. Bryce Miller taking third in his No. 35 GMG Racing entry. In the Gold class, for older-model Porsche 911 GT3 Cups, Melanie took the win in 13th overall in her No. 56 Snow Racing/Wright Motorsports entry, taking the checkered flag 16.936sec ahead of second-in-class Fred Poordad (No. 72 Competition Motorsports), who was 16th overall, with Angel Benitez Jr. (No. 05 Ansa Motorsports) taking third in class and 17th overall. Another local driver, 19-year-old Sloan Urry of Salt Lake City, finished eighth overall. This was the first time in series history that both Snows won their class in the same race.

In the Pacific F2000 Championship race, Tooele's Ian Lacey put his home-track advantage to very good use, winning by 1.426sec in his No. 12 DFR Racing Van Diemen RF-01 over the No. 21 DFR Racing Van Diemen of Bobby Kelley, with Camden Geise (No. 6 DFR Racing Van Diemen) completing the top three. Conner Ford (No. 77 PR1 Motorsports Mygale) was victorious in the Formula Ford class.

The Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA West race was decided in favor of John Baker (No. 47 Wright Motorsports), who edged Jim Walsh (No. 96 Red Dog Racing) by a mere 0.781sec, with Tom Haacker (No. 45 TruSpeed) completing the podium for the Platinum class. Wes Hoaglund (No. 48 Competition Motors) won the Gold class, while Mark Brouse (No. 59 Air Power Racing) took the Silver class honors.

The Touring Car and B-Spec classes of the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge Championship held two of their three races this morning on the 2.18-mile West Course. In the first race, Todd Lamb led a Honda Civic Si 1-2-3 sweep in the Touring Car class, taking first overall in his No. 71 Compass360 Racing entry. He shaded teammate Ryan Winchester (No. 72 Compass360 Racing) by a razor-thin 0.566sec, with Gustavo Michelsen (No. 69 TLMUSA.com) claiming the final step on the podium. In the national debut for the B-Spec class, Jonathan Start took the win in his No. 00 Fiat USA/SRT Fiat 500 in 10th overall, with Road & Track editor Shaun Bailey (No. 0 Mazdaspeed Mazda 2) in second and class polesitter Craig Capaldi (No. 86 Capaldi Racing Ford Fiesta) in third.

In the second race, Michael Cooper got his No. 03 Mazdaspeed Mazda 3 ahead of all the Hondas and claimed the Touring Car class win, with Winchester 2.810sec back in second and Lamb finishing third. The B-Spec results were identical to the first race, with Start, who is an instructor at MMP's Ford Racing High Performance Driving School, leading Bailey and Capaldi to the finish. Local driver Braden Miller of Salt Lake City, driving the No. 09 Miller Racing Ford Fiesta in the B-Spec class, finished sixth in class in the first race and fifth in class in the second.

In qualifying for the IMSA Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship, 16-year-old Tristan Nunez (No. 16 Performance Tech) set the fast time at 1:45.014/104.489mph. Second-fastest was Mikhail Goikhberg (No. 10 JDC Motorsports) at 1:46.671, followed by Charlie Shears (No. 21 Comprent Motorsports) in third at 1:47.075.

The Utah Grand Prix is Miller Motorsports Park's first major event of the year. The event will conclude on Sunday with two races for the IMSA Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship, and the second of two races for the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama, the Pacific F2000 Championship and the Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA West, and the third of three races for the Pirelli World Challenge Championship Touring Car and B-Spec classes.

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, stunt bike demonstrations and more.

General admission tickets for the Utah Grand Prix are priced at $10 for Sunday. Kids aged 12 and under are free, 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.