Wright Drivers In Top 10, Kuhlman Claims Two Masters Victories At CTMP

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Wright Motorsports' Kasey Kuhlman posted his eighth-straight Platinum class Masters division victory and set a new track record, Kristin Treager was on the podium in Gold Cup and Michael Schein achieved his best finish to date with a fourth overall during the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge doubleheader last weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Two other drivers for the Batavia, Ohio-based team, Santiago Creel and Melanie Snow, recorded top-10 finishes in the Yokohama-supported series too, as Creel was tenth overall in the first race and Snow got a sixth and a seventh in Gold Cup action.

Schein, of New York City, had the best qualifying results for the team when he earned the sixth starting spot for the first 45-minute race, just 0.248 of a second off Jesse Lazare's pole and new track record. Point leader Colin Thompson passed Schein at the start of the race Friday afternoon to push him back to seventh, but Schein passed Michael Lewis for sixth on lap 15 and he moved into fifth on lap 19 when the second-place driver, Lazare, ended up in a tire barrier adjacent to Turn 3 with about 18 minutes remaining. Schein vaulted one more spot to fourth about 10 minutes later on lap 25 when Angel Benitez Jr. served a penalty for his part in Lazare's accident. Schein held on to finish fourth when the checkered waved with 33 laps complete. Only 2.789 seconds stood between Schein and a podium finish at the end.

Kuhlman started eighth overall in that race with two other Masters class drivers right behind him, but the Cincinnati-based driver maintained the Masters class lead throughout the race and finished right behind Schein in fifth overall with his Kuhlsport #15.

Creel, of Mexico City, Mexico, started 11th in the first race and finished tenth overall with his #60, which is sponsored by Hotbook and Under Armour.

Treager, of Tulsa, Okla., started fifth in Gold Cup in the first race but she had a good start, moved into third place working lap 16, and went on to nail down the final podium position with her #52, which is sponsored by the Sheehan Racing Team, Women's Sports Foundation, Women in the Winner's Circle Foundation and Boston Avenue Law PLLC.

Melanie Snow of Lehi, Utah, who also represented the team in Gold Cup, placed sixth in that division on Friday with her Universal Industrial Sales #57 despite an issue with her Porsche's transmission.

Schein, Kuhlman and Creel started seventh, eighth and ninth in Saturday's race. Kuhlman passed Schein for seventh on lap 15. He also set the fastest lap of anyone in the race with a new race-lap record of 1:20.823 for the 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course on lap 28 while he was trying to pass Christina Nielsen for sixth place.

He never did pass Nielsen but she, Kuhlman and Schein all advanced when the fourth-place driver, Sloan Urry, spun with 2 minutes remaining in the race. They finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively. Kuhlman won the Masters class by four spots over the next-highest-finishing Masters class driver, Jay Pate. He now leads those point standings by 55 points over Javier Quiros, 174 to 119.

Creel had a problem in the early going that dropped him to the rear of the 27-car field, but he worked his way back up to 16th at the end.

Snow started fourth and Treager started fifth in Gold Cup on Saturday. They ran in those positions for most of the race but contact on lap 28 changed some positions and Treager ended up sixth and Snow seventh.

The next event is very important to the championship because it's a tripleheader Aug. 9-10 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. The card includes the regular doubleheader plus the race that was rained out May 24 at Lime Rock Park.

In addition to leading the Masters class, Kuhlman is fifth overall in the Platinum Cup division while Schein is eighth and Creel is 11th. Treager is fifth in Gold Cup. Snow has just competed in two events to date but she's 11th.