Koch Sweeps Both Rounds at Road America in Dominating Fashion

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 9, 2015) – Kenton Koch may be a rookie in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda series, but you wouldn’t know that to see him on the track.

Koch picked up his eighth win of the season, a .964-second victory over Robert Alon, in Round 10 of the championship at Road America to continue to stretch his points lead.

The series rookie, Koch, from Glendora, California, led from flag-to-flag in the No. 60 JDC Motorsports entry in the incident-strewn race that ended under caution.

“Definitely the first half of the race was tricky trying to hold off Robert,” Koch said. “I was really having a blast duking it out with Robert. I hate to win like that, but a win is a win.” 

The second place finish for Alon, from Encino, California, matches his best of the season in the No. 00 Performance Tech Motorsports entry. He also finished second in Round 6 at Watkins Glen International in June.

Alon’s teammate, Austin Versteeg, from Sandy, Utah, rounded out the overall podium with a third place finish in the No. 16 Élan DP02 chassis powered by a Mazda engine.

Jon Brownson, from Breckenridge, Colorado, finished fourth in the No. 35 Eurosport Racing entry. He was also the top Lites 1 Masters finisher. His Eurosport Racing teammate, Anthony Downs, rounded out the top five in the No. 17 entry.

Lites 2 championship leader Brian Alder, from Dublin, Ohio, earned his second straight class victory of the weekend and fifth on the season in the No. 22 BAR1 Motorsports entry.

The race started with the three JDC Motorsports teammates, Koch, Matt McMurry and Clark Toppe, 1-2-3 on the grid. Misfortune struck early for Toppe, despite his strong challenge for the lead, going side-by-side with Koch through Turn 3.

By the second lap he had to be towed to the pits, triggering the first caution of the race. Alon would inherit second place with McMurry in third. Five laps later McMurry made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 12 to end his day.

Koch pulled away from Alon on the ensuing restart but Alon closed the gap to battle for the victory before another caution would be triggered by two cars off track in Turn 13 and 14 in separate incidents.

“(Alon and I) were side by side multiple times,” Koch said. “I was conserving the tires, and I think he wore off his tires in the beginning of the race. On each restart I was able to pull away.”

Koch once again pulled away on the restart with eight minutes to go, but a four-car incident in Turn 5 led to a race-ending yellow flag.

Masters

Brownson earned his first podium finish of the season in the Lites 1 Masters class, finishing first in class and fourth overall after starting seventh.

“This feels like my first race of the season,” Brownson said. “I was down in Sebring, but to be here and to podium is special. It’s a wonderful place and we love racing Road America. I grew up coming here. It’s a special occasion to be here. It’s a great place. And the competition in this series is getting better all the time, I love it.”

Joel Janco, from Key Largo, Florida, continued his podium streak picking up his seventh second-place finish of the season in the No. 25 Performance Tech Motorsports entry.

Don Yount, from Dallas, rounded out the podium with a third-place finish in the No. 28 Yount Motorsports entry. Janco and Yount are in a battle for second place in the Lites 1 Masters championship. Janco holds the 152-137 advantage.

Lites 2

Alder increased his Lites 2 championship lead with his second-straight class win to 182-178 over second place Todd Slusher.

“We actually started third, and we were mixing it up with some guys in the L1 class at the end,” Alder said. “On the restart I had a good run and (Todd Slusher) went a little wide and we went side by side in Turn 2 and that was it; I sealed the deal. This is probably one of the most rewarding victories of the season, to have a good battle out there and finish on top.”

Slusher finished second in class for the second straight day in the No. 62 ONE Motorsports entry. Between Alder and Slusher, the two account for nine wins on the season.

Max DeAngelis finished third in the No. 7 Eurosport Racing entry.

Up Next:

Rounds 11 and 12 are scheduled for Aug. 28-29 at VIRginia International Raceway in Danville, Virginia.

ROUND 10 POST-RACE QUOTES

KENTON KOCH (No. 60 JDC Motorsports, winner): “Definitely the first half of the race was tricky trying to hold off Robert. It was kind of a disappointment to see my teammates get taken out of the race. I don’t how that happened, so it was kind of a bummer. I was really having a blast duking it out with Robert, we were side by side multiple times. I was conserving the tires and I think he wore off his tires in the beginning of the race. On each restart I was able to pull away. I hate to win like that, but a win is a win.” 

ROBERT ALON (No. 00 Performance Tech Motorsports, second): “Our car was night and day from yesterday. We had a great car today. We definitely had the pace on Kenton for the first half of the race. I had some looks but he kept pushing me to the outside and I couldn’t make it stick. After all the aero-push the front tires went off and we just didn’t have the pace to make it work at the end. A lot of yellows got in the way as well. But Performance Tech gave me a great car and we had a good day.”

AUSTIN VERSTEEG (No. 16 Performance Tech Motorsports, third): “The yellows were pretty stacked. After the first one they all fell shortly after. There was really good push at the start coming from eighth, getting through everything on track and getting the passes done fast. The car was a lot better today after we made a bunch of changes to the setup. The problem was still there, but it was really minimized. I feel confident moving forward because we know what to do moving forward. Just thanks to Performance Tech and all the guys.”

JON BROWNSON (No. 34 Eurosport Racing, first Lites Masters): “It feels like my first race of the season, but I was down in Sebring. To be here and to be on podium is special. It’s a wonderful place and we love racing Road America. I grew up coming here. It’s a special occasion to be here. It’s a great place. And the competition in this series is getting better all the time, I love it.”

JOEL JANCO (No. 25 Performance Tech Motorsports, second Lites Masters): “We worked hard for this one starting 15th and winding up second in Masters. It was a fabulous day. We had a great car and we were able to pass a lot of other cars. It was just a really fun day and thanks to Performance Tech and Jonatan Jorge for making it all work for me.”

DON YOUNT (No. 28 Yount Motorsports, third Lites Masters): “The car was the best it’s been all week. Actually it was a great race and the cautions kind of helped us out, so I’m happy with the outcome.” 

BRIAN ALDER (No. 22 BAR1 Motorsports, first Lites 2): “We actually started third, and we were mixing it up with some guys in the L1 class at the end. Max (DeAngelis) had a good battle at the beginning of the race, so we were able to get into second position. The yellow allowed us to catch up and close the gap. There were three cars between Todd (Slusher) and I. I was able to get pass those three cars and then we had another yellow. On the restart I had a good run, he went a little wide and we went side by side in Turn 2 and that was it; I sealed the deal. The Top 1 Oil car was great all weekend. This is probably one of the most rewarding victories of the season, to have a good battle out there and finish on top.”

TODD SLUSHER (No. 62 ONE Motorsports, second Lites 2): “The yellows worked out about 99 percent for me. I did everything I planned to do. I executed really well. My plan was to get in to some of the L1 cars and stay with them as long as I could. I knew eventually they’d get around me with some of these long straightaways. So that was all great, going to plan, but then we had a couple yellows that packed us up and that impacted my plan. We had the restart at the end. I overcooked Turn 1 and Brian (Alder) was able to get around me in Turn 2 and then we had the crash at the end. And that was it. That was the end of the race. But you know all in all we had a great day. I feel pretty tired after the race, so that’s always a good thing. I’m happy and looking forward to the next one.”

MAX DEANGELIS (No. 7 Eurosport Racing, third Lites 2): “Today was not the result we wanted, finishing third. But we had great pace yesterday. But between the yellows and the restarts and just all the on track activities, I thought it was better just to play it safe. But I definitely wish it would have a gone a little bit better. We had a great pace yesterday and I was hoping to carry that forward to today. I’m still happy. It was my first time here, so to all the guys at Eurosport great job.”