Holton sets PWC TC record; Holbrook on TCA pole in Civic Si's debut

Current Touring Car point leader Paul Holton set a new TC qualifying record Saturday at Utah Motorsport Campus in the Security National Mortgage Supercar Grand Prix of Utah with a time of 2 minutes, 04.187 seconds (88.36 miles per hour) to take the pole for Saturday's Round 7.

Holton's time in the No. 71 C360R Audi RS3 LMS sedan provisionally bettered last year's TC mark set by Patrick Gallagher of 2:04.280 (88.29 mph) at UMC.

• TC starting lineup

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  TCA/TCB lineup

Second in TC went to Tony Rivera in the No. 34 Brass Monkey Racing Nissan 370Z at 2:04.545 (88.10 mph) followed by Greg Liefooghe in the No. 20 Stephen Cameron Racing/ART Racing BMW M235iR at 2:04.869 (87.87 mph), Nick Wittmer in the No. 91 ST Racing BMW M235iR at 2:04.869 (87.87 mph) and defending TC series champion Toby Grahovec in the No. 1 Classic BMW M235iR at 2:05.283 (87.58 mph).

"We got another 150 pounds put on for the BoP this week and we're having to do a lot of really creative stuff with the setup now to make it work," said Holton. "This is actually a really hard track on tires and with all the weight it's really going to be a tire management race for sure. You have to look at (the two races) as a two-hour race, basically. You have to keep the car clean in the first half of the race so you can finish the second half. It's just now it will be put into two races instead of one endurance race."

In the highly-competitive TCA division, PWC veteran Shea Holbrook made a last-lap dash to the pole Friday in the all-new No. 67 Bubba Burgers/Shea Racing Honda Civic Si with a 2:12.215 (82.99 mph) in the car's PWC debut. In fact, the new Civic hadn't hit the track at all until Thursday in a test session.

Defending TCA champion Elivan Goulart in his No. 70 S.A.C. Racing Mazda Global MX-5 Cup car was second with a 2:12.344 (82.91 mph) followed by Kenny Murillo in the Murillo Racing Mazda Global MX-5 Cup at 2:12.420 (82.86 mph), Eric Powell in the No. 23 Tech Sport Racing Mazda MX-5 at 2:12.637 (82.72 mph and Craig Stanton in the all-new No. 86 DG-Spec Toyota TMG 86 car with 2:13.103 (82.43 mph).

"Obviously, we're really happy," said Holbrook. "To be frank, we actually surprised ourselves. With that said, I have a lot of history with Honda Racing HPD. I've been in the series for seven consecutive years and seven consecutive years in Hondas, primarily Civic Si's. The 10th-gen Civic Si is a brand-new platform. Tom O'Gorman, my teammate in the No. 94 car has done a fantastic job.

"That car had the good and the bad of BoP, trying to get that car activated in the series. Honestly, we came in with a brand-new chassis and we got set up right. My guys and I know the car well, and I know what I like in that particular car and I think that was our competitive advantage. But, we started out the weekend with all stock components because we built this car in three-and-a-half weeks which isn't enough time to get it completely put together. This is the first weekend that we've run the car."

Canaan O'Connell, son of four-time GT champion Johnny O'Connell, led TCB qualifying Friday with a 2:27.108 (74.58 mph) in the No. 24 TechSport Racing Chevrolet Sonic over teammate P.J. Groenke in the No. 25 TechSport Racing Chevrolet Sonic with a 2.27.287 (74.49 mph)