Holton, Powell, O'Connell score Touring Car poles

Current Touring Car point leader Paul Holton, added one more point to his margin Friday when he drove the No. 71 C360R Audi RS3 LMS sedan to the TC pole position at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the site of the final 2017 TC rounds set for Saturday.

Holton, who just turned 21, entered this weekend's action with an eight-point advantage over veteran Nick Wittmer with the final two rounds (11 and12) scheduled for Saturday at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road circuit.

Holton clocked a quick lap of 1m35.474s to take the top spot in the 28-car Touring Car field, opening his point lead to nine points when the green flag falls for the Round 11 40-minute race Saturday at 9:50 a.m. PDT.

Second in TC qualifying went to four-time 2017 race winner Greg Liefooghe of San Francisco, Calif., with a 1:35.652 in the No. 20 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M235iR followed by Mark Drennan in the No. 54 Hooverspeed Mazda MX-5 at 1:35.698, N. Wittmer in the No. 91 ST Racing BMW M235iR at 1:35.751 and Karl Wittmer in the No. 99 Honda Ste. Rose Racing Honda Accord at 1:36.252.

Holton sits at 183 points going into Saturday's events over Wittmer's 175, Liefooghe at 162 and reigning TC champion Toby Grahovec at 156 in the No. 1 Classic BMW BMW M235iR. Grahovec qualified 10thFriday at 1:36.913.

"The C360R guys gave me a really great car – it was almost perfect," said Holton. "That (qualifying lap) was one of those laps where it was either going to be on the pole or it was going to be in the wall. Thankfully we got it on the pole.

"I don't think I've sent a car off the Corkscrew as hard as I did that time, but this Audi RS3 LMS is really tough and it can handle stuff like that. Greg (Liefooghe) and Nick (Wittmer) kept me really honest there. I didn't have anything left in the bag. I think tomorrow's race is going to be nuts, especially with tire degradation. I'd really look for Mark Brennan in that MX-5 to be strong in the end. I know him from Spec Miata and he's a serious shoe. And, that car doesn't burn it's tires off as much, where our heavy BMW and Audi RS3 tend to burn tires out a little bit. But, he could also help me out on the championship a little bit if there's a buffer in there. So, I'm rooting for him to be right behind me."

"It was a tough qualifying, especially after the five test/practice sessions we had so far this weekend," said Nick Wittmer. "We were treating those sessions just like qualifying, and it was so tight for all the sessions, including qualifying. So tight, that if we even dropped a wheel, we would fall 3-4 positions. I did the best I could. I made a few mistakes, and ended up in 4th. The Championship is still right there for us. the other Championship guys are right in front, so hopefully, in the race, they will duke it out and give me an open door, so that I can take it home."

In the TCA class, veteran Eric Powell took the No. 23 TechSport Racing Scion FR-S to the fastest time of the day at 1:41.680, followed by three-time 2017 race winner Kenny Murillo in the No. 33 Murillo Racing Mazda Global MX-5 Cup car at 1:41.788, defending TCA champion Elivan Goulart in the No. 70 S.A.C. Racing Mazda Global MX-5 Cup car at 1:41.795, current TCA point leader Matthew Fassnacht in the No. 74 S.A.C. Racing Mazda Global MX-5 Cup car at 1:41.918 and Jeff Sexton in the No. 89 Winding Road Mazda Global MX-5 Cup car at 1:43.681.

"Our car is really good," said Powell. "TechSport has given me an amazing Scion FR-S. It's a dream to drive every time I get into the car. I'm proud to be on the pole two races in a row. That one was a little tougher, it took us until the last lap to get it done. For some reason, everyone else's car seemed to come in a bit quicker than ours, but I was able to get the job done. It's awesome to get our own race, to be the feature event. Aside from that, it's nice to not have to worry about incidents in the Touring Car class affecting our race."

Fassnacht currently leads Goulart by 12 points entering Saturday's two races set for 9:00 a.m. PDT for Round 11.

Canaan O'Connell, son of four-time Pirelli World Challenge GT champion Johnny O'Connell, paced the TCB qualifying in his No. 24 TechSport Racing Chevrolet Sonic Friday with a time of 1:51.488. O'Connell, battling for the series point title, gained a valuable point for the pole position Friday.

Second in TCB qualifying was current point leader Jake Pipal in the No. 6 Jake Pipal Racing Honda Fit at 1:52.036 followed by P.J. Groenke in the No. 25 TechSport Racing Chevrolet Sonic at 1:53.124.

"I knew coming into this weekend that I had a mission," said O'Connell. "I had to get pole position, win the first race, get the fastest lap, then win the second one. We're so close - PJ (Groenke) and Jake (Pipal) and I – that I can't hold anything back. This is a track that I grew up watching and dreaming of driving on, so I knew I didn't have any time to waste. I look forward to everything tomorrow; the unbelievable competition between my teammate PJ and Jake and myself, the fact that we're all one point away from each other in getting a championship – it all boils down to these next two races. For the Pirelli World Challenge fans, you're going to see a phenomenal battle in TCB tomorrow and I look forward to every part of it."

Round 11 races start with TCA/TCB at 9 a.m. PDT followed by TC at 9:50 a.m. Both races will be streamed live for free at World-Challenge.com and MotorTrendOnDemand.com.