Practice and qualifying are complete for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s TA/XGT/SGT/GT Franklin Road Apparel Classic at Watkins Glen International. In his first TA class start of 2022, Justin Marks in the No. 5 Franklin Road Apparel Camaro earned the Motul Pole Award with a lap time of 1m43.892s, more than a second faster than his next competitor. Marks’ pole is the second of the season for Showtime Motorsports, which also earned the award with Paul Menard at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. Tomorrow’s feature will be Marks’ second race of the weekend, as he also participated in today’s TA2 event.
“This is my first time driving for this team, [owner] Ken [Thwaits] and Showtime Motorsports, and this is awesome,” said Marks. “I was really excited to come to Watkins Glen — it’s one of my favorite racetracks. The car was really, really, really good right off the truck in the very first test session, so immediately we were just fine tuning the thing. It’s a testament to how important preparation is. It means you’re not just chasing big problems at the racetrack, we just made a couple tweaks. It’s my first time ever on the Pirelli tire in this class, so I was just learning the tendencies of the tire and how to get around this place. I took all the pieces from two days of practice and testing and put it all together in one lap and got the pole.”
Current points leader Chris Dyson was second in his No. 20 ALTWELL Ford Mustang, making a lap time of 1m44.979s. Marks’ team owner Ken Thwaits in the No. 7 Franklin Road Apparel Camaro was third with a 1m45.234s. Fourth was Boris Said in the No. 2 Technique Chassis/STEEL-IT/ Weaver Dodge Challenger with a time of 1m45.766s, and David Pintaric in the No. 57 Kryderacing Ford Mustang was fifth with a 1m47.216s.
Stephen Hamman in the No. 72 TLM Racing Porsche GT3 Cup 991.2 was the fastest in XGT qualifying with a time of 1m51.826s, followed by teammate Jody Miller in the No. 3 TLM Racing Porsche GT3 Cup 991.2 with a 1m53.637s. Danny Lowry in the No. 42 BridgeHaul Bennett International/Pitboxes.com Audi R8 LMS was third with a 1m59.514s.
In SGT, Aaron Pierce set the pace in his No. 26 LSI Inc./Sam Pierce Chevrolet Corvette with a time of 1m56.355s. Teammates Cindi Lux in the No. 45 Lux Performance Group Dodge Viper and Dirk Leuenberger in the No. 35 Lux Performance Group Dodge Viper were second and third with times of 1m57.194s and 1m57.229s, respectively.
Michael Saia in the No. 13 Rapid Performance Management/Rapid Wraps/Motul Porsche GT3 Cup 997.1 was fastest of the GT class with a time of 1m58.466s, while Scott James was second in the No. 61 Chicane Racing/Vascular Care Group Porsche GT3 Cup with a 2m00.793s.
Earlier today in practice, Dyson topped the TA charts with a best time of 1m45.450s. Said was second with a 1m45.881s, ahead of Marks with a 1m46.043s. Thwaits was fourth with a time of 1m46.491s, and Pintaric rounded out the top five with a 1m47.820s.
Miller was fastest in XGT with a 1m54.437s, followed by Lowry with a 2m04.544s.
Lee Saunders in the No. 44 Landsearch LLC Dodge Viper was quickest in SGT with a time of 1m56.928s, followed by Pierce with a 1m57.761s and Leuenberger with a 1m58.164s.
Saia was fastest in GT with a time of 1m58.542s, followed by James with a 2m00.812s.
The TA race will be contested Sunday, September 11, at 11:00 a.m. ET and will be streamed live here. The broadcast of tomorrow’s event, presented by Franklin Road Apparel, will air on CBS Sports Network on Sunday, September 18 at 5:30 p.m. ET, with an encore presentation later that evening at 11:30 p.m. ET.
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