Buffomante and Mike Cope Racing on the Pole at VIR
ALTON, Va. (Sept. 27, 2014) – Paul Fix continued his dominance of the TA class with another pole worthy performance, this time at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), putting the No. 4 Stopflex.com/Tony Ave Racing Chevrolet Corvette up front for tomorrow’s race for Round 10 of the 2014 Trans Am Championship.
Fix’s fast lap around the 3.27-mile course was a 1:46.915, shattering the previous track record of 1:49.136. When completed, the qualifying session stood as the seventh consecutive session that Fix has led since rejoining the Trans Am last round at Lime Rock Park.
Following Fix was teammate, defending Champion and points leader, Doug Peterson, in the No. 87 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet Corvette, with a 1:47.618; as Tony Ave Racing went one-two in qualifying and will lead the front row for tomorrow’s race.
Starting third will be Simon Gregg, in the No. 59 Derhaag Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette, whose time of 1:47.982 was just off that of Peterson. Last year at VIR it was Gregg who walked away victorious; he has proven throughout the weekend he is still fast on the Virginia track.
Amy Ruman, in the No. 23 McNichols Company Chevrolet Corvette, was fourth with a 1:48.651, while John Baucom, in the No. 86 Baucom Motorsports Ford Mustang, was fifth with a 1:49.162.
In TA2, it was Tony Buffomante who led the way from behind the wheel of the No. 79 Ilmor Powered Chevrolet Camaro with a time of 1:54.168, also a new track record. This marks the first event for Buffomante on the year, but the Illinois native has primed himself for what could be his second TA2 victory in only two Trans Am appearances, the first being a victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in 2013.
Starting alongside Buffomante will be the man who finished second to him at CTMP over a year ago, defending TA2 Champion and points leader Cameron Lawrence. Lawrence powered the No. 11 CTEK/Miller Racing Dodge Challenger around the track to the tune of a 1:54.251, less than a tenth short of Buffomante’s time.
Ron Keith, whose lap time of 1:54.308 in the No. 25 OffSite/Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang will be in third position to start tomorrow’s race, as all three makes and models will start in the top three positions in TA2.
Adam Andretti, in the No. 44 Engineered Components Chevrolet Corvette, was fourth in the session with a 1:54.370; while Tommy Kendall, in the No. 11 CTEK/NorthStar Miller Racing Dodge Challenger, will start fifth after a time of 1:55.129.
In TA3, Russ Snow and Ernie Francis, Jr., split honors for fast lap of the session, with Snow, behind the wheel of the No. 20 Carbotech Chevrolet Corvette, taking the International Group pole with a time of 1:57.068 and Francis claiming the American Muscle Group lead with a time of 1:59.582 in the No. 9 Breathless Performance Chevrolet Camaro. Both set track records of their own will relative ease.
Following Snow in the International Group will be Norman Betts in the No. 82 Hoosier/VP Fuels Chevrolet Corvette and Jason Berkeley, in the No. 67 BMG Management Chevrolet Corvette, in second and third position respectively.
Chris DeSalvo, in the No. 61 LCR Racing Ford Mustang, took second in the American Muscle Group to Francis with a 2:01.372 and Todd Napieralski, in the No. 39 TPR/Tremec/Backstreet Chevrolet Camaro, will start third after a 2:01.483.
Trans Am will take to the track for the 101.37-mile race, 31 laps around the VIR track, for Round 10 of the 2014 Trans Am Championship tomorrow, Sunday, September 28, at 1:45 p.m. EDT.
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