Plenty Of Intriguing Storylines At Season Finale At Road Atlanta

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There’s only one Drivers Championship on the line in Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda entering the season finale Oct. 1-3 at Road Atlanta, but there still are plenty of intriguing storylines in all three classes. 

John Falb is charging toward the final available drivers’ title. Series rookie Falb, from Las Vegas, leads the Lites 1 Masters class with 173 points in the No. 77 ONE Motorsports entry. 

Don Yount, from Dallas, is second with 152 points in the No. 28 Yount Motorsports Èlan DP02 chassis powered by a Mazda engine. Lamont Harris, from Palm Beach, Florida, is third with 150 points in the No. 65 8Star Motorsports entry. 

Falb needs to score 20 points over the two races – an average finishing position of sixth or better – to clinch the championship regardless of the performance of Yount. 

Mikhail Goikhberg sealed the Lites 1 overall championship by sweeping both rounds in late August at Virginia International Raceway in the No. 10 JDC Motorsports entry. 

Goikhberg, from North Vancouver, British Columbia, could put the exclamation point on a superb year and three strong seasons in the series with two more victories at Road Atlanta. He has earned a series-high eight victories in 12 starts this season. 

Andrew Novich and Christian Potolicchio are locked in a tight race for second in the standings entering the season finale. Both drivers have used summer surges to race up the standings, with Novich second with 131 points and Potolicchio third with 122. 

Novich, from Novato, California, has finished on the podium in his last three starts in the No. 61 Comprent Motor Sports entry, including his first series victory in mid-August at Road America. 

Potolicchio, from Hallandale Beach, Florida, has stood on the podium after three of his last six starts in the No. 2 8Star Motorsports entry. He will seek his first series victory on the 12-turn, 2.54-mile circuit at Road Atlanta, which would be the ideal conclusion to a season of increasing speed and maturity behind the wheel. 

Another interesting story angle in Lites 1 will be the family and intra-team competition between Utah brothers Madison and McKay Snow. 

Madison Snow climbed to the GT Daytona class in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship after winning the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama series title in 2013. But Snow, 18, also has gained experience and speed in prototype machinery during a partial schedule of the season in Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, driving the No. 29 Extreme Speed Motorsports entry. 

McKay Snow, 16, will make his Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda debut in the No. 33 Extreme Speed Motorsports entry after an outstanding career in karting.  

In the Lites 2 class, Brian Alder clinched his second consecutive championship with two victories in late August at Virginia International Raceway. Alder, from Marysville, Ohio, has finished first or second in all 12 of his starts this season in the No. 22 BAR1 Motorsports entry, with nine victories. 

Practice for the two Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda rounds at Road Atlanta starts at 8:45 a.m. (ET) and 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1, with qualifying at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 2. 

Two races – the first 30 minutes and the second 45 minutes – are scheduled. The first race starts at 1:25 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, with the second at 9:10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3. 

Fans can follow the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda action this week from Road Atlanta. Live timing from all on-track sessions is available at IMSA.com, with live text commentary from all sessions tweeted @IMSALive.

Adam Sinclair
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