Versteeg Edges JDC Motorsports Teammate Toppe For Pole At Watkins Glen - Speedway Digest

Austin Versteeg held off JDC Motorsports teammate Clark Toppe to win the pole during qualifying for the Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires series Thursday at Watkins Glen International.

Versteeg, from Sandy, Utah, turned his quickest lap of 1 minute, 43.729 seconds on the penultimate of his nine laps during the 20-minute session in the No. 7 JDC Motorsports entry. Toppe, from The Woodlands, Texas, fell just short of his teammate at 1:43.905 on his final lap in the No. 10 JDC Motorsports Élan DP02 chassis powered by a Mazda engine on Cooper Tires.

“The team has done a really, really good job,” Versteeg said. The first (practice) session was a bit shaky for us, but these guys at JDC Motorsports work their butts off. I can’t thank them enough for all they do.

“We made massive improvements from first practice to second practice and from second practice to qualifying. There’s nothing much I can say but thank you to all them. They do everything for me.”

Toppe leads Versteeg, 38-36, after two rounds. The teen teammates split victories at the opening event in mid-March at Sebring International Raceway, with Toppe winning Round 1 and Versteeg Round 2.


	Canadian Michal Chlumecky led Lites 1 Masters qualifiers.

Their early-season dominance in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned Official Development Series has continued an impressive streak for Minnesota-based JDC Motorsports. The team has won 20 consecutive Prototype Lites races, dating back to August 2014.

Kyle Masson, from Windermere, Florida, qualified third overall Thursday at 1:44.692 in the No. 18 Performance Tech Motorsports entry. Max Hanratty, from Milwaukee, was fourth at 1:44.706 in the No. 30 Extreme Speed Motorsports entry.

Michal Chlumecky, from Windsor, Ontario, rounded out the top five and was the quickest Lites 1 Masters qualifier at 1:44.820 in the No. 31 Eurosport Racing car.


Jay Salmon was the quickest Lites 2 qualifier.

Jay Salmon, from Lynchburg, Virginia, was the quickest Lites 2 driver at 1:50.663 in the No. 46 ODU Engineering entry. This is his first start of the season.

Three rounds will take place on the historic 11-turn 3.4-mile circuit at this event, with two 30-minute races Friday.

Round 3 is scheduled for 9:05 a.m. (ET) Friday, followed by Round 4 at 2:30 p.m. A busy event for the series will finish with Round 5, a 45-minute race, starting at 8:05 a.m. Saturday.

For more information about Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires, visit www.imsa.com, follow hashtags #MazdaLites and #MRT24 @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.

Author
Recent Posts

Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.