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Peterson leads second practice but Ave holds top spot

March 1, 2013

After a shortened practice session, Doug Peterson finished with the fast lap—logging a 2:01.922. However, his time did not surpass his previous time from the first practice session, a 2:01.881. The field spent a majority of the session under a red flag after Kenny Bupp and the #3 Hamilton Safe & Security Systems Chevrolet Camaro hit the wall going through turn fifteen. Bupp was uninjured but was unsure if the car will compete again this weekend.

With many of the cars unable to get up to speed only a few drivers were able to drastically improve their times from the first practice session. Among them was defending champion Simon Gregg and the #1 Gregg Motorsport Chevrolet Corvette. Gregg was able to improve his time from 2:04:206 to 2:02.381, shaving a few crucial seconds off in preparation for tomorrow’s qualifying session.

Other TA drivers who improved their standing before qualification included the Gateway Racing duo of Allan Lewis and Blaise Csida in their #15 and #07 Gateway Racing Corvettes. Between them will be John Baucom in the #86 Baucom Motorsports/ Roadraceparts.com Chevrolet Corvette. Baucom moved up from a 2:29.532 to 2:06.493, leaving him in seventh position for qualifying. John Leavy and the #15 Murryauto.com/Troy Industries Chevrolet Camaro also moved up, going from 2:13.616 seconds to 2:06.766 seconds.

Tony Ave and the #4 Lamers/PME Engines/RPX Chevrolet Corvette will be starting in P1 for the qualifying session. His time of 2:00.822 from the first session of the day was a full second faster than Cliff Ebben, who will start second. Ave’s teammate Doug Peterson will start in third.

In TA2, Bob Stretch and the #98 Wheels America/Fix Rim Mobile Chevrolet Camaro finally made their way onto the track after suffering engine issues during yesterday’s test day that forced him to sit out the first practice session. The two-time-defending-champion was quick to pick up where he left off, logging a time of 2:12.002. The time will be strong enough to place him in second for the qualifying session, just behind Cameron Lawrence and the #11 Ctek/Motorstate/North Star Battery Chevrolet Camaro. Lawrence put in a time of 2:11.345 earlier in the day.

TA3 will start with David Seuss and the #9 Northern Light Porsche 996 GT3 leading the pack. His time of 2:21.497 was strong enough to secure him first position for TA3 in the qualifying session. Behind him will be Tim Gray in the #60 Ryan Companies US Inc. Porsche GT-3 Cup 997 and defending champion Chuck Cassaro and the Stack Data/Aeromotive/Metallica Ford Mustang.

Qualifying will take place tomorrow, Saturday March 2, at 11:10 a.m. est. The 100 mile race will take place on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

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