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| June 30, 2012 News |
| Atlantic Championship: Grant Victorious at New Jersey Motorsports Park |
 | David Grant extended his series win streak to three in race one of the New Jersey Motorsports Park doubleheader
(Photo: Atlantic Championship Series - Valet) |
David Grant made it three for three on Saturday (June 30), taking the lead from the outside front row heading to turn one at New Jersey Motorsports Park’s 13-turn Thunderbolt track, and going onto win and remain perfect in 2012 Atlantic Championship Series. Grant extended his points lead, and finished well ahead of second place Paul LeCain, who was fastest in practice and started from pole in the Ralt RT41/Toyota, while Keith Grant completed the podium.
David Grant, driving a Swift 014 chassis with Toyota power was untouchable at Road Atlanta in May, but faced a bit more of a challenge at NJMP with limited track time on Friday.
“That was a great race and this is a tough track, it’s my first time here,” said the winning brother, from Germantown, Tenn., and driving for the Polestar Racing Group team. Grant also notched bonus points for the fastest lap, running a 1:13.499, which means the No. 12 car will start from pole for Sunday’s race.
LeCain’s Ralt RT41 had so far been the class of the field all weekend – as he was fastest in both practice sessions, and took the pole by just a few thousandths of a second over Grant.
“I got a good start, but I had the car sideways the first two laps trying to keep up with David on the cold tires,” said LeCain. “He was driving like an animal.”
Interestingly LeCain is running bias-ply tires and still has carburetors on his Toyota powerplant.
The margin of victory was just under 14 seconds in the all-green-flag 20-lap race.
Keith Grant rounded out the podium, coming back from a sixth place starting position after just three laps around the course in qualifying with mechanical gremlins on his Swift 014/Toyota from Polestar Racing Group.
“I was hoping for some more time,” said Grant, as he was closing on LeCain in the closing stages of the race. “It was only my second time around this place, with just three laps yesterday.”
Keith Grant will start second on Sunday, having run the second fastest race lap, while LeCain will line up third.
John Burke was fourth in the No. 55 Swift 014/Toyota, while John Dole rounded out the top-five in a Swift 016/Mazda, the first of the more recent Mazda-powered Atlantic Championship cars.
Chris Fahan followed in sixth position, with John Thompson, Bruce Hamilton, Rich Zober, and Andy Schaufelberger completing the top-10.
The Atlantic race saw a 3:50 pm local time start, with sweltering heat a major factor, as temperatures reached just below triple digits at race time.
The Atlantic Championship Series weekend concludes at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Sunday (July 1), with race three of the 2012 season at 8:30 am local time. The grid will be set from fast laps in Saturday’s race.
The top-three will be posted following every session on the EFCN Facebook page, and EFCN Twitter page.
Atlantic Championship Series
Round 3 - Race Results
June 30, 2012
New Jersey Motorsports Park - Millville, New Jersey
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Diff. | Fast Time| 1. | David Grant | Polestar Racing Group | - | 1:13.499 | | 2. | Paul LeCain | LeCain Racing | 13.839 | 1:14.393 | | 3. | Keith Grant | Polestar Racing Group | 15.621 | 1:13.885 | | 4. | John Burke | Company Motorsports | 35.982 | 1:14.423 | | 5. | John Dole | Dole Racing | 41.982 | 1:14.977 | | 6. | Chris Fahan | Fahan Racing | 46.731 | 1:15.535 | | 7. | John Thompson | Thompson Racing | 1:08.861 | 1:16.066 | | 8. | Bruce Hamilton | K-Hill Motorsports | 1:09.972 | 1:15.567 | | 9. | Rich Zober | Comprent Motor Sports | 1:10.298 | 1:16.160 | | 10. | Andy Schaufelberger | K-Hill Motorsports | 1 Lap | 1:18.666 | | 11. | Dwight Rider | Front Range Motorsports | 1 Lap | 1:18.407 | | 12. | Theodoras Zorbas | K-Hill Motorsports | 1 Lap | 1:19.500 | | 13. | Joe Blacker | Mid-Atlantic Motorsports | 1 Lap | 1:20.122 | | 14. | Lee Brahin | K-Hill Motorsports | 1 Lap | 1:19.981 | | 15. | Connor Burke | Company Motorsports | 1 Lap | 1:13.871 | |
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