Grant Triumphs in New Jersey
Millville, NJ – David Grant made it four wins in four Atlantic Championship Series starts this year, leading every lap from pole and going under the existing Atlantic track record at New Jersey Motorsports Park’s Thunderbolt circuit. Grant took his second win in two days, finishing ahead of brother Keith Grant while Paul LeCain stood on the final step of the podium driving the No. 90 Ralt RT-41/Toyota.
“This was a great weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park,” said Grant, in the No. 12 Swift chassis. “I need to thank Polestar and the team for a great car, we plan on continuing the streak at Summit Point.”
David Grant’s runaway win in the Swift 014/Toyota from Polestar Racing Group gives him a solid Championship lead heading into the final rounds at Summit Point in August.
Grant has won every race in 2012 and has a commanding Championship points lead over his brother Keith, in a similarly prepared Swift 014/Toyota from Polestar with the same blue and green livery.
“The first 14 laps were fine but then it started to get very hot in the car,” said Keith Grant, noting that even with an early start time at 8:45 a.m. – temperatures soared during the race. “I was with David the first few laps but he got around the traffic faster, he was just too quick for me here.”
LeCain was third in the Ralt chassis, after sitting on pole en route to a second place finish on Saturday.
“With the heat it’s a good thing we moved the race earlier today,” said LeCain, who won at New Jersey a few weeks ago in a SCCA National. “Keith was quick this morning but we’ll take a second and third this weekend. I look forward to taking it to the Grants at Summit Point in August.”
The all green flag race ran 20 laps, as John Burke finished fourth in the No. 55 Company Motorsports Swift 014/Toyota while Chris Fahan completed the top five in a Swift 016/Mazda.
Connor Burke was sixth, also driving a Swift 014/Toyota for Company Motorsports, while John Thompson, the holder of the track record eclipsed by Grant during the race, was seventh in his red and white No. 5 Swift 014/Toyota under the TTO Motorsports awning.
Rich Zober was eighth, with John Dole ninth and Bruce Hamilton tenth for K-Hill Motorsports, all three drivers in Swift 016/Mazda combinations.
The Atlantic field swelled to 16 cars for Sunday’s race, the biggest yet in 2012, with the addition of Joe Tauro for Sunday’s events as the first-year Series shared the track with F2000, F1600, Trans-Am and ARCA on a spectator weekend at the New Jersey facility.
The inaugural Atlantic Championship Series concludes with rounds five and six at Summit Point, August 24-26, sharing the weekend with F2000 and F1600.
Race Results:
Pos No. Name Laps Total Tm Diff Gap Avg. Speed Best Tm Best Spd 1 12 David Grant 20 25:30.890 - - 105.821 1:12.701 111.415 2 40 Keith Grant 20 25:41.619 +10.729 +10.729 105.084 1:13.140 110.747 3 90 Paul LeCain 20 25:47.075 +16.185 +5.456 104.714 1:13.593 110.065 4 55 John Burke 20 25:59.446 +28.556 +12.371 103.883 1:14.097 109.316 5 39 Chris Fahan 20 26:28.703 +57.813 +29.257 101.970 1:15.504 107.279 6 19 Connor Burke 20 26:29.840 +58.950 +1.137 101.897 1:14.409 108.858 7 5 John Thompson 20 26:29.906 +59.016 +0.066 101.893 1:15.501 107.283 8 66 Rich Zober 20 26:30.005 +59.115 +0.099 101.886 1:15.490 107.299 9 6 John Dole 20 26:38.579 +1:07.689 +8.574 101.340 1:15.544 107.222 10 36 Bruce Hamilton 19 25:57.265 1 Lap 1 Lap 98.827 1:14.523 108.691 11 11 Dwight Rider 19 26:04.857 +7.592 +7.592 98.348 1:17.731 104.206 12 46 Joe Tauro 19 26:35.638 +38.373 +30.781 96.450 1:19.098 102.405 13 24 Lee Brahin 19 26:36.337 +39.072 +0.699 96.408 1:18.306 103.440 14 96 Theodoras Zorbas 19 27:07.938 +1:10.673 +31.601 94.537 1:18.587 103.070 15 34 Andy Schaufelberger 10 14:42.659 10 Laps 9 Laps 91.768 1:18.533 103.141 DNF 29 Joe Blacker 7 10:56.660 13 Laps 3 Laps 86.346 1:21.210 99.741