It was a morning of firsts at Road America for IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers Nate Stacy and Max Faulkner. Both drivers scored their first career Motul Pole Award in their respective classes, GS and TCR.
Stacy, in the No. 60 KohR Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4, qualified with a time of two minutes, 16.096 seconds (107.077 mph), to start from the overall top spot. With co-driver Kyle Marcelli, Stacy and the KohR Motorsports team – whose partnership with the Aston Martin marque began this year – sit second in the championship standings, five points in arrears, 63-58, of reigning class champions Tyler McQuarrie and Jeff Westphal in the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Audi R8 GT4.
Stacy put the hammer down in qualifying, taking honors by a full 1.003 seconds over McQuarrie, who qualified second.
“The lap was really good,” Stacy said. “Thanks to everyone at KohR Motorsports, they’ve been working all hours trying to make sure this car is as dialed in as possible. The lap was consistently smooth. The car feels good under power and it’s really good when you’re trying to fuel save or whatever the case may be. The car just tends to handle it really well. Whatever I’ve thrown at this thing, it tends to handle it. I couldn’t be happier with the car.”
TCR class qualifying was thrilling as Faulkner nabbed the pole position in the final seconds of the 15-minute session. In the No. 23 FASTMD Racing with Speed Syndicate Audi RS3 LMS, Faulkner stole the pole from Michael Johnson by the narrowest of margins, 0.002 seconds, with a winning time of 2:21.358.
“It’s been a really good weekend for us,” said Faulkner. “The FASTMD Racing guys have done a really good job. We rolled off the trailer strong yesterday and no problems at all. Big thanks to them and all the hard work they’ve put in. Big thanks to FASTMD. It feels really good to grab my first IMSA pole here at Road America and I can’t be more excited for the race.”
The Road America 120 goes green on at 4:45 p.m. ET Saturday. The race will stream live via TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold. IMSA Radio will provide live commentary on IMSARadio.com.