Road Atlanta Pre-Race Thread

[Cynon]

Olenick, Castañeda Claim Front Row at Road Atlanta

The TM Master Cup series's annual visit to Road Atlanta had a typically heated qualifying session. Marco Castañeda came 7 minutes away from claiming his second career pole position in his young TM Master Cup series career, before veteran Joe Olenick snatched it at the very end. Castañeda was surprised at his own performance, as his strongest showings in junior categories have been on ovals. "I'm not much of a road racer, it's a credit to the team behind me." Castañeda said. Olenick and Castañeda have been very impressive in qualifying so far in 2019, with Castañeda only off the front row once in four races. However, those were not the only stories of the session.

Power Steering Incorporated's Kurt Plissken appeared to send a warning to the rest of the field by qualifying fourth with a time he set very early in the session. After setting that time, Plissken did not return to the track. With a long series of road courses coming up, Plissken may have announced himself as a regular contender.

As has been the norm in 2019, both Lynxe drivers were the only ones to make more than 3 qualifying attempts. Similarly to the Carbondale event, both Ingrid Haddeland and Liv Eklund's initial runs were solid midfield efforts, before both went back out to beat each others' times. Since qualifying is typically done with multiple cars on track at one time on the road courses, they were not obstructing other drivers' second or third attempts. In the end, Lynxe Racing locked out the third row on the grid, with Haddeland beating Eklund for the fourth race this season. Both Lynxe drivers have performed strongly at Road Atlanta in TM Lights, with Haddeland claiming a win in 2017 and Eklund recording her best TM Lights result, a 14th, in 2018, after qualifying 22nd.

Elsewhere on the grid, other drivers had smaller, but still notable victories. Tonare Motorsports's Daniel Leckliter pulled together a brilliant 29th on the grid after the #10 has suffered the brunt of mechanical woes throughout the Tonare organizations. Channel 44 commentator Lance Andrews remarked that Leckliter's pace might be the biggest positive Tonare could claim this weekend.

"Tonare's really lucky they have a guy like Leckliter there... he knows what he's doing, he's a hard worker, and he's a hell of a lot faster than anyone thought. He debuted over a decade ago and he's genuinely never looked faster. That's not normal, really." Channel 44 color commentator Lance Andrews stated near the end of the broadcast.

[Carolina Crew]

Mast To Make Last Independent's Trophy Run


Freya Mast, the 21 year old from Texas, is set to make her last run for the Independent's Trophy at Road Atlanta.

Mast currently sits 3rd out of 4 drivers in the Independent's Trophy standings, with a best finish of 24th at Carbondale.  Mast is looking to improve on that at Road Atlanta, especially considering the fact that she has a road racing background.

Mast's finishes haven't been bad, especially taking the quality of her equipment into consideration.  However, she hasn't done well either.

"I just want my last race to end on a good note.  It has been a humbling experience and it shows that I have a lot more work to do.  I want to thank everyone who supported me over the past few races, and maybe I can get back in one of these cars before the season ends."  Freya Mast said in regards to her Independent's Trophy run thus far and any future plans.