Series Staff

Ayres Takes Pole For Spec Racer Final Weekend At Atlanta

Nov. 5, 2011 - BRASELTON, Ga. - Tray Ayres, of Woodstock, Ga., topped Friday practice and carried that over to Saturday’s qualifying, taking the pole position at his home track for the SCCA Pro Racing Spec Racer Ford Series final weekend at Road Atlanta.

Tray Ayres, on the SRF pole at Atlanta

Ayres’ No. 7 Ayers Racing Spec Racer Ford followed the No. 65 Spicer Race Engines/Hagerman Engineering Spec Racer Ford of Richard Spicer out of pit lane when the 20-minute session went green, with the two sharing the draft around the 2.54-mile course. At the finish, Ayers earned the pole with a best lap of 1:40.541 (90.948 mph).

“It was a great run,” Ayers said. “This is my home track, so I’ve been here a lot. I didn’t get to run the whole pro series, so I was excited about being here with everybody. I hooked up with Richard for qualifying and had a great couple of laps.”

He and Spicer split time running as the lead car in the draft, which is an important part of the strategy in the spec cars. Spicer was able to qualify third using the strategy, posting a time of 1:40.799 (90.715 mph). 

“That was part of the plan,” Ayres said. “We swapped back and forth to see which one is better, and where we could get the best time. It seemed to work out.

“The car is good, but it’s a pretty tough field and there’s a lot of hungry drivers so it’ll be a good race.”

Sitting between the two drivers is the No. 61 PM Racing Spec Racer Ford of Brian Schofield, who posted a lap of 1:40.633 (90.864 mph). Schofield earned six bonus points for qualifying in the second position (Ayers earned eight for a pole, with bonus points paid to the top five qualifies), allowing him to close the gap to Scott Rettich in the Championship battle.

Rettich’s 1:41.143 (90.406 mph) left him in the fifth-place qualifying position with one bonus point in the No. 17 Alliance Autosport/Springboro Car Wash Spec Racer Ford, leaving his Championship lead at 38 points headed into the final two races this weekend.

Cliff White will start Sunday morning’s race in line behind Schofield on the outside of row two after posting a qualifying time of 1:40.925 (90.602 mph) in the No. 58 Thompson White Racing Spec Racer Ford.

The first of two 20-lap Pro Spec Racer Ford Series races on Sunday is scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. Race one will also set the grid for Sunday afternoon’s finale, based on fast lap during the morning race.