Espenlaub takes pole at Elkhart Lake

Charles Esplenaub put his Mazda on pole position for the Speed World Challenge Touring Car race tomorrow at Road America, utilizing a brilliant draft snuck off rival Acura driver Kuno Wittmer, who was fastest in practice.

Espenlaub repeated the performance he showed last week at Mid-Ohio by claiming pole position again, and will be hoping to turn the position into victory tomorrow.

“Obviously, with these long straight-aways at Road America, drafting is very important,” Espenlaub said. “We thought up a few different strategies for qualifying and the best one we came up with was to follow Kuno [Wittmer]. He’s been fast all weekend. We timed it just right. He gave me a tow and that was basically what did it for that lap. If it had been reversed, and he had been following me, I guarantee that he’d be on the pole”.

“The Tri-Point team is incredible. All three of us; myself, Jason [Saini] and Eric [Foss], are getting along great and trying to help each other out as much as we can.”

Patrick Lindsey qualified second in the Horton Autosport Mazda 6, with the top Acura being the RealTime Racing TSX of Pierre Kleinubing.