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Michelin Pilot Challenge

McCumbee Takes CTSC Pole at Mid-Ohio

Chad McCumbee earned the pole position in CTSC qualifying at Mid-Ohio…

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Chad McCumbee took pole position for Multimatic Motorsports in the No. 8 Ford Mustang GT4, coming out on top in a hotly contested IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge qualifying session at Mid-Ohio.

A red flag with eight minutes to go in the GS class session set up a dramatic dash for the pole when the No. 09 Automatic Racing Aston Martin Vantage of Brandon Kidd hit trouble in Turn 9.

The green flag was displayed again with four minutes to go, leaving the GS class competitors with very limited opportunities to put in a lap that could contend for the pole.

Alexandre Premat, who topped the brief third practice session that immediately preceded qualifying, ensured the No. 92 Ramsey Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 will start on the front row. Premat’s best lap was 0.287 seconds off of McCumbee’s pole-winning time.

Paul Holton qualified the No. 76 Compass Racing McLaren 570S GT4 third, followed by Russell Ward’s Winward Racing Mercedes and Chase Briscoe in the No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Mustang.

Britt Casey Jr. took pole position in the TCR class for Compass racing with a fast lap of 1:29.652 on his final flying lap in the No. 77 Audi RS3 LMS TCR.

Michael Johnson was an impressive second in his first qualifying session of the year 0.585 seconds off of Casey’s time for JDC-Miller Motorsports, with Rodgrigo Sales of Compass Racing completing the Audi 1-2-3 in third.

Luke Rumberg was fourth in Rumcastle’s No. 31 Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. The top four in class were separated by under one second.

Pole position in the ST class went the way of BimmerWorld Racing driver Nick Galante in the No. 81 BMW 328i by 0.798 seconds over Nate Norenberg’s No. 37 MINI. Mike LaMarra was third in the No. 73 MINI.

The Mid-Ohio 120 is scheduled for 2:20 p.m ET with live coverage available on IMSA.tv, beginning at 2:10 p.m. ET. Tape-delayed coverage will air May 12 at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

RESULTS: Qualifying

Ryan Myrehn is an Indianapolis-based broadcaster and reporter. In addition to his work covering primarily domestic sports car racing for Sportscar365, he is the lead announcer for SRO America's TV coverage as well as a pit reporter for IndyCar Radio. Myrehn, a graduate of DePauw University, is also the host of Sportscar365's “Double Stint” Podcast.

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