Davis, Gimple Score Road Atlanta CTSC Poles

Andrew Davis (GS) and Kyle Gimple (ST) have scored the poles for the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge season finale at Road Atlanta.

Davis’ pole sets the stage for a dramatic race in GS in fighting for the class championship. Davis and Robin Liddell, who share the No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro Z/28.R, enter five points behind Trent Hindman in the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3.

Davis set an early flier of 1:31.647 to secure the pole, while Hindman waited to set a time. It bit him as a red flag flew for an accident involving Max Riddle in the No. 07 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4, and Hindman was unable to set a time. He and John Edwards will start from the rear of the GS field.

“I’ve learned that lesson. I love these 15-minute sessions, but if you miss, you may not get another chance,” Davis said.

He added about traffic, “It’s always tricky here at Road Atlanta because it’s a very fast track, in a lot of spots it’s a one-line track. In reality the gap is only about five seconds. If you can’t get them early into Turn 1 or into 3, you follow for a third of the track. At this stage of the season, everyone’s worked well together, so I haven’t had any issues.”

Scott Maxwell slotted into second in the No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302R (1:31.687) with Eric Curran third in the No. 01 CKS Autosport Camaro Z/28.R (1:32.096).

Gimple secured his first career ST pole with a best time of 1:36.763 in the No. 75 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si. He’ll share the car with Ryan Eversley. The pair led second practice earlier Thursday afternoon.

“Usually we’ve been doing one-and-done. The second lap was the fastest today,” Gimple said. “I knew my first lap wouldn’t hold. I saw the second one was better, and I just hoped that would hold, because I knew I wouldn’t go back out and burn up the tires.”

Corey Lewis qualified the No. 87 Rebel Rock Racing Porsche Cayman second at 1:36.867, with the No. 42 Team Sahlen Porsche Cayman qualified by Michael Valiante third at 1:37.052.

Valiante shares the No. 42 with Wayne Nonnamaker as he looks to overcome a nine-point deficit to Eric Foss. Foss’ No. 56 Murillo Racing Porsche Cayman will start 11th, after being qualified by co-driver Jeff Mosing.

Friday’s season-ending CTSC race will air live at 1:15 p.m. ET on IMSA.com.

RESULTS: Qualifying