Maxwell Takes Shelby GT350R-C to Debut Pole at Watkins Glen

Scott Maxwell (GS) and Justin Piscitell (ST) have scored the pole positions for Saturday’s Continental Tire 150 at Watkins Glen International, the fourth round of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge season.

Maxwell has delivered the debuting Ford Shelby GT350R-C a pole on its race debut. The Multimatic Motorsports driver also scored the pole for the season opener in Daytona.

The Canadian set the two fastest laps in the session, with 2:01.358 the ultimate pole time in the No. 15 car he’ll share with Billy Johnson. Maxwell also set a 2:01.442 on his final lap.

“I figured we’d be top three or four,” Maxwell told Sportscar365. “Make one mistake and you’re third row.

“The car got better as the session went on, but you have to get that first lap in. The tires are at their best. The first lap was a good lap, but I wasn’t writing home on it.”

All told the top seven cars were covered by just 0.846 of a second, with Maxwell on pole by a little more than a tenth of a second.

Brad Jaeger took the No. 14 Doran Racing Nissan 370Z into second, the same position where he and B.J. Zacharias finished a year ago at Watkins Glen.

Daytona winners Rum Bum Racing, with the No. 13 Porsche 911 of Hugh and Matt Plumb, finished third in the session. The second Doran Nissan, the pair of Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.Rs and second Multimatic Ford were covered by that margin.

In ST, Piscitell continued his incredible pole streak, with his fourth pole in as many starts this season.

Driving the No. 34 Alara Racing Mazda MX-5, Piscitell set a fastest time of 2:08.044 to lead the session by more than three tenths. He’ll share the car with Christian Szymczak.

“We’re not technically teammates, but Chad McCumbee is a good friend and he’ll start behind me,” Piscitell told Sportscar365.

“He was chasing me down the full qualifier. He gave me a bit of a freebie. I had a ‘two-off,’ I looked up and he’s right there, so I was like ‘I can’t do that again!’ I got it together for second lap, which was the flier.”

Kevin Boehm took the No. 93 HART Honda Civic Si to second at 2:08.353 in the car he’ll share with Chad Gilsinger.

Chad McCumbee brought the No. 5 CJ Wilson Racing Mazda MX-5 into third at 2:08.611, in the car he’ll share with Stevan McAleer.

The No. 83 Next Level European Porsche Cayman and No. 64 Team TGM BMW 328i will roll off 13th and 16th, respectively.

Those two cars’ pairings of Eric Zimmermann and Greg Liefooghe and Ted Giovanis and David Murry are tied for the ST class points lead, with 81 apiece.

Saturday’s race will air live on IMSA.com at 12:25 p.m. ET.

RESULTS: Qualifying