CORE autosport driver Jon Bennett qualified for the America’s Tire 250 under idyllic California skies today at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Bennett earned 14th-place on the grid for Sunday’s two-hour and 40-minute race.
With a strong ocean breeze continuously dragging sand onto the 2.238-mile, 11-turn circuit, Laguna Seca is notoriously tricky to find grip on. Bennett, co-driver Colin Braun and team worked through two practice sessions on Friday and one Saturday morning to solve the grip problem and prepare a setup for Saturday afternoon’s 15-minute qualifying session.
At the wheel of the No. 54 Flex-Box / Composite Resources Porsche 911 GT3 R, Bennett turned a quick lap of 1:27.304 (92.284mph), which places him 14th on the GT Daytona grid for Sunday’s race. As the qualifying driver, Bennett is required to start the race and will eventually hand it over to Braun to finish.
The America’s Tire 250 will air on FS1, Sunday, September 24, at 5pm ET.
JON BENNETT
“It’s always great to be back at Laguna Seca. It’s an iconic track. I’m happy with the way our Porsche is performing and handling at this track. I think we have it engineered really well. It’s a super competitive class and you have to bring you’re A-game every day. I feel like I did a good job in the car. My performance is improving every race, in comparison to my class, but it’s a steep climb. I’m pretty determined and am looking forward to a good race tomorrow and finishing the season strong at Petit Le Mans.
“It’s a track that requires a lot of concentration and discipline. One of the strengths Colin and I have shown time and time again is to finish races. I think that will fall to our favor tomorrow. The combination of my reliability and Colin’s pace gives us a good shot for a great finish tomorrow, if not a podium.”