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Racing News: Team Falken Driver Vaughn Gittin Jr. Returns to Top of Podium

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Team Falken driver Vaughn Gittin Jr., took top honors at last Saturday night’s Formula D Championship at New Jersey’s Wall Speedway.
   

Team Falken Driver Vaughn Gittin Jr. Returns to Top of Podium and Teammate Yoshihara Takes Second at New Jersey's Formula Drift 'Gauntlet'
In his Monster Energy/Falken Tire ’13 Ford Mustang Team Falken driver Vaughn Gittin Jr., took top honors at last Saturday night’s Formula D Championship at New Jersey’s Wall Speedway. Gittin Jr.—"JR" to those who know him—beat Falken teammate Daijiro “Dai” Yoshihara, defending Formula D champion, to earn the victory.
 
JR qualified second among 42 entrants, while Yoshihara, running the Discount Tire Nissan 240SX/S13, placed fourth. Additional Falken teammates Darren McNamara, in his S15 Silvia, and Justin Pawlak, running another ’13 Falken Tire Ford Mustang, qualified 10th and 14th, respectively. JR, Dai and Pawlak all advanced through the Top 16 Round, where both JR and Dai moved on through the Top 4 to face each other for the Final Round. It was JR’s first win of the season.

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Mike Skeen took Pirelli World Challenge poles at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park last Sunday. Photo: Mark Weber/PWC.
 
   

Skeen Keeps Rolling in WC GT Qualifying
Remaining perfect on the weekend, Mike Skeen, of Charlotte, North Carolina, captured the Pirelli World Challenge GT pole position for last Sunday’s Motul CTMP Grand Prix Presented by Optima Batteries at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Mark Wilkins of Aurora, Ontario, captured his first series pole position in GTS.

Driving the No. 02 Hawk Performance Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Skeen turned a fastest lap of 1:19.068 (111.959 mph) around the 10-turn 2.459-mile circuit renamed from Mosport International Raceway this year. The lap was about a half of a second slower than Skeen’s record-setting pole time for last Saturday afternoon’s race.

Starting second, after finishing second to Skeen on Saturday, will be point leader Johnny O’Connell of Flowery Branch, Georgia. His lap of 1:19.577 (111.243 mph) in the No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac CTS-V.R netted him 12 points and second place on the grid. He now holds a 197-point lead over teammate Andy Pilgrim entering today’s race.

Alex Figge of Denver will line up third in his No. 9 K-PAX Racing Volvo S60 after turning a lap of 1:19.656 (111.132 mph). Figge will be the lone Volvo in the field after Randy Pobst was withdrawn following a fire in his car last Saturday that required more time for repairs.

Pilgrim will start fourth in the No. 8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac CTS-V.R after logging a 1:19.786 (110.951 mph). Lawson Aschenbach will line his No. 1 TruSpeed/Privacy Star/EnTrust Porsche 911 GT3 fifth, after running a best lap of 1:19.911 (110.778 mph).

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The General” Brian Deegan clocked his 24th, 25th and 26th career Lucas Oil Off Road wins at Miller Motorsports Park last weekend.
   

Brian Deegan Dominates Rounds 7 and 8 in Both Pro Lite and Pro 2 in Utah
Metal Mulisha founder and 2011 Lucas Off Road Racing Series Driver of the Year “The General” Brian Deegan clocked his 24th, 25th and 26th career Lucas Oil Off Road wins at Miller Motorsports Park last weekend.

In Saturday’s Round 7 Pro Lite Unlimited—Deegan’s first race of the weekend—he started fourth after the inversion from qualifying and moved up in position very early. A rollover brought out a full-course caution, and the running order up front stayed the same on the restart. On lap six, Deegan was able to get by and up to second after a bicycle by RJ Anderson gave Deegan the opening. Deegan then made an inside pass for the lead at turn four. At the Competition Yellow and two more full-course cautions, Deegan held on to his lead. With just a few laps to go, and after several drivers had been strewn across the track, a green-white-checkers finish was called for. Deegan kept his No. 1 spot safe on the restart and final lap to pick up the win in his #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford.

Saturday’s Pro 2 Unlimited—the final race of the day—found Deegan in second after the first lap. In the second lap, a full-course caution was called for after another driver came to a complete stop between turns one and two. When the racing resumed, the running order in the top five stayed the same for several laps until lap six, when Deegan pulled a sliding pass for the lead in turn three. Now out front, Deegan began to distance himself from the pack, and at the Competition Yellow, he and his #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford picked up a bonus championship point for leading at that point. This order stayed the same on the restart lap, and Deegan continued to stretch out his lead over each remaining lap, coming out on top to pick up his 25th career Lucas Oil Off Road win.

In Sunday’s Pro Lite Unlimited, Deegan started out in third place before pulling up to second on lap two. After a restart from full-course caution, Deegan moved his #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford into the lead and didn’t look back, taking his second Pro Lite Unlimited first-place finish of the weekend.

In the final race of the weekend, the Pro 2 Unlimited, at Miller Motorsports Park, Deegan started out fifth in the pack in his #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford until there was a spin-out on the course moving him to fourth, which held true for many laps. After getting into second, Deegan was on the move to get the lead to make it a clean sweep of the weekend when he was slowed by a few cooling issues. Deegan played it safe and got across the line in second place.

Brown, Dover and Johnson Win on Dirt
Three Roush Yates dirt drivers found Victory Lane this weekend with their Roush Yates Ford and Chevy engines. Chris Brown captured his second win of the 2012 season with his Roush Yates 410 Chevy engine at Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Missouri, last Saturday night. Brown earned the pole position and survived heavy lapped traffic to lead all 50 laps and capture the USTMS National Championship Series victory by the length of his bumper (0.095-second margin of victory).

Jack Dover won another ASCS Midwest sprint series race last Friday night with his Roush Yates Sprint 360 Ford engine. Dover started eighth in the main feature at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Nebraska, and quickly moved up to second behind Don Droud Jr. With one lap to go, Dover passed Droud and captured his fourth win of the season.

Jason Johnson, driver for Stenhouse Jr. Racing, earned his fifth Lucas Oil ASCS victory of the season last weekend at Salina Highbanks in Salina, Oklahoma, with his Roush Yates Sprint 360 Ford engine. Johnson drew the pole starting position and battled fellow contender Johnny Herrera most of the race before Herrera's engine expired with one lap to go. Johnson's victory brought him to second in the Lucas Oil ASCS Championship Standings.

Roush Yates' FR9 engines captured poles in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and ARCA Racing Series last weekend. Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 for Richard Petty Motorsports, earned the pole at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, while Chris Buescher qualified fastest at Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Indiana.

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Michael Cooper en route to pole positions at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Photo: Mark Weber/PWC.
   

Cooper, Rapone Repeat Touring Car Poles in Canada
Michael Cooper of Syosset, New York, and Andre Rapone of Thornhill, Ontario, repeated their pole-winning efforts from last Saturday in the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car and Touring Car B classes, respectively, at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Driving the No. 03 MAZDASPEED Motorsports MAZDASPEED3, Cooper was again the only car to eclipse the 1:33 mark, running a 1:32.559 (95.640 mph) to secure his third pole of the season. Cooper went on to finish second and first in the twin sprint races last Saturday to take the Championship point lead.

Ryan Winchester (No. 72 Ligon Industries/HPD Honda Civic Si) and Todd Lamb (No. 71 National Karting News/HPD Honda Civic Si), clocked in the next two fastest times at 1:33.206 (94.976 mph) and 1:33.219 (94.963 mph), respectively.

Tristan Herbert was the first Volkswagen in qualifying, turning a 1:33.568 (94.609 mph) in the No. 33 HPA/RennGruppe/Brimtek/SG Racing Jetta GLI to complete the top five.

In Touring Car B, Rapone kept his perfect weekend going after taking the pole and both twin sprint race wins in his No. 73 Durabond Racing Honda Fit. Rapone waited until the remainder of the field had a couple of laps in the books before taking to the track.

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Fun Ford Weekend at Bandimere Speedway.
 
   

Fun Ford Weekend at Bandimere Speedway
Ford owners from all over the Rocky Mountain and Plains states made the journey to Bandimere Speedway for the June 22–23 Phil Long Ford Fun Ford Weekend presented by Roush Yates, JE Pistons and Joe Gibbs Driven.

The staging lanes were filled with Ford power, the car show field packed with all manner of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars and manufactures and vendors lined the midway.

The third and final event of a back-to-back-to-back run of 2012 Fun Ford Weekend events takes place at Bristol's Thunder Valley Dragway, June 29–30.

 Action begins Friday with a test and tune session open to all manufacturers. The day also includes Ford vs. The World—an event that pits the Fords against all-comers.