Trans-Am

Houston GP qualifying: a cast of veterans

By Chris Speigner - Motorsport.com Houston, TX - The BFGoodrich Trans Am series took the field for qualifying with no major surprises. Brian Simo and Paul Gentilozzi headed up the field in their usual manor. This qualifier was lead by a group of ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

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By Chris Speigner - Motorsport.com

Houston, TX - The BFGoodrich Trans Am series took the field for qualifying with no major surprises. Brian Simo and Paul Gentilozzi headed up the field in their usual manor. This qualifier was lead by a group of veterans with over 175 combined fast five appearances.

Brian Simo captured his third pole this year. He's sitting in a very hot seat with any one of his constituents in a position to take the lead away early and control the race early on.

When asked how it was out there, Paul Gentilozzi summed up every drivers feeling when he responded, "It sucked, I'm in second!" Gentilozzi cited car setup as his major hurdle during the run for the number one starting spot. "The car was ugly. I spent most of qualifying sideways spinning the tires."

On a great come back from the fire that devastated his car at Texas Motor Speedway, Willy T. Ribbs is sitting in the third spot as they head into the race on Saturday.

Reigning Spec Racer Ford Pro series champion, Jack Willles, qualified in the fourth position. The TWC driver is making his third fast five appearance this year. When asked if he would like to return to spec racing, Willes replied, "I don't want to go back, I want to stay here [Trans Am] and continue to move forward."

The number 84 Soenen Motorsports Mustang and its driver Chris Neville round out the fast five for the qualifier. Neville is making his third straight fast five appearances. Neville is optimistic about the end of the season saying, "Hopefully we can finish well in the next four races heading into next season."

The race will start at 4:30pm CST on Saturday, SEP 30. The race will be broadcast on tape delay on Speedvision, Oct 13 at 8:00pm EST.

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