KINETIC MOTORSPORTS BACK HOME FROM EXCITING IMSA WEEKEND AT ROAD ATLANTA

Smith Qualified 8th for the IMSA Cup Race at Road Atlanta

Buford, Ga. - Kinetic Motorsports made the short trip home from its home track of Road Atlanta after competing in the sixth installment of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge presented by Michelin. Kinetic Speed Shop owner, Russell Smith and the rest of the Kinetic crew were present for the race and maintained high hopes for positive results at the track which Kinetic frequently acquires for testing as well as for client practice sessions.

Smith enjoyed the practice times behind the wheel of his Kinetic Motorsports Porsche 997 preparing for the ever important qualifying run on Thursday afternoon. After the last practice session, the car setup was determined to be just about flawless for qualifying thanks to driver feedback and expert technicians.

During qualifying at the 2.54 mile road course, Smith piloted his car for 11 laps setting his fastest trip around at a time of 1.29.072. This time was good enough for a top-10 spot in the field putting Smith in the eighth position for the start of the race on Friday, his best qualifying position this season.

After two laps around Road Atlanta the 35 car field received the Green Flag for what would be just shy of a 45-minute battle to the finish. Smith raced extremely hard during the beginning laps going toe-to-toe with fellow competitor Tom Pank who was able to take the eighth spot away from Smith. Not wanting to give up the spot easily or permanently, Smith race Pank hard for several laps. Going into Turn-7, Smith went for the position and hit the throttle just a bit too hard spinning the car into the wall receiving repairable damage to the rear of the Porsche. He was able to get the car back around the track to enter the pits for necessary repairs. The team worked vigorously on the 997 and had it back on course in record time.

Smith looked to be back in the game before non-visible damage caused by the earlier spin resulted in a flat right rear tire. Smith again was able to drive the car back into the pits for a quick tire change enabling him to finish the race 18th in class.

Chasing Down Pank

"Although the weekend didn't turn out as we had hoped, it was truly a day of great racing up until the spin," said Smith. "I was having a great time racing Pank around Road Atlanta and feel that the incident was a result of simply hard racing to get my spot back. I was able to have my best qualifying yet here at our home track which I would like to thank my crew for helping to set the car up so perfectly. We have Laguna coming up in a few weeks so I am looking forward to finishing off the season with another great qualifying and hopefully a Top-10 finish."

Kinetic Motorsports would like to wish fellow competitor Shawn Price a quick recovery after an incident during the IMSA Cup race at Road Atlanta. Get well soon Shawn!

Kinetic Speed Shop's next event is at the world famous Daytona International Speed Way with the Porsche Club of America. This will mark the first time in history that the club has competed at the historic track. Kinetic will field its own car as well as support over 10 clients during the event. Stay tuned to www.kssmotorsports.com for race results and other information.