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Koch Captures Second Win of Season At NOLA

AVONDALE, La. (April 11, 2015) – Kenton Koch captured his second win in the 2015 Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda series with a win Saturday in Round 3 at NOLA Motorsports Park.

 

Koch, 20, from Glendora, California, led from start to finish and won under a caution triggered by separate incidents toward the end of the race, which was scheduled for 30 minutes. The race was shortened due to two lengthy cautions, with limited green flag action on the 13-turn, 2.74-mile road course.

 

Championship leader Koch led a sweep of the podium by reigning Team Champions JDC Motorsports. Teammates Clark Toppe and Matt McMurry finished second and third, respectively.

 

“I really wish we could have had more green racing,” Koch said. “It would have been a lot more fun. But the few laps we did have, Clark was right there. I knew it was going to be some good racing.

 

“On the restart, I got a pretty good gap at least halfway through the lap before another yellow flew. I think I could have got a gap going. Hopefully tomorrow we get in more racing.”

 

Toppe, 17, from The Woodlands, Texas, split the opening two rounds of the series with Koch last month at Sebring and started third in this round. Toppe passed McMurry, 17, from Phoenix, on the first lap and gained ground on teammate Koch for the lead. But Toppe’s charge was cut short by the cautions.

 

Series veteran Michal Chlumecky took first in the Lites 1 Masters class in the No. 31 Eurosport Racing Élan DP02 chassis powered by a Mazda engine on Cooper Tires, finishing fifth overall. Todd Slusher won the Lites 2 class in the No. 62 ONE Motorsports entry, finishing seventh overall.

 

Masters
In his season debut, Chlumecky won the Lites 1 Masters division by climbing from 10th to fifth during the short green flag stint.
“Staying clean was a challenge today,” Chlumecky said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get to have as much green flag racing as we’d like to get the adrenaline racing the way we like. But my team did a fantastic job. I had an incident earlier this morning during qualifying, and they put the car back together better than it was this morning. So hats off to them at Eurosport.”

 

Joel Janco, from Key Largo, Florida, followed his double podium finish in March at Sebring International Raceway with another second-place finish in the No. 25 Performance Tech Motorsports entry. Gerhard Watzinger, from Miami, placed third in the No. 32 ONE Motorsports entry for his first podium in the series.

 

Lites 2

 

Slusher, from Las Vegas, picked up his second victory and third podium finish of the season.

 

“So there was no lack of excitement, let’s put it that way,” Slusher said. “It was exciting from the minute we went green. Obviously not a lot of racing, but the excitement was over the top. A lot of guys crashing and spinning in front of me, and I was just trying to stay on track and stay in it. Luckily I did, and I was able to come out on top in L2, so very, very happy with that.”

 

Slusher was followed by Max DeAngelis in the No. 7 Eurosport Racing entry. John Salmon rounded out the top three in the No. 46 ODU Engineering Race Team entry.

 

Up Next

 

Round 4, a 45-minute race, is scheduled to start at 9:15 a.m. (CT) Sunday. For live updates on all the action, follow @IMSALive on Twitter. For live timing, visit scoring.imsa.com.

 

For more information about Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, visit www.imsa.com, follow hashtag #CTPL @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.

 

ROUND 3 POST-RACE QUOTES

KENTON KOCH (No. 60 JDC Motorsports, winner): “I don’t know what to say, honestly. I hate to win like that. I really wish we could have had more green racing. It would have been a lot more fun. But the few laps we did have, Clark (Toppe) was right there. I knew it was going to be some good racing. On the restart, I got a pretty good gap at least halfway through the lap before another yellow flew. I think I could have got a gap going. Hopefully tomorrow we get in more racing.”

CLARK TOPPE (No. 10 JDC Motorsports, second): “There was no rain, but very uneventful. My butt is actually numb from sitting there behind the pace car the entire time. We didn’t get to fight or really challenge Kenton (Koch). So hopefully tomorrow we get some green flag racing.”

MATT McMURRY (No. 20 JDC Motorsports, third): “I didn’t really get to see anything. I came around after a lap, and there were like six cars all over the place. It was a good lap. I’m surprised how much carnage there was today. I would have expected that tomorrow when it’s going to rain.”

MICHAL CHLUMECKY (No. 31 Europsort Racing, first Lites Masters): “Staying clean was a challenge today. But five minutes of racing is still five minutes of racing that we get to enjoy. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to have as much green flag racing as we’d like to get the adrenaline racing the way we like. But my team did a fantastic job. I had an incident earlier this morning during qualifying, and they put the car back together better than it was this morning. So hats off to them at Eurosport.”

JOEL JANCO (No. 25 Performance Tech Motorsports, second Lites Masters): “The car was great. I was having a lot of fun racing with Michal (Chlumecky), and I look forward to tomorrow. Hopefully we get a few more green laps. Performance Tech did a great job, as usual. It’s another second-place finish, so we’re being consistent. But we’re going to push for first.”

GERHARD WATZINGER (No. 32 ONE Motorsports, third Lites Masters): “I think today the priority was to just stay out of trouble, which fortunately I was able to do. The restart was a little dicey, but I was able to stay out of trouble and finally we finished the race under yellow. So hopefully tomorrow we get a little bit more green-flag racing.”

TODD SLUSHER (No. 62 ONE Motorsports, winner Lites 2): “So there was no lack of excitement, let’s put it that way. It was exciting from the minute we went green. Obviously not a lot of racing, but the excitement was over the top. A lot of guys crashing and spinning in front of me, and I was just trying to stay on track and stay in it. Luckily I did, and I was able to come out on top in L2, so very, very happy with that.”

MAX DeANGELIS (No. 7 Eurosport Racing, second Lites 2): “Really I was just trying to get through the first corner. We were three- or four-wide in the first turn, and I was able to get around. And then once the carnage started, I think I was really just lucky to get through the melee. We had some good restart strategy, but I got lucky. I wish we would have had a lot more racing laps, but the guys at Eurosport gave me a great car, so I’m glad for that.”

JOHN SALMON (No. 46 ODU Engineering Race Team, third Lites 2): “Pandemonium. I can’t believe I escaped unscathed through all of it. It’s kind of a blur now, but the restart I had done well to gain a few positions earlier in the race, so I was sitting pretty well racing with Max (De Angelis). I was focused on the restart, I think we all were. Came back on in the front straight, and it looked like someone set a bomb off. We dove one way, and Max got the clean line. But anyway, it was a well-fought race.”

 

 

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