Ariano’s Friday success meant he would be the target on Saturday. Saturday’s racing also took place on the 3.0 mile layout so morning warm up found drivers refining their lines or getting a feel for the cooler temps and any over night set-up changes. The most often asked question after the first session was “What did Ariano run?” When the time sheets were posted most were shocked with Ariano only having turned a low 2:25 good enough for just 5th in the 944-SPEC group. The only person not surprised was Jon himself as he had been caught by traffic and took it easy a bit. The quiet leader of the time sheets was local Salt Lake City resident Todd Imwold. Todd’s 2:23.2 was not the fastest of weekend, but he saw major improvements after finally solving the overheating issues that plagued him on Friday.

The next shocker came in qualifying as times were posted. As expected Ariano better his Friday best time by running a 2:22.1. The shocking part however as that this only earned him 4th on the 944-SPEC grid. Three drivers had cracked the 2:22 barrier lead by the surging Imwold with a shocking 2:21.0. A total of six drivers put in laps faster than Friday’s “fast lap” showing how quickly you can become yesterdays news. The top 5 for Saturday’s feature race were Imwold, Lofgren, Hamden, Ariano and Paluch. Dave Dirks in 6th was the other driver to crack in to the 2:22 range.