LEXINGTON, OHIO (August 9, 2002) –Bryan Sellers, of Centerville, Ohio captured the pole for Round Nine of the 2002 Formula Ford 2000 Zetec Championship at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Completing the top-three is Jeffrey Jones, of Sarasota, Fla., and Ross Fonferko, of Wheaton, Ill. The top ACC qualifier was Jeff Sakowicz, of Camarillo, Calif.

In warm conditions, the Zetec Championship took to the track for the 30-minute qualifying session for Saturday’s Round Nine race. Early in the session, Sellers, in the No. 3 Yes Network/3 Dimensional services/Arai/Sparco Cape Motorsports Van Diemen Ford, posted a quick lap, to jump to the top off the speed charts. As the session progressed, times began to steadily drop, and it became apparent that the pole time would be quicker than the record qualifying lap set by Sean McIntosh in July. Midway through the session, Jones bettered Seller’s time, with a fast lap of 1:22.802, in the No. 2 JCI Chemicals/Winchester Roquin Motorsports Van Diemen Ford. Almost immediately after Jones had posted his time, the session was halted for Lawson Aschenbach hitting the wall while exiting turn 11. When the session resumed, after a six-minute delay, all the drivers attacked the 2.258-mile road course, looking to improve their times. Fonferko, driving the No. 4 J&R Associates/Ross Racing Inc. Cape Motorsports Van Diemen, was in position to challenge for the pole, having posted the third fastest lap prior to the stoppage, but he was unable to post a faster time, securing his first top-three starting position. With five minutes remaining in the session, Sellers got in a quick lap, narrowly bettering Jones time by 0.100-second. At the checkered flag, the top-nine qualifiers had all posted laps faster than the previous qualifying lap record, and Sellers had captured his fifth pole position.

“Once again Cape Motorsports gave me a great car,” said Sellers, who leads the championship by 33 points over Jones, entering the doubleheader at Mid-Ohio. “You always want to showcase your talent at every race, but it’s nice to do well in front of my friends and family. Both Jeffrey [Jones] and Ross [Fonferko] are good drivers, so I’m sure it will be an exciting race tomorrow.”

“I think I lost just a little on my best lap,” said Jones, who has leads the Greg Moore Rookie of the Year standings. “I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get the pole, but there’s still a lot of racing left, with another qualifying session and two races yet to go.”

“The session went really good,” said Fonferko, who last raced in the Zetec Championship in 2001 at Sebring. “I was little surprised we were so quick right away, but the team has done a fantastic job.”

Completing the top-five is J.W. Urlin, of London, Ont., Can., in the No. 19 Budget Rent a Car/Mygale Cars OTM Motorsports Mygale Ford and Travis Irving, of Chino Hills, Calif., in the No. 85 Great Central Transport PR1 Motorsports Van Diemen Ford.