Chuck Hemmingson, of Des Moines, Ia., again heads the Subaru Road Racing Team in qualifying for Saturday’s Grand-Am KONI Challenge race on the famed Watkins Glen International race track near Watkins Glen, N.Y., with a 92.468mph around the 3.4-mile circuit in his #111 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B race car.

ICY/Phoenix team partner David Rosenblum, Langhorne, Pa., qualified his #141 Subaru only a tick of the watch slower at 91.828mph. Hemmingson’s teammate and co-driver for the 2 ½-hour race, will be Kris Skavnes, Sparta, N.J. Hemmingson and Skavnes won the most recent race, two weeks ago at Mid-Ohio, and are second in Drivers’ Championship points. Rosenblum shares his car with 21-year old Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa.

“Tenth place for Chuck in qualifying, and 16th for Dave, isn’t where we wanted to be, but they’re in the field and positioned well for tomorrow as we focused on developing a race setup for the suspension,” said Joe Aquilante, Rosenblum’s partner in the ownership and management of ICY / Phoenix.

Motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America, Inc., James Han, referred to the performance potential of the spec.B race cars for Saturday’s race and expressed confidence. “With 70 cars in the combined race for the Street Tuner and Grand Sport classes, race traffic is likely to play a part in the final outcome. But our [Legacy] cars show good performance in the high-speed corners and braking zones.  Plus, the experience of our drivers should make the difference.”

“The Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B race car has no Watkins Glen history in this series, but all our drivers have won here,” he added.

The Subaru Road Racing Team is sponsored by Subaru of America, Inc., Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), Subaru Indiana Automotive, Inc. (SIA), Automotive Racing Products, Lista, Rotary Lifts, JRZ, EcuTek, Perrin, Cusco, Carbonetic, Hawk Brakes, Quarter Master Industries, Disc Brakes Australia, Freem, and Racing Radios. The cars are prepared by ICY/Phoenix Racing.