In a hotly contested IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge qualifying session, Jon Bennett qualified the CORE autosport entry sixth for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.

Amidst chamber of commerce weather at the historic 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course, Bennett led the early stages of the 15-minute session. He mingled among the top four until final-lap flyers from two competitors bumped the No. 54 Flex-Box/Composite Resources ORECA FLM09 to sixth at the checkered flag. Bennett’s official qualifying time was a 1:40.422 (121.8 mph).

Bennett will share the No. 54 with Colin Braun and Mark Wilkins over six hours of racing on Sunday. In addition to being Round Six of the WeatherTech Championship, Watkins Glen is the third part of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup, which highlights the longest races of the season: Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans.

The Six Hours of the Glen will air live on FOX Sports 1, Sunday, July 3, at 10am ET.

Jon Bennett
Driver: No. 54 ORECA FLM09
“I’m happy to be back at Watkins Glen. The new surface is amazing. Jeff Braun has our car really well tuned for the track and for our driving personalities. I thought qualifying was going to go better than it did as I was leading the first half of the session, but as the closing minutes ticked off we dropped a few positions. It’s fun to win qualifying, but at the end of the day tomorrow is really more important.  

“Being a six-hour race, it’s really a mini-endurance race. All the same rules apply: be organized and pick your battles wisely. You also want to go fast but not get yourself into situations too early that aren’t relevant. My plan is to go fast in my stint, and Mark will do the same. Then we’ll hand it off to Colin to finish.”