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The track layout really suited the VW Beetles of Scott Speed and Tanner Foust. Speed ended up taking pole with Foust second. Chris Atkinson in his WRX qualified 3rd. In Lites, Alex Keyes took pole, with Cyril Raymond in 2nd and Christian Brooks 3rd.
The first heats were run on Saturday. GRC provides for great door to door action. Each early heat was split into two races for both Lites and Supercars. Heats for GRC serve two purposes: the first is qualifying order for the Final race. Heats also award points, so finishing well in each heat is crucial to winning the championship. A DNF or DNS counts for zero points, so limping a broken car home can is still advantageous. For the first Lites, Connor Martell lead teammate James Rimmer to a Dirtfish 1-2, ahead of Travis PeCoy and Cole Keats.
Race 2 was a bit more interesting. Christian Brooks got a wonderful start and took the lead early. Behind him, Alex Keyes and Cyril Raymond bumped and banged for second spot. Keyes pulled off a daring outside pass in Turn 3 to pull off a crossover and take second from Raymond.
Two laps later, Brooks took his Joker lap and Keyes once again stuck his nose in and pushed past his teammate for the lead. Raymond took his Joker on Lap 2. While Keyes had the lead, he would need to pull off a flawless Joker lap to grab the win.
Keyes ran wide during his next lap, negating any advantage he gained by not taking the Joker. When he did take his Joker, he got passed by Cyril Raymond immediately, who had taken over second from Brooks on the previous lap. Brooks then initiated an early drift to cut under his teammate and snatch second from Keyes. From first to third in just two corners! This is the order the drivers would finish with Matt Halliday filling the final position.
With the Lites wrapped up for Saturday, Supercars rolled out for their first heat. Steve Arpin came into the Indianapolis round holding down second place in the points standings. He would need as many good results as possible to catch Scott Speed in first, and stay away from Foust in third. With this in mind, he drove like a bat out of hell in his first heat. He took second before the cars hit the dirt, then got a great drive out of Turn 4 as he trailed Cabot Bigham in the lead.
