Cup's Allmendinger earns outside pole for Rolex 24
By Official Release
January 24, 2008
08:26 PM EST
type size: + -DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Michael Shank Racing used Ford power to sweep the front row Thursday during qualifying for the 46th running of Rolex 24 at Daytona, which starts at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
Posting a lap that bested the previous Daytona Prototype track record by more than 2.5 seconds, Brazilian Oswaldo Negri Jr. drove his No. 60 Ford Riley to a lap time of 1:40.793 (127.151 mph) around the 3.56-mile road course, capturing the pole for America's longest professional sports car race.
Second fastest was the Michael Shank Racing sister car, the No. 6 Ford Riley qualified by Sprint Cup regular A.J. Allmendinger, who is driving for Shank in his third consecutive Rolex 24.
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A tradition was born in 1962 when Daytona Beach native Fireball Roberts became the first NASCAR driver to compete in the sports-car sprint that has evolved into the Rolex 24.
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"Mike Shank has put together a great team and I love coming to race for these guys, so it feels good to put them on the front row," Allmendinger said. "Mike is a racer to the core, and this team is full of a lot of good guys. Everyone has fun, but they are focused on getting the job done. The car was strong, and this is a great way to start the weekend, but everyone knows that this is a long race and the work really happens on Saturday once the race starts."
Negri will lead a field of 67 cars -- 25 Daytona Prototypes and 42 GT machines -- to the green flag before passing the No. 60 machine to season-long co-driver Mark Patterson and Champ Car stars Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson.
Allmendinger will co-drive the No. 6 machine with Rolex Series regulars Ian James, John Pew and Burt Frisselle.
Belgian Marc Goossens qualified third with a time of 1:41.041 (126.840 mph), also bettering the previous lap record set by Alex Gurney in 2007. Goossens will co-drive with season-long teammate Jim Matthews, IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year Ryan Hunter-Reay and sports car star Johnny O'Connell.
In GT qualifying, the No. 70 Mazda RX-8 of Sylvain Tremblay was fastest of four manufacturers in the class's top five. Tremblay's time of 1:50.758 (115.711 mph) topped the previous GT class record of 1:51.800, set by Patrick Huisman in last year's event.
The top 30 times have been locked in for Saturday's grid. Twenty-four of the 25 Daytona Prototypes posted a qualifying time, while six GT cars locked in times. The remaining 36 GT machines may try to improve their times Friday for Pos. 7-42.
The Rolex Series returns to the track for practice at 9 a.m. ET Friday, with final qualifying at 11:40 a.m. The final practice for the Rolex 24 at Daytona is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, with the twice-around-the-clock commencing at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and ending at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
