Garcia, Cameron win Grand-Am pole in Alabama

In addition to winning his first DP pole, Antonio Garcia scored the first DP pole for both Spirit of Daytona Racing, Coyote.

Moving to Earnhardt Childress Racing power is for the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series season is already paying dividends for Spirit of Daytona Racing. Antonio Garcia ran a lap of 101.368 mph (1:21.682) in Friday's qualifying at Barber Motorsports Park to capture the pole for Saturday's Porsche 250.

It was the first career pole for Garcia, Spirit of Daytona Racing and the Coyote chassis.

"This is my fourth year with the Coyote chassis and we've been developing the car a lot," said Garcia, whose lone Rolex Series victory was in the 2009 Rolex 24 At Daytona for Brumos Racing. "We've been very close to having the pole position twice. Now I'm very happy for Coyote and Spirit of Daytona for this first pole."

Jon Fogarty will start second, running a lap of 100.756 mph (1:22.178) in the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Chevrolet/Riley co-driven by Alex Gurney.

"To convert this into a win, we're going to have to be extremely smart during the race to convert this into a victory relative to pacing ourselves and conserving the car and the tires," Fogarty said. "We have some ideas that should help us in the race. Our goal is to have a consistent car, not necessarily maximizing our speed."

GT qualifying also saw first-time poles for both the driver and car owner.

Dane Cameron was quickest in the No. 41 Dempsey Racing/Team Seattle Mazda RX-8, running a lap of 90.883 mph (1:31.106).

"Last year Dempsey Racing won its first race, so I'm proud to have giving the team its first pole," said Cameron, who co-drives with James Gue. "If everything goes well tomorrow, maybe we can get win number two in the column for Dempsey Racing."

"Dane has done phenomenally well all year," said Patrick Dempsey, who earned his first pole as a car owner. He will start eighth in the team's No. 40 Visit Florida Mazda RX-8. "I'm really happy with the team. Everyone's gelling nicely, and all their hard work is a testament to how our cars are doing so well here.

Robin Liddell will start second in GT, after running a lap of 90.630 mph (1:31.360) in the No. 57 Stevenson Automotive Group Camaro co-driven by Jan Magnussen.

The Porsche 250 will take the green flag at 4 p.m. ET Saturday. The race will be televised on SPEED, beginning at noon ET on Sunday.

DAYTONA PROTOTYPE TOP-FIVE QUALIFIERS (POSITIONS 1-5 OVERALL):

1. Edwards/ García, No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Coyote-Chevrolet, 1 minute, 21.682 seconds

2. Fogarty/Gurney, No. 99 Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing Riley-Chevrolet, 1:22.178

3. Angelelli/Taylor, No. 10 SunTrust Racing Dallara-Chevrolet, 1:22.193

4. Pruett/Rojas, No. 4 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Riley-BMW, 1:22.374

5. Frisselle/Richard, No. 77 Doran Racing Dallara-Ford, 1:22.741

GT TOP-FIVE QUALIFIERS (POSITIONS 11-15 OVERALL):

1. Cameron/Gue, No. 41 Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8, 1:31.106

2. Liddell/Magnussen, No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro GT.R, 1:31.360

3. Gavin/Schaldach, No. 07 Banner Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT.R, 1:31.642

4. Gidley/Nonnamaker, No. 42 Team Sahlen Mazda RX-8, 1:31.772

5. Davis/Keen, No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche GT3, 1:31.947