Gurney tops Friday Grand-Am practice at The Glen

It’s a storyline GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series followers have seen many times over the years, but we could be in for another battle between GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing and SunTrust Racing for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen TOTAL Pole Award on Saturday 11:40 a.m. ET on Saturday, with the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen set to start at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday. The race will be broadcast live on SPEED and MRN Radio.

Alex Gurney posted the quickest lap of Friday’s three practice sessions at Watkins Glen International, lapping the 3.4-mile road circuit at 1 minute, 42.532 seconds/119.377 mph in the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Corvette DP. Gurney’s lap was just four hundredths of a second quicker than Ricky Taylor’s best lap in the No. 10 SunTrust Corvette DP of 1 minute, 42.574 seconds/119.328 mph.

Gurney’s co-driver, Jon Fogarty, will be the one going for the pole position on Saturday. Fogarty is the all-time leader in Rolex Series poles with 21, including a season-best two this year. But Taylor has proven to be plenty quick in Watkins Glen qualifying in his own right, as evidenced by his pole-winning efforts for both races at the upstate New York facility last year.

And Antonio Garcia was also right there on the speed chart with a third quickest time of the day at 1 minute, 42.612 seconds/119.284 mph in the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Corvette DP.

“We’re pretty happy, but it’s awfully close," Gurney said. “You have three guys within one tenth, so there’s no breathing room there. We’re not sure what exactly everyone did with their tires, but we’re pretty happy with the balance, so it’s a good start to the weekend."

Dane Cameron was quickest on the day in GT, posting a best lap at 1 minute, 51.666 seconds/109.613 mph in the No. 42 TheRaceSite.com Mazda RX-8 for Team Sahlen. The No. 42 Mazda was quick throughout Friday’s practice sessions, but so was the No. 57 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro GT.R, which Robin Liddell drove to the second quickest GT lap of the day at 1 minute, 51.736 seconds/109.544 mph. Jonathan Bomarito was third on the day in GT with a lap at 1 minute, 51.904 seconds/109.379 mph in the No. 70 Mazdaspeed/Mazda/ModSpace/Castrol Mazda RX-8.