AIM Autosport #61 on pole at Daytona

AIM Autosport has earned its fourth front row start – and first pole, in the Rolex Sports Sports Car Series when Mark Wilkins took the Exchange Traded Gold No. 61 Ford Riley  to the top of the time sheets early recording a 1:41.223 second lap at 126.661 mph. Mark will start the race which goes to the green at 8:00 p.m. ET tonight at Daytona International Speedway.

"We are all absolutely thrilled" exclaimed Mark. "The Ford Riley was fast all through the morning practice sessions and both Brian (Frisselle) and I are very happy with the car. Brian did a lot of setup work this morning and it all paid off when I took the #61 out to qualify. We hit our mark early and became the ones to beat out there. Now the goal is to translate this success into the race this evening."

Both Mark and Brian were at the top of the charts all morning leading two of three practice sessions. They set their fastest time of the morning in session two – a 1:41.750, but were just nipped in the closing stages by 12/100ths of a second. Most important was the consistency shown by both drivers through each session. Running comparable lap times, Mark and Brian will look to maintain that rhythm through tonight's race.

"Everyone on the team is really pumped right now" reported AIM's Daytona Prototype team manager Don Sobering. "We have all worked very hard to get to this point in just our second season. Mark and Brian did a fantastic job today, but we are not quite ready to celebrate just yet. OK, maybe a little, although we are hoping for a better excuse later tonight."

The Brumos 250 on the 3.56 mile Daytona International Speedway road course gets underway tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET. It is scheduled to run 250 miles (70 laps) with a 2 hour 30 minute time limit. The race will be broadcast live on SPEED TV starting at 8:00 p.m. (ET)