Valiante Breaks Rolex Series Qualifying Track Record

Pole winner Michael Valiante gives a thumbs up

Michael Valiante broke the Barber Motorsports Park four-year-old track record with a lap of 1:20.521 (102.830 mph) in the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Dallara to win the pole position for Sunday's Porsche 250 presented by Bradley Arant, Round 10 of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. The race takes the green flag at 2:07 p.m. CT Sunday (SPEED, Live, 3 p.m. ET).

Valiante secured his second pole position of 2008, while co-driver Max Angelelli added a third pole for the SunTrust Racing team. Valiante broke the mark for the 2.3-mile, 16-turn circuit set by Max Papis (1:20.613; 102.713 mph) for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in October 2004.

Championship co-leader Memo Rojas was second fastest with a lap of 1:20.940 (102.298 mph) in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley. Rojas and co-driver Scott Pruett have won five of the eight Daytona Prototype races this season, opening up a 40-point lead in the championship standings.

Ricardo Zonta waited until the final minute of the session to run the third-fastest lap of the session, 1:21.257 (101.899 mph), in the No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola co-driven by Nic Jonsson. He will be joined on the second row by defending race winner Jon Fogarty, who ran a lap of 1:21.279 (101.871 mph) in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley he co-drives with Alex Gurney.

Guy Cosmo was fifth in the No. 09 Spirit of Daytona Pontiac Coyote with a time of 1:21.301 (101.844 mph), and shares the third row with David Donohue in the No. 58 Brumos Racing Porsche Riley, 1:21.301 (101.844 mph). Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers were Mark Wilkins, Tom Kimber-Smith, Bill Auberlen and Ricky Taylor.

Ham Scores Second Straight Rolex Series GT Pole Position

In GT, Nick Ham won his third pole position and second in a row, running a lap of 1:28.084 (94.001 mph) in the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 he shares with Rolex 24 At Daytona pole winner Sylvain Tremblay.

Kelly Collins, the defending race winner and co-leader in the GT championship, will start second in the No. 07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R he shares with Paul Edwards, 1:28.226 (93.850 mph). Collins made an attempt late in the session to secure the pole, but encountered traffic in the final turns.

Starting in the second row will be Jeff Segal in the No. 69 FXDD SpeedSource Mazda RX-8, 1:28.275 (93.798 mph) and Andrew Davis in the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R, 1:28.971 (93.064 mph).

Ryan Phinny will start sixth in the No. 21 Matt Connolly Motorsports Pontiac GTO.R, with Bryce Miller, Tim Lewis Jr., Ross Smith, Tim George Jr. and Eric Lux rounding out the top 10.

POST QUALIFYING QUOTES

Pole winner Michael Valiante

Michael Valiante (No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Dallara): "The guys have done such a great job all year providing me and Max with a great car. I was able to go quickly right away due to them making the car so drivable."

Memo Rojas (No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley): "We put up a decent lap. I think our car has better potential. I made a mistake on my first lap and spun, so I wasn't able to get out of traffic. But I was able to get in a good lap."

Nick Ham (No. 70 SpeedSource Mazdaspeed/Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8): "I'm honestly really surprised, but really happy, to have earned the pole. I'm really happy to be starting up front alongside the Banner car tomorrow."

Kelly Collins (No. 07 Banner Racing Banner Engineering Pontiac GXP.R): "It would have been a miracle to win the pole. My tires had already gone off. My first lap was my best lap, and I encountered traffic on my second lap. The Banner Racing team did a great job, and I'm happy to be up on the front row."

Results

POS NO. CLASS DRIVER TEAM/CAR TIME SPEED
1 10 DP Angelelli / Valiante SunTrust Racing / Pontiac Dallara 1:20.521 102.830
2 01 DP Pruett / Rojas Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates / Lexus Riley 1:20.940 102.297
3 76 DP Jonsson / Zonta Krohn Racing / Pontiac Lola 1:21.257 101.898
4 99 DP Fogarty / Gurney GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing / Pontiac Riley 1:21.279 101.871
5 09 DP Camirand / Cosmo Spirit of Daytona Racing / Porsche Coyote 1:21.281 101.868
6 58 DP Donohue / Law Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 1:21.301 101.843
7 61 DP Frisselle / Wilkins AIM Autosport / Ford Riley 1:21.435 101.676
8 16 DP Garcia / Kimber-Smith Cheever Racing / Pontiac Coyote 1:21.825 101.191
9 23 DP Auberlen / Hand Alex Job Racing / Porsche Riley 1:21.949 101.038
10 47 DP Frisselle / Taylor Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 1:22.039 100.927
11 77 DP Gidley / Jaeger Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 1:22.220 100.705
12 6 DP James / Pew Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 1:22.299 100.608
13 3 DP Lester / Lewis Southard Motorsports / Lexus Riley 1:22.483 100.384
14 60 DP Negri / Patterson Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 1:23.116 99.619
15 7 DP Plumb / Sigal Rum Bum Racing / BMW Riley 1:23.369 99.317
16 91 DP Goossens / Matthews Bob Stallings/ Riley-Matthews / Pontiac Riley 1:23.785 98.824
17 59 DP Barbosa / France Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 1:24.067 98.492
18 75 DP Krohn / van de Poele Krohn Racing / Pontiac Lola 1:24.569 97.908
19 70 GT Ham / Tremblay SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8 1:28.084 94.001
20 07 GT Collins / Edwards Banner Racing / Pontiac GXP.R 1:28.226 93.849
21 69 GT Assentato / Segal SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8 1:28.275 93.797
22 57 GT Davis / Liddell Stevenson Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 1:28.971 93.064
23 21 GT Alessi / Phinny Matt Connolly Motorsports / Pontiac GTO.R 1:29.308 92.712
24 87 GT Miller / Werner Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:29.397 92.620
25 72 GT Borcheller / Lewis Jr Autohaus Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 1:29.468 92.547
26 30 GT Sellers / Smith Racers Edge Motorsports / Mazda RX-8 1:29.718 92.289
27 67 GT George Jr / Lally TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:29.910 92.092
28 86 GT Keen / Lux Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:30.030 91.969
29 06 GT Bunting / Reese Banner Racing / Pontiac GXP.R 1:30.262 91.732
30 53 GT Borkowski / Constantine Playboy Racing / BMW M6 1:30.282 91.712
31 88 GT Johnson / Westbrook Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:30.635 91.355
32 43 GT Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker Team Sahlen / Corvette 1:30.641 91.349
33 66 GT Ballou / Pumpelly TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:30.780 91.209
34 65 GT Maher / Stanton TRG/Riegel Autosport / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:31.791 90.204
35 68 GT Gutierrez / Schroeder TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:31.794 90.201
36 40 GT Dempsey / Foster Hyper Sport / Mazda RX-8 1:31.822 90.174
37 71 GT Grant / Grant / Grant Synergy Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:34.821 87.322
38 42 GT Nonnamaker / Sahlen Team Sahlen / Corvette
39 15 GT Dumoulin / Nastasi Blackforest Motorsports / Ford Mustang