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GRAND-AM

Point Standings
GRAND-AM DP
After Watkins Glen

Rank Driver Points
1 Memo Rojas 228
Scott Pruett 228
3 Max Angelelli 204
Ricky Taylor 204
5 JC France 188
Joao Barbosa 188
Terry Borcheller 188
8 Darren Law 187
David Donohue 187
10 Alex Gurney 185
Jon Fogarty 185
12 John Pew 179
Ozz Negri 179
14 Brian Frisselle 151
Henri Richard 151
16 Antonio Garcia 148
Paul Edwards 148
18 Burt Frisselle 146
19 Mike Forest 123
20 Mark Wilkins 121
21 Alex Popow 110
Enzo Potolicchio 110
23 Ryan Dalziel 93
24 Mark Blundell 53
25 Michael Valiante 46
26 Matt Bell 41
27 Graham Rahal 35
Joey Hand 35
29 Dario Franchitti 32
Jamie McMurray 32
Juan Pablo Montoya 32
Scott Dixon 32
33 Christian Fittipaldi 30
Max Papis 30
35 Mark Patterson 28
Martin Brundle 28
Zak Brown 28
38 Ryan Briscoe 26
Wayne Taylor 26
40 Nic Jonsson 25
Nicolas Minassian 25
Ricardo Zonta 25
Tracy Krohn 25
44 AJ Allmendinger 24
Justin Wilson 24
Michael McDowell 24
47 Christophe Bouchut 23
Luis Diaz 23
Scott Tucker 23
50 Buddy Rice 22
51 Henry Gilbert 21
Marc Goossens 21
Shane Lewis 21
54 Raphael Matos 20
Richard Westbrook 20
Ryan Hunter-Reay 20
57 Jimmie Johnson 19
58 Johannes van Overbeek 18
Jorg Bergmeister 18
Patrick Long 18
Seth Neiman 18
62 Sascha Maassen 17
63 Colin Braun 16
Doug Peterson 16
Jan Heylen 16
Jared Beyer 16
Jim Lowe 16
RJ Valentine 16
Romain Iannetta 16
Ross Kaiser 16
Scott Mayer 16
Tomas Enge 16
 

Ricky Taylor Snares Pole Position

For Saturday's Brumos Porsche 250 At Daytona
Friday, July 02, 2010

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Told he needed to run "one more perfect lap," Ricky Taylor responded with a lap of 1:42.341 (125.228 mph) to capture the pole position for Saturday's Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway, the eighth round of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16.

The race takes the green flag at 11 a.m. Flag-to-flag SPEED coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET.

Taylor put the No. 10 SunTrust Ford/Dallara atop the scoring charts early in the 15-minute session, and bettered his speed three times to hold off defending Daytona Prototype champion Jon Fogarty in the No. 99 GAINSCO Chevrolet/Riley. Taylor is in his first year co-driving with Max Angelelli, defending winner of the Brumos Porsche 250.

But that was not enough for team strategist Simon Hodgson, who told the 20-year-old student at the University of Central Florida that he needed to go faster.

"As always, the car was capable of winning the pole, and it was a matter of putting all of the corners together," said Taylor, who recorded his second pole of the season. "When you run with a team like SunTrust, it's easy to look good. I think I could have gone even faster if I had another lap, but I ran out of fuel."

"Ricky was fantastic, and he continues to exceed my expectations," said Angelelli, who co-drove with Brian Frisselle in last year's victory. Angelelli also won this event in 2004, co-driving with car owner Wayne Taylor, father of the pole winner. "I am looking forward to tomorrow night - and the future."

Fogarty was second fastest with a lap of 1:42.454 (125.090 mph). Starting on the second row will be Darren Law, 1:42.904 (124.543 mph) in the No. 59 Brumos Porsche/Riley, and points leader Memo Rojas in the No. 01 TELMEX BMW/Riley shared with Scott Pruett, 1:43.377 (123.973 mph). Rojas and Pruett have won five of seven races this year, including the last two.

Ironically, while Taylor secured the pole on his final lap, his younger brother Jordan Taylor was bumped off the top slot in GT qualifying on the final lap by Sylvain Tremblay. Tremblay ran a lap of 1:50.495 (115.987 mph) in the No. 70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 he drove to victory in the 2010 Rolex 24 At Daytona with co-driver Jonathan Bomarito.

Tremblay, second in GT points, is a two-time GT winner of the Brumos Porsche 250. Tremblay also won the Rolex 24 twice - all in the No. 70 Mazda RX-8. The No. 70 he drove Friday is the same car that was involved in an accident two weeks ago at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course; the team replaced the entire front end of the car.

"I was gradually getting quicker on every lap," Tremblay said. "As the track got better, I played with my line and adjusted the bars - and that got the car better at the end. Jordan was quick - but he always qualifies fantastically."

It will be the seventh front-row start of 2010 for Jordan Taylor, who ran a lap of 1:50.514 (115.967 mph) in the No. 30 Racers Edge Motorsports Mazda RX-8 he shares with Todd Lamb. Taylor leads the class with three poles.

Starting on the second row will be Adam Christodoulou, 1:51.326 (115.121 mph) in the No. 68 Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development Mazda RX-8 co-driven by John Edwards; and James Gue, 1:51.835 (114.597 mph) in the No. 41 Global Diving & Salvage Mazda RX-8 he shares with defending GT race winner Leh Keen.

Saturday's schedule opens with a 9:45 a.m. ET with a 20-minute practice session. The two-and-a-half hour Brumos Porsche 250 begins at 11 a.m. ET.

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