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."

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