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Michael Shank Racing To Start 1-2 Today

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 26, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH - Michael Shank Racing used Ford power to sweep the front row during qualifying for the 46th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, which starts today at 1:30 p.m.

Posting a lap that bested the previous Daytona Prototype track record by more than 2 1/2 seconds, Brazilian Oswaldo Negri Jr. drove his No. 60 Ford Riley to a lap time of 1:40.793 (127.151 mph) around the 3.56-mile road course Thursday, capturing the pole for America's longest professional sports car race.

"This is a great way to start our relationship with Ford Racing and I can't say how pleased I am to be on pole," said Negri, who was using Ford power for the first time in Daytona Prototype competition. "This is nothing compared to the effort we have ahead of us for the race, but it obviously feels good to set this record time."

Negri will lead a field of 67 cars - 25 Daytona Prototypes and 42 GT machines - to the green flag before passing the car to season-long co-driver Mark Patterson and Champ Car stars Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson.

Second fastest was the No. 6 Ford Riley qualified by NASCAR Sprint Cup regular A.J. Allmendinger, who is driving for Michael Shank Racing in his third consecutive Rolex 24. Allmendinger will co-drive with Rolex Series regulars Ian James, John Pew and Burt Frisselle.

Said owner Michael Shank: "We're going to celebrate this for about three minutes and then go back to work. If this was a sprint race, I'd be ecstatic. I'm very honored at this and how we qualified, but I want to win the race. I want to win the race. That's what we've been trying to do for five years and we're going to go back and do night practice here and celebrate for a little bit and that's it. We'll have strategy meetings with having two teams on the front row and go from there."

It's the first all-Ford front row in the Rolex 24 since 1964.

"Mike Shank has put together a great team and I love coming to race for these guys, so it feels good to put them on the front row," said Allmendinger. "Mike Shank is a racer to the core, and this team is full of a lot of good guys - everyone has fun, but they are focused on getting the job done. The car was strong, and is a great way to start the weekend, but everyone knows that this is a long race, and the work really happens on Saturday once the race starts."

Other notable qualifiers were: No. 3 Marc Goossens (No. 91 Pontiac Riley, 126.840); No. 4 Max Angelelli (No. 10 Pontiac Riley, 126.689); No. 6 Scott Pruett (No. 01 Lexus Riley, 126.260); No. 11 Alex Gurney (No. 99 Pontiac Riley, 125.450); No. 13 Helio Castroneves (No. 9 Pontiac Riley, 125.331); and No. 17 Hurley Haywood (No. 59 Porsche Riley, 124.650).

In GT qualifying, the No. 70 Mazda RX-8 of Sylvain Tremblay was fastest of four manufacturers in the class' top five. Tremblay's time of 1:50.758 (115.711 mph) topped the previous GT class record of 1:51.800, set by Patrick Huisman in last year's event.

CHAMPIONS OF CHAMPIONS: Motorsports champions from all genres descend on Daytona, knowing that to win the Rolex 24 they will have to beat the world's best drivers. Among those searching for the Rolex watch that comes with a race win are defending Rolex Series champions Gurney and Jon Fogarty; former NASCAR champs Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch; two-time Indy 500 winner and "Dancing With The Stars" champion Castroneves; and defending Rolex 24 At Daytona winners Scott Pruett and Juan Pablo Montoya. The pair will look to win again with Memo Rojas and NASCAR rookie and Dario Franchitti.

FRESH WIN: Craig Stanton and Tim Traver teamed to win the Fresh From Florida 200 on Friday at Daytona, the season opener for the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series.

The No. 83 Porsche, based in Ormond Beach, captured the Grand Sport (GS) class and overall victories in Grand-Am's series for street cars.

On a late restart with less than 25 minutes remaining in the three-hour time event, Doug Goad and the No. 9 Pontiac GTO took the lead but drove wide in the international horseshoe and lost several positions. Then Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 39 Porsche took the point but the car immediately began smoking coming off NASCAR Turn 2, opening the door for Stanton to take the lead and the victory.

"There was a lot of stuff going on late in the race," Stanton said. "I didn't see but about a third of it, but I heard a lot of chatter on my radio chatter. Basically, I put my head down and worked real hard."

Nick Wittmer and Glenn Bocchino captured the Street Tuner (ST) class win in the No. 31 Acura. Wittmer's brother, Kuno Wittmer, and co-driver Peter Cunningham finished second in an Acura.

Compiled from Tribune wires

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