Backstretch Motorsports

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (August 7, 2008) — One week after scoring his first Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 victory, Brian Frisselle gained his first career pole position Thursday in qualifying for the Crown Royal 200, shattering the Watkins Glen International short course record in the process.

Frisselle ran a lap of 1:05.243 (135.187 mph) on the last lap of the session, and will lead the 20-car field Friday for Round 12 of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 at 6:37 p.m. (SPEED, 8 p.m. ET). It was the second pole position for the No. 61 AIM Autosport Exchange Traded Gold Ford Riley, with Mark Wilkins qualifying fastest for the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway in July.

“We definitely have momentum on our side,” Frisselle said. “If you look at the last few races, Mark won the pole at Daytona, we were leading the race at Barber before our engine failure and we won last week at Montreal. It’s finally coming together. We’ve been strong, but we got the monkey off our backs with our first win. That definitely helped the team. Now, everyone’s ready to go after it.”

David Donohue, a three-time Daytona Prototype pole winner in 2008, was second fastest with a lap of 1:05.740 (134.165 mph), in the No. 58 Brumos Racing Porsche Riley. Donohue and co-driver Darren Law seemed headed to victory last weekend in the Montreal 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but ran out of gas only a few yards from the finish and finished third.

“We’ve got a lot of resolve,” Donohue said. “Losing that way makes us more motivated. It’s been a while since we won a race (2003 at Mont-Tremblant, Canada), but in our hearts, we’ve won several races.”

Sharing the second row will be Michael Valiante, 1:06.027 (133.582 mph) in the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Dallara he co-drives with Max Angelelli, and Jon Fogarty, 1:06.163 (133.307 mph) in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley he co-drives with Alex Gurney. Fogarty set the track record last year with a lap of 1:07.020 (130.603 mph).

Rounding out the top 10 were Memo Rojas, Mark Patterson, Bill Auberlen, Christian Fittipaldi, Ricky Taylor and John Pew. The top 13 qualifiers - also including Shane Lewis, Nic Jonsson and Andy Lally - were faster than the standing qualifying record.

Friday’s activities at The Glen include practice and qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and practice for the Nationwide Series. The Crown Royal 200, an 82-lap race with a two-hour time limit, is set to take the green flag at 6:37 p.m.

August 7 - 8, 2008
Crown Royal 200 - DP Only
Watkins Glen International - Short Course
Watkins Glen, NY

POS NO. CLASS CLASS POS. DRIVER TEAM/CAR TIME SPEED SPONSORS
1 61 DP 1 Frisselle / Wilkins AIM Autosport / Ford Riley 1:05.243 135.186 Exchange Traded Gold, Mike Direct Connect
2 58 DP 2 Donohue / Law Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 1:05.660 134.328 Brumos Porsche, Kendall
3 10 DP 3 Angelelli / Valiante SunTrust Racing / Pontiac Dallara 1:06.027 133.581 SunTrust
4 99 DP 4 Fogarty / Gurney GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing / Pontiac Riley 1:06.163 133.307 GAINSCO Auto Insurance
5 01 DP 5 Pruett / Rojas Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates / Lexus Riley 1:06.219 133.194 TELMEX
6 60 DP 6 Negri / Patterson Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 1:06.358 132.915 Hospital for Special Surgery
7 23 DP 7 Auberlen / Hand Alex Job Racing / Porsche Riley 1:06.456 132.719 Ruby Tuesday
8 16 DP 8 Fittipaldi / Garcia Cheever Racing / Pontiac Coyote 1:06.463 132.705 Crown Royal Cask No. 16
9 47 DP 9 Frisselle / Taylor Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 1:06.551 132.529 Brach’s, CDOC
10 6 DP 10 James / Pew Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 1:06.645 132.343
11 3 DP 11 Lester / Lewis Southard Motorsports / Lexus Riley 1:06.666 132.301
12 76 DP 12 Jonsson / Zonta Krohn Racing / Pontiac Lola 1:06.699 132.235
13 4 DP 13 Lally / Wallace Childress-Howard Motorsports / Pontiac Crawford 1:06.810 132.016 AT&T
14 77 DP 14 Gidley / Jaeger Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 1:07.183 131.283 Kodak
15 91 DP 15 Goossens / Matthews Bob Stallings/ Riley-Matthews / Pontiac Riley 1:07.244 131.164 Riley-Matthews Motorsports
16 59 DP 16 Barbosa / France Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 1:07.398 130.864 Brumos Porsche, Kendall
17 7 DP 17 Plumb / Sigal Rum Bum Racing / BMW Riley 1:07.422 130.817 Rum Bum, Big Vision Miami, Caramba Tequila
18 09 DP 18 Camirand / Cosmo Spirit of Daytona Racing / Porsche Coyote 1:07.447 130.769
19 22 DP 19 de Quesada / Dumoulin / Gabel Alegra Motorsports / Porsche Riley 1:09.934 126.118 Gatorade, Today MD
20 75 DP 20 Krohn / van de Poele Krohn Racing / Pontiac Lola 1:10.601 124.927

* - Withdrew