Backstretch Motorsports

Leads, Ala., July 19, 2008 – The SunTrust Pontiac Daytona Prototype (DP) will start from the pole for tomorrow’s running of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16.

The heat is proving to be a factor for all of the teams this weekend. With temperatures averaging in the mid-90s it is playing havoc with the track and the cars. With times declining in the afternoon heat the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Dallara driven by Michael Valiante took the pole for tomorrow’s race with a time of 1:20.521. Valiante is joined in the 10 with co-driver Max Angelelli. The 2005 series champions are trying to make a late season run at the points standings. They have had a difficult season to date which has included on the track contact as well as a hauler fire which destroyed their first Dallara

“Like I’ve said all year, the crew have done such a phenomenal job to provide me and Max a great car,” Valiante said. “It’s a big event for SunTrust and I was able to go quickly right away due to the car handling so well today. We’ve been working really hard all weekend long to continue to improve the car, and we hit it just right in qualifying. My laps were pretty clear, I didn’t hit any traffic. Maybe there was a tenth or two left, but other than that I was really pleased in qualifying. You know, this year’s been so tough for the whole SunTrust team that I’m just keeping my head down and pushing as hard as I can every session. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing and hopefully we’ll have a trouble-free race tomorrow and come away with a win if everything goes well. I think, always in the race, you have to take a calmer approach than you do in qualifying because qualifying is always an all-out attack to try to get the quickest lap time. Here, from what I’ve found, traffic is unbelievable with the GT cars. It’s like they don’t even see you. It’s going to be a huge challenge just getting by them all race long. That’s going to be the most important thing in my opinion.”

Memo Rojas qualified second to put Lexus on the outside of the front row for tomorrow’s Porsche 250 at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

Rojas will co-drive the #01 Telmex Lexus with Scott Pruett tomorrow as the team looks for its sixth win in the season’s first nine races. The duo has finished in the top three eight times this season.

“I spent the first four laps just trying to get a clean lap,” said Rojas. “It wasn’t really until the end of the session that I got a clear run – and by that time the good grip was gone out of the tires. Track position is going to be critical tomorrow due to the lack of long straightaways here and the difficulty in passing.”

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, 1:21.301 (101.844 mph), and shares the third run 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.

In GT, Nick Ham won his third pole position and second in the 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.

“I’m honestly really surprised, but really happy, to have earned the pole,” Ham said. “I’m really happy to be starting up front with the Banner car tomorrow.”

The Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R of Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards will start from the second position in GT.

SPEED will provide live coverage of the Barber event beginning Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET.

July 18 - 20, 2008
Porsche 250 by Bradley Arant
Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, Alabama

POS NO. CLASS CLASS POS. DRIVER TEAM/CAR TIME SPEED SPONSORS
1 10 DP 1 Angelelli / Valiante SunTrust Racing / Pontiac Dallara 1:20.521 102.830 SunTrust
2 01 DP 2 Pruett / Rojas Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates / Lexus Riley 1:20.940 102.297 TELMEX
3 76 DP 3 Jonsson / Zonta Krohn Racing / Pontiac Lola 1:21.257 101.898
4 99 DP 4 Fogarty / Gurney GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing / Pontiac Riley 1:21.279 101.871 GAINSCO Auto Insurance
5 09 DP 5 Camirand / Cosmo Spirit of Daytona Racing / Porsche Coyote 1:21.281 101.868
6 58 DP 6 Donohue / Law Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 1:21.301 101.843 Brumos Porsche, Kendall
7 61 DP 7 Frisselle / Wilkins AIM Autosport / Ford Riley 1:21.435 101.676 Exchange Traded Gold, Mike Direct Connect
8 16 DP 8 Garcia / Kimber-Smith Cheever Racing / Pontiac Coyote 1:21.825 101.191 Crown Royal Cask No. 16
9 23 DP 9 Auberlen / Hand Alex Job Racing / Porsche Riley 1:21.949 101.038 Ruby Tuesday
10 47 DP 10 Frisselle / Taylor Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 1:22.039 100.927 CDOC
11 77 DP 11 Gidley / Jaeger Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 1:22.220 100.705 Kodak
12 6 DP 12 James / Pew Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 1:22.299 100.608
13 3 DP 13 Lester / Lewis Southard Motorsports / Lexus Riley 1:22.483 100.384
14 60 DP 14 Negri / Patterson Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 1:23.116 99.619
15 7 DP 15 Plumb / Sigal Rum Bum Racing / BMW Riley 1:23.369 99.317 Rumbum.com, Big Vision Miami, Caramba Tequila
16 91 DP 16 Goossens / Matthews Bob Stallings/ Riley-Matthews / Pontiac Riley 1:23.785 98.824 Riley-Matthews Motorsports
17 59 DP 17 Barbosa / France Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 1:24.067 98.492 Brumos Porsche, Kendall
18 75 DP 18 Krohn / van de Poele Krohn Racing / Pontiac Lola 1:24.569 97.908
19 70 GT 1 Ham / Tremblay SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8 1:28.084 94.001 Castrol Syntec, Mazda
20 07 GT 2 Collins / Edwards Banner Racing / Pontiac GXP.R 1:28.226 93.849 Banner Engineering
21 69 GT 3 Assentato / Segal SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8 1:28.275 93.797 FXDD
22 57 GT 4 Davis / Liddell Stevenson Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 1:28.971 93.064 Stevenson Auto, Bryan Mark Financial
23 21 GT 5 Alessi / Phinny Matt Connolly Motorsports / Pontiac GTO.R 1:29.308 92.712 Barbetti, Erremme, APCO, Lucy Plast, P1 Groupe, Pacific Teaze, Baja Cantina
24 87 GT 6 Miller / Werner Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:29.397 92.620 Marquis Jet, Resorts International, PowerPlus-Porsche Performance Systems, IPC, Modified Luxury & Exotics Magazine, Total Lubricants
25 72 GT 7 Borcheller / Lewis Jr Autohaus Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 1:29.468 92.547 Autohaus Motorsports
26 30 GT 8 Sellers / Smith Racers Edge Motorsports / Mazda RX-8 1:29.718 92.289 Maxwell Paper Company, Idemitsu Racing Oil
27 67 GT 9 George Jr / Lally TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:29.910 92.092
28 86 GT 10 Keen / Lux Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:30.030 91.969 The Media Barons, PowerPlus-Porsche Performance Systems, Modified Luxury & Exotics Magazine
29 06 GT 11 Bunting / Reese Banner Racing / Pontiac GXP.R 1:30.262 91.732 Banner Engineering
30 53 GT 12 Borkowski / Constantine Playboy Racing / BMW M6 1:30.282 91.712 Playboy, Verve, Taser, Palms, Aprilia, Original BMW Parts, Fall-Line
31 88 GT 13 Johnson / Westbrook Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:30.635 91.355
32 43 GT 14 Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker Team Sahlen / Corvette 1:30.641 91.349 Theracesite.com
33 66 GT 15 Ballou / Pumpelly TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:30.780 91.209 Mitchell Rubber
34 65 GT 16 Maher / Stanton TRG/Riegel Autosport / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:31.791 90.204 Mike Wiegel Helicopter Skiing, Total-R Insulation Solutions
35 68 GT 17 Gutierrez / Schroeder TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:31.794 90.201
36 40 GT 18 Dempsey / Foster Hyper Sport / Mazda RX-8 1:31.822 90.174
37 71 GT 19 Grant / Grant / Grant Synergy Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:34.821 87.322 Courtyard by Marriott
38 42 GT 0 Nonnamaker / Sahlen Team Sahlen / Corvette - - Theracesite.com
39 15 GT 0 Dumoulin / Nastasi Blackforest Motorsports / Ford Mustang - - USG, Guardian, DeWalt

* - Withdrew