GRAND AM (BIRMINGHAM) - Curran Takes Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series...

Eric Curran needed only three qualifying laps Friday to take the pole position for Saturday afternoon’s two-and-a-half hour Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series Street Tuner (ST) race at Barber Motorsports Park, as he topped fellow ST competitors during the 15-minute session in his No. 01 Georgian Bay Motorsports SCADAPack Chevrolet Cobalt.

Curran, who will also compete in the Rolex Series GT race Saturday with regular ST and GT co-driver Jamie Holtom, set the fastest lap on his second circuit with a time of 1:41.807 (80.819 mph). It marked the team’s third pole of the season and first since last month at Mosport International Raceway.

“These Georgian Bay guys are working so hard on the Chevrolet Cobalt SS,” Curran said. “They really gave me a great car today. It was amazing. We are making a lot of changes through the last couple days. We were all over the map making adjustments, but sooner or later, sometimes you hit on it, and we nailed it. The car was absolutely perfect. It did everything I wanted it to do. These guys deserve the pole; they’ve been working hard at it all year. I’m happy for them.

Starting next to Curran will be Adam Burrows in the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW 330i. Burrows, who is also looking for his first ST victory of 2007 with co-driver Trevor Hopwood, also turned in a quick lap early with a time of 1:42.451 (80.819 mph). Burrows and Hopwood are currently tied for third in the series point standings.

“The car has been awesome all weekend,” said Burrows. “This is the first time for Trevor and I at this track, and we’ve been sneaking up on it. I just got out there in qualifying and put my head down. These Turner Motorsports guys give us such a great car every week, it’s almost like what we do is a little easy. I got my fast time early in the session, and didn’t feel there was much left in it, it was getting a little greasy out there. The Chevy Cobalt guys are strong here and Eric (Curran) is definitely going to be tough in the race.”

Row two will feature Tyler Givogue in the No. 53 Predator Auto Sport Auto Tech Chevrolet Cobalt (co-driving with Andrew Aquilante) with a time of 1:42.685 (80.635 mph) and Jose Armengol in the No. 69 SpeedSource Mondial Forwarding Mazda RX-8 (co-driving with David Haskell) with a time of 1:42.793 (80.550 mph). Glenn Bocchino, in the No. 31 i-MOTO Racing Acura/Cobalt Friction/Alpinestar Acura TSX (co-driving with Nick Wittmer), rounded out the top five at 1:42.932 (80.441 mph).

ST championship points co-leaders Billy Johnson and Karl Thomson will start 13th after Thomson posted a lap of 1:43.840 (79.738 mph) in the No. 76 Kensai Racing Compass360.com/Skunk2/Hawk Brakes Acura TSX.

In Grand Sport (GS) practice, Rolex Series regulars Bill Auberlen and Andy Lally paced the afternoon’s session with the only laps in the 1:38-minute range. Auberlen, who will co-pilot the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 with Chris Gleason, turned in a fast practice time of 1:38.210 (84.309 mph), while Lally, the defending GT race winner at Barber Motorsports Park, was second at 1:38.703 (83.888 mph) in the No. 41 TRG Carlsen Porsche/Mitchell Global Porsche 997, which he will share with Ted Ballou.

Saturday’s two-and-a-half hour Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series ST race will start at noon CT. Qualifying for the GS series is scheduled for 10 a.m. CT.