GRAND AM (THE GLEN) - Fogarty Captures Record-Breaking Pole Position...

With a record-breaking performance, Jon Fogarty and co-driver Alex Gurney will lead the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve Daytona Prototypes to the green flag in Friday’s Crown Royal 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International.

Fogarty turned a qualifying lap of 1:07.020 (131.603 mph) in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley, breaking the previous Daytona Prototype 2.45-mile, 11-turn short-course record of 1:07.496 (130.674 mph) at Watkins Glen, set by Gurney in the same car last season. The pole position is the team’s eighth consecutive, besting the seven consecutive pole positions set by Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Pruett and Max Papis in 2004. Fogarty has seven total individual pole positions this season, tying a record set by James Weaver in 2001 and Papis in 2004.

“It’s great,” Fogarty said. “We’re really gunning for this championship, but it’s always nice to be acknowledged for these accomplishments. It’s the car; it’s all of us together. My hat’s off to the team. Hopefully we can get some sort of record by coming back and winning the championship.”

Fogarty and Gurney currently sit in third place in the Rolex Series Championship battle – nine points behind leader Scott Pruett – on a Watkins Glen course that has served the team well. The No. 99 team won the pole and the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen in June. That race took place on Watkins Glen’s 3.4-mile long course.

“The biggest difference this time is the duration of the race,” Fogarty said. “It’s a six-hour race we ran earlier this year here versus a two-hour race this weekend. We’ve got to race clean and really can’t make any mistakes. With the abbreviated circuit, it’s going to be a little bit more difficult to overtake, so starting up front is going to give us a little bit of an advantage.”

Starting alongside Fogarty in the front row is Nic Jönsson, who will co-drive the No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley with Colin Braun. Jönsson, who turned a lap of 1:07.645 (130.387 mph), participated and actually led in last week’s NASCAR Busch race at Montreal but is concentrating solely on his Daytona Prototype activity this weekend. Krohn Racing is still searching for its first win this season.

“Overall, we were very consistent during that session,” Jönsson said. “Hopefully we can go out there and have a good run. We’re just here to focus on the Daytona Prototype race this weekend and shoot for a strong finish.”

Qualifying third is Memo Gidley, co-driving the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley with championship contender Max Angelelli. This will be the second time Gidley will drive the No. 10 this season, as he has been brought to assist Angelelli in taking over the championship series points lead. Gidley and Angelelli finished third in the Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park.

Angelelli spun and stuck the No. 10 machine in a gravel trap in an earlier practice session, but the team repaired the car well enough for a successful qualifying run.

“It’s great to be part of this team,” Gidley said. “Max had a little bit of a problem in that one practice session. The team seemed a little worried about trying to get me some time in the car before qualifying, but I just told them ‘Get the car where you want it to be and I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.’ And sure enough, it was great. I made a couple mistakes out there and finished up third, and overall, I’m very happy with the car.”

A week after securing its first top-five starting position in team history, the No. 61 AIM Autosport Exchange Traded Gold/Barrick Gold Lexus Riley posted another team best. Canadian Mark Wilkins claimed fourth – also his career-best starting position – with a time of 1:07.761 (130.163 mph). He will share the No. 61 in tomorrow’s race with Burt Frisselle.

Christian Fittipaldi and the No. 39 Crown Royal Special Reserve Pontiac Fabcar rounded out the top five despite bringing the field to the pits by causing a black flag during the session. Fittipaldi lost control of the car in Turn 1, essentially ending the qualifying session as time expired while officials retrieved the car. Despite a penalty disallowing Fittipaldi’s fastest lap for bringing out the black flag, a time of 1:07.858 (129.977 mph) kept him in the fifth slot. Fittipaldi will share the No. 39 in the race with Spaniard Antonio Garcia.

Championship series points leader Pruett slammed into the tire barrier in Turn 11 during the day’s second practice session in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley, but a flurry of activity in the team’s garage got the car in shape for co-driver Memo Rojas to complete three laps during the qualifying session. Its 14th-place qualifying effort is the team’s low of the season.

No. 23 Alex Job Racing Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche Crawford co-driver Emmanuel Collard also struck a tire barrier during the final practice session, and the team did not have time to make necessary repair before qualifying. Without a time, Collard will start at the back of the grid in 21st position.

The Crown Royal 200 at The Glen is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start Friday on the 2.45-mile, 11-turn course. The race is scheduled for 200 miles (82 laps) or a two-hour time limit.