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Fogarty and GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Score Second Front-Row Start


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LEXINGTON, Ohio — Jon Fogarty and GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing earned their second front-row starting spot of the season in qualifying Friday for tomorrow's EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course where the battle for the pole literally came down to a matter of inches. Saturday's race is scheduled to start at 5:10 p.m. ET with live coverage on SPEED beginning at 5 p.m. ET.

Fogarty broke his own track record on just the second lap of qualifying and improved one lap later with a fast lap of 104.369 mph (1:17.885) around the 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He was on a third consecutive flying lap but locked up the brakes at the end of Mid-Ohio's back straight and flat spotted the right front tire. Fogarty pulled into the pits and watched as it looked like he might hold on to the top qualifying spot, but David Donohue barely beat the GAINSCO team's speed and won the pole with a new track record of 104.372 mph (1:17.883) in the No. 58 Brumos Porsche Riley. Donohue's lap was a scant 2/1000ths of a second faster than Fogarty, the equivalent distance of no more than a couple of inches.

"With the resurfacing recently of the track it takes a long time for the pace to come so I knew it was going to be important for us to be around at the end of qualifying," Fogarty said. "On my fourth flying lap I completely destroyed my right front tire when I locked it up on the back straightaway. I feel bad about that but I think there is more potential in the car than what we saw in qualifying. But good job for the Brumos guys. I didn't realize it was their third of the year. That's enough for them."

Saturday's effort was GAINSCO's second front-row start of 2008 and first since last month at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca where Fogarty qualified second.

"Qualifying on the pole is great but as we have seen with a lot of interesting strategies this year in the Rolex Series, qualifying hasn't been all that important," said Fogarty, who will join teammate Alex Gurney in defending their 2007 EMCO Gears Classic title tomorrow. "We will be fine for the race."

GAINSCO now has an unmatched record of four front-row starts at Mid-Ohio dating back to 2005. Gurney won the pole at Mid-Ohio in 2005 while Fogarty qualified second in 2006 and on the pole last year. No other team has been on the front row at Mid-Ohio more than once within that same time span.

About GAINSCO Auto Insurance

The primary sponsor of the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Daytona Prototype is GAINSCO Auto Insurance (Amex:GAN), a Dallas, Texas-based auto insurer that distributes policies through a network of thousands of independent agents across Sunbelt states. GAINSCO uses its "Are You Driven?®" motorsports sponsorship and marketing campaign to build brand awareness and advance its distribution strategies. For more information, visit www.GAINSCO.com.

About GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing

GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing has been committed to excellence in road racing since its formation in 2001. The team, lead drivers Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, and the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac Riley Daytona Prototype are the reigning Champions of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. The team is supported by GAINSCO Auto Insurance, powered by Pontiac and partnered with GM Racing, Riley Technologies and Puma. For more information, visit www.GAINSCOracing.com.