Turner Motorsport Earns Grand-Am KONI Challenge Grand Sport, Street Tuner Poles at Mazda Raceway

Matt Bell breaks Don Salama's GS track record, then Salama earns ST track mark minutes later

MONTEREY, May 15, 2009: Matt Bell won an unprecedented third consecutive pole position in Grand-Am KONI Sport Car Challenge Grand Sport (GS) qualifying Friday, running a Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca track record lap of 1:36.277 (83.683 mph) in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3.

Bell will be joined on the front row for Saturday's race by Dean Martin, who ran a lap of 1:36.583 (83.418 mph). The two-and-a-half hour Verizon Festival of Speed will be televised May 23 on SPEED (noon, ET).

Turner Motorsport swept qualifying, earning the team's KONI Challenge record 27th and 28th class pole positions, with Don Salama winning the Street Tuner (ST) pole with a track record lap of 1:40.283 (80.341 mph) in the team's No. 95 BMW 328i. It gave also gave the team two consecutive poles at Mazda Raceway. Salama won the GS pole for the last appearance for the KONI Challenge here in 2007.

"I was going against the odds, but I did my best and the car was unbelievable," said Bell, who will co-drive with Boris Said for the first time as regular co-driver Bill Auberlen will miss the race due to a schedule conflict. "I think the pole was a combination of these cars being really easy to drive, and I've had the chance to drive here a lot."

Bell had his fastest time on his sixth lap, after Martin set the pace earlier in the session.

"We wish we were on the pole, but starting on the front row is pretty darn good," said Martin, who will co-drive with Ken Wilden. "I just want to keep out of trouble tomorrow, because Ken Wilden is awesome here. If I can give it to him in first or second place, it will be a good race for us."

Jeff Segal was third fastest in the No. 28 HRE Wheels/BRE BMW M3 with a lap of 1:36.773 (83.255 mph). He will be joined on the second row by Duncan Ende, who ran 1:36.859 (83.181 mph) in the No. 39 DigiTrust Group/Adams Polishes Porsche 997 co-driven by Spencer Pumpelly. Ende and Pumpelly won the most recent KONI Challenge race at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

One Lap Good Enough for Salama to Capture Pole

Unhappy that his track record was broken earlier in Grand Sport qualifying, Salama was determined to set a new mark in the Street Tuner session. And he only needed one flying lap to do it.

"When I found out that Matt broke my GS track record, I said I had to get that record back," said Salama, who will co-drive with Will Turner. "So that's what happened in ST. The car was really good. I heard this track had a lot of grip, so we just went out there and put in one flying lap. That's all it took."

The session was shortened when Christian Miller, the co-winner of the last two ST races, slowed as his Compass360 Racing's No. 74 034 Motorsport/Skunk2 Honda Civic Si blew an engine with a couple minutes remaining.

Matt Pritiko put the No. 76 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic co-driven by Travis Walker on the outside of the front row with a lap of 1:41.028 (79.748 mph). The team is coming off an unprecedented podium sweep at New Jersey.

Miller still earned the third-fastest time in the No. 74 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si shared by Jamie Holtom, 1:41.236 (79.584 mph). He will be joined in the second row by Andrew Aquilante, who ran a lap of 1:41.469 (79.402 mph) in the No. 111 Subaru Road Racing Team Subaru Legacy co-driven by Kristian Skavnes.

Saturday's two-and-a-half hour race, Round 4 of the 2009 season, takes the green flag at 3 p.m. PT.