Max Angelelli won a tight qualifying race to capture the pole for
the 24 Hours of Daytona on Thursday.
Angelelli secured the top position for Saturday's race with a
lap of 1:40.827 seconds (127.108 mph) in the No. 10 Ford Dallara at
Daytona International Speedway.
Ozz Negri will start from the outside of row one after
running 1:41.100 (126.765 mph) in the No. 60 Ford Riley. He edged
out Michael Shank Racing teammate Michael Valiante with a time of
1:41.110 (126.755 mph) in the No. 6 Ford Riley.
"The car is great," Angelelli said. "It's really easy to
drive. It's fast. We have everything in place, and we're really
looking forward to the race to get a good result. Now it's up to us
as drivers to make it happen."
The opening practice session had three single-car incidents
that damaged contending cars driven by four-time NASCAR champion
Jimmie Johnson, Lucas Luhr and Martin Ragginger. All three cars are
expected to be ready to race following extensive repairs.
The defending Daytona Prototype champion GAINSCO/Bob
Stallings Racing team initially made plans to fly in another car -
driven by Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty to the 2007 championship -
after Johnson crashed in the infield when a slower car moved in
front of him. But the team decided to rebuild the damaged car with
parts being flown in from North Carolina.
Jeff Segal won the GT pole in the final lap of qualifying
with a track-record lap of 1:49.282 (117.275 mph) in the No. 69
FXDD Mazda RX-8.
