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GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: Three In A Row For Taylor
SunTrust Racing's Ricky Taylor claims third straight GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series pole; Wayne Nonnamaker-driven Team Sahlen Mazda takes top honors in GT...
Ricky Taylor celebrated his third consecutive GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series pole Friday at Road America. (Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM)
There's no denying SunTrust Racing is on a roll. Following back-to-back poles and wins at Lime Rock and Watkins Glen, Ricky Taylor scored his third consecutive GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series pole Friday at Road America. The 21-year-old star turned a 2:01.050 lap in his Dallara-Chevrolet, edging out Jon Fogarty's GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Riley-Chevrolet by 0.154 seconds.
Taylor's impressive qualifying run came after a challenging start to the weekend for the SunTrust crew. After losing an engine during Wednesday's promoter test day, Taylor and co-driver Max Angelelli gained only a handful of laps around the four-mile circuit. Rain hampered everyone's progress on Thursday, which left a single 30-minute practice session on Friday morning for final adjustments prior to qualifying.
PHOTOS: Road America Friday Gallery
"Today, we took a swing at it and the car was really good again," said Taylor, who earned his fourth career pole. "I think the new tires cover up a lot of problems, so we still have a lot of work to do. When I heard Jon did a 2:01.5 before qualifying, I was saying [the pole] was going to go a low 2:02. When I heard that, it kinda took the wind out of my sails. But the car was so good. When I saw the lap time on the dash, I was really shocked."
Fogarty, who will team with Alex Gurney in the No. 99 GAINSCO machine for Saturday's Rolex Sports Car Series 250 driven by VISITFLORIDA.com, was pleased with his qualifying run but isn't sure it could be a good indication for the two-hour sprint race.
"I'm hoping that we're able to have good pace and a car that has good longevity and good stops and do everything right," Fogarty said. "That's what we're going to have to do. Ultimately, I'm not sure if our pace is where [the 10 car] is at. It's tough to say, as qualifying is not the race so it could be a different story."
Defending Daytona Prototype co-champion Memo Rojas qualified his No. 01 Telmex Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-BMW in third, with the No. 61 AIM Autosport Riley-BMW of Burt Frisselle clocking in fourth.
GRAND-AM Pro-Am racer John Pew qualified a career-best fifth in his No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Riley-Ford, less than three seconds from the pole-sitting SunTrust machine of Taylor, who will go for three wins in a row on Saturday.
"I think this is going to be our most difficult race of the year," Taylor said. "Just because we haven't done a long run on the tires. We have an idea of where the car could go, but I think it's going to be tough to keep the tires under the car. I think it's also going to be a big strategy race and how you deal with traffic. It's going to be a real technical race."
Team Sahlen scored a shock pole in the GT class, following a late flyer by Wayne Nonnamaker. The second-generation racer turned a 2:14.678 in his No. 42 Mazda RX-8, edging out the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R of Jan Magnussen by 0.595 seconds.
It marked the family-run team's first Rolex Series pole and Nonnamaker's second career top qualifying run. His first came in the now-defunct SGS class in 2004, a race he ended up winning.
"We had a pretty good car before qualifying started but were really surprised where we ended up," said Nonnamaker, who will share the wheel with John Edwards. "The car was super and all of the work the crew has been doing. We have a new driver on board this weekend. It really looks good for the race."
Magnussen and co-driver Robin Liddell will roll off second on the grid following the Dane's 2:15.273 lap time. With added weight and a smaller air restrictor having been given to the Camaros, the third balance of performance adjustment in as many races, Magnussen feels they will have their work cut out for them.
"We will not be able to race anybody on the straights," he said. "We're hopefully going to have to get some clear traffic, do our own race and see if we can make a difference with strategy and fast pit stops."
The No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche of Andrew Davis and Leh Keen, which captured top class honors at the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen, was third quickest in class, ahead of the No. 31 Marsh Racing Corvette of John Heinricy, who is filling in for regular driver Boris Said. Said is on NASCAR Sprint Cup Series duty at Infineon Raceway this weekend.
The Rolex Sports Car Series 250 driven by VISITFLORIDA.com gets the green flag Saturday at 11 a.m., Live! on SPEED.
RESULTS: Qualifying
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
Taylor's impressive qualifying run came after a challenging start to the weekend for the SunTrust crew. After losing an engine during Wednesday's promoter test day, Taylor and co-driver Max Angelelli gained only a handful of laps around the four-mile circuit. Rain hampered everyone's progress on Thursday, which left a single 30-minute practice session on Friday morning for final adjustments prior to qualifying.
PHOTOS: Road America Friday Gallery
"Today, we took a swing at it and the car was really good again," said Taylor, who earned his fourth career pole. "I think the new tires cover up a lot of problems, so we still have a lot of work to do. When I heard Jon did a 2:01.5 before qualifying, I was saying [the pole] was going to go a low 2:02. When I heard that, it kinda took the wind out of my sails. But the car was so good. When I saw the lap time on the dash, I was really shocked."
Fogarty, who will team with Alex Gurney in the No. 99 GAINSCO machine for Saturday's Rolex Sports Car Series 250 driven by VISITFLORIDA.com, was pleased with his qualifying run but isn't sure it could be a good indication for the two-hour sprint race.
"I'm hoping that we're able to have good pace and a car that has good longevity and good stops and do everything right," Fogarty said. "That's what we're going to have to do. Ultimately, I'm not sure if our pace is where [the 10 car] is at. It's tough to say, as qualifying is not the race so it could be a different story."
Defending Daytona Prototype co-champion Memo Rojas qualified his No. 01 Telmex Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-BMW in third, with the No. 61 AIM Autosport Riley-BMW of Burt Frisselle clocking in fourth.
GRAND-AM Pro-Am racer John Pew qualified a career-best fifth in his No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Riley-Ford, less than three seconds from the pole-sitting SunTrust machine of Taylor, who will go for three wins in a row on Saturday.
"I think this is going to be our most difficult race of the year," Taylor said. "Just because we haven't done a long run on the tires. We have an idea of where the car could go, but I think it's going to be tough to keep the tires under the car. I think it's also going to be a big strategy race and how you deal with traffic. It's going to be a real technical race."
Team Sahlen scored a shock pole in the GT class, following a late flyer by Wayne Nonnamaker. The second-generation racer turned a 2:14.678 in his No. 42 Mazda RX-8, edging out the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R of Jan Magnussen by 0.595 seconds.
It marked the family-run team's first Rolex Series pole and Nonnamaker's second career top qualifying run. His first came in the now-defunct SGS class in 2004, a race he ended up winning.
"We had a pretty good car before qualifying started but were really surprised where we ended up," said Nonnamaker, who will share the wheel with John Edwards. "The car was super and all of the work the crew has been doing. We have a new driver on board this weekend. It really looks good for the race."
Magnussen and co-driver Robin Liddell will roll off second on the grid following the Dane's 2:15.273 lap time. With added weight and a smaller air restrictor having been given to the Camaros, the third balance of performance adjustment in as many races, Magnussen feels they will have their work cut out for them.
"We will not be able to race anybody on the straights," he said. "We're hopefully going to have to get some clear traffic, do our own race and see if we can make a difference with strategy and fast pit stops."
The No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche of Andrew Davis and Leh Keen, which captured top class honors at the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen, was third quickest in class, ahead of the No. 31 Marsh Racing Corvette of John Heinricy, who is filling in for regular driver Boris Said. Said is on NASCAR Sprint Cup Series duty at Infineon Raceway this weekend.
The Rolex Sports Car Series 250 driven by VISITFLORIDA.com gets the green flag Saturday at 11 a.m., Live! on SPEED.
RESULTS: Qualifying
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
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