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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">GRAND AMERICAN ROAD RACING ASSOCIATION</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">01/07/2004</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">Pruett Maintains Perfect Qualifying Record</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">Scott Takes Paul Revere 250 Pole</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2"><B>Pruett Maintains Perfect Rolex Sports Car Series Qualifying Record</B> <BR> <BR> <B>Scott Takes Paul Revere 250 Pole</B><BR> <BR> Every time Scott Pruett has qualified the No. 01 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley, he has come away with the pole position.<BR> <BR> That was the case again at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday as he turned in a best lap of 119.881 mph (1:46.906) to take the inside of the front row for Thursday's Paul Revere 250 presented by Brumos Porsche. It was Pruett's fourth consecutive Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series pole (others were at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Miami and Mont-Tremblant), and is the fifth time in six 2004 races in which the No. 01 has taken the top starting spot. Pruett's co-driver Max Papis also claimed the pole at Phoenix in April.<BR> <BR> "We got our momentum going," Pruett said. "The car is working good, and the Ganassi guys are doing a fabulous job. The Lexus engine isn't missing a beat. All those things together let us focus on the car, trying to get the most out of it. It's going to be a challenge here because we have one more session from 8 to 9 tonight, but it's going to be significantly different than when we go to take the green flag. I'm not sure what to expect, but we'll have enough adjustability in the car so we can make changes during the race if we need to."<BR> <BR> Pruett shares the front row with David Donohue after the second-generation racer gave the No. 58 Red Bull-Brumos Racing Porsche Fabcar its best qualifying ride of the season with a best lap of 119.131 mph (1:47.579) to earn the second starting position. The No. 58's previous best start was third at Mont-Tremblant in May, and Donohue and co-driver Darren Law enter the Paul Revere 250 still looking for their first win of the season.<BR> <BR> "Our practices were horrible, quite frankly," Donohue said. "We really struggled for grip, and it wasn't really fun to drive at all. We made some changes toward the late end of practice. We really made a lot of improvements but still, I was surprised we were second in that session. If you told me this afternoon we would be second on the grid, I would've laughed you out of town. To end up second on the pole, we're delighted."<BR> <BR> Pruett's CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Jimmy Morales, made it two Lexus Rileys in the top three starting spots, as the Mexican posted a best lap of 119.016 mph (1:47.683) in the No. 02 machine to secure the inside of the second row. Sylvain Tremblay joins Morales on Row 2 after turning the fourth-quickest qualifying lap at 118.593 mph (1:48.067) in the No. 9 Mears Motorcoach/SpeedSource Pontiac Riley. It was also the No. 9's best qualifying performance of the season to date.<BR> <BR> Oswaldo Negri Jr. filled out the top five in the No. 6 Lexus Doran following a top lap of 118.259 mph (1:48.372) and will share the third row with NASCAR NEXTEL Cup star Tony Stewart, who put the No. 20 CITGO-Howard-Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford sixth in the field at 118.149 (1:48.473).<BR> <BR> "I didn't think that I could pick up that much time, but it shows what the team's capable of more so than what the driver's capable of," Stewart said. "That was my first qualifying session in a sports car, so I'm pretty happy with it. I went probably a second faster than what I thought I would run, and I'm happy with that."<BR> <BR> <BR> <B>Scott Pruett, No. 01 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley</B><BR> "We got our momentum going. The car is working good. The Ganassi guys are doing a fabulous job. The Lexus engine isn't missing a beat. All those things together let us focus on the car trying to get the most out of it. It's going to be a challenge here because we have one more session from 8 to 9 tonight, but it's going to be significantly different than when we go to take the green flag (Thursday night at 11 or so). I'm not sure what to expect, but we'll have enough adjustability in the car so we can make changes during the race if we need to." <BR> <BR> <B>David Donohue</B> No. 58 Red Bull Brumos Racing Porsche FABCAR<BR> "Our practices were horrible quite frankly. We really struggled for grip and it wasn't really fun to drive at all. We made some changes toward the late end of practice. We really made a lot of improvements but still I was surprised we were second in that session. If you told me this afternoon we would be second on the grid, I would've laughed you out of town. To end up second on the pole, we're delighted."<BR> <BR> <B>Kevin Buckler</B> No. 67 The Racer's Group Porsche GT3 RS<BR> <BR> "Everything was ready when I got here this morning. We just came here from Mid-Ohio. The guys were well prepared. I was feeling really good. I got a good night sleep. I always like this track. I always feel pretty good here. We put a real good setup on the car and that's important because this track is tricky. This track is slippery and it's hot out and tires change a lot throughout the session.<BR> <BR> "In the old days, you used to not run the Rolex 24 as hard. Nowadays, those races are run nearly like sprints. The temperature right now is going to play a big factor on the wear of the tires and (the driver's) bodies. The difference is you don't have a chance to make up any lost ground. If you lose a lap or have a problem with a race of this length, you're probably not going to win. I would love to see a victory this weekend. I love this place. This is hallowed ground for me plus the victory means so much. I always have a warm feeling in my heart driving through the tunnel."<BR> <BR> <B>Wayne Nonnamaker</B> No. 41 Orison-Planet Earth Motorsports Porsche<BR> "Anytime you can come to Daytona and sit on the pole position, it's great. We're here with NASCAR and it's so exciting. It's a great track and I really love it. This is our first pole ever in the Rolex, so we're very excited. We've had some success in Grand Am Cup in the past so things are coming together."<BR> <BR> "The way these cars are nowadays, the 24 hours is an all out sprint. Here, it's so short, so you have to take a few more risks than you would normally. The Prototypes can be really aggressive when they're coming around. The biggest difference is the aggression they use in traffic to get around. It's going to be interesting."<BR> <BR> <B>Max Papis</B> No. 01 CompUSA Lexus Riley<BR> "Scott (Pruett, co-driver) did a very, very good job on qualifying. We've been working a lot on our race set-up. We didn't start where we wanted, but we made a lot of improvement, and I think now the No. 01 CompUSA car is getting closer to where we can actually make a smaller step adjustment and you can see that. For sure, qualifying is important, but they pay big money tomorrow so we're going to focus on that."<BR> <BR> <B>Luis Diaz</B> No. 02 CompUSA Lexus Riley Daytona <BR> "This is my first time at (Daytona) so I just spent time learning the track - I just (ran) four laps. It's a very tough track, very demanding. I think Jimmy (Morales, co-driver) did a great job in the qualifying and we should work a little bit more for the race to have a more consistent race car than we have now."<BR> <BR> "It's great especially the banking it's pretty big. It's nice for me to be here for the first time. It's a very historic race track so it's very nice."<BR> <BR> <B>Jimmy Morales</B> No. 02 CompUSA Lexus Riley<BR> "We've been struggling all day long with traction. We have had a terrible time all day. Finally, at the end, it seems to me that the car is getting better. We're going to keep on working. I think we have at least one-second that we have to find to be able to be competitive during the race. We are just working on it."<BR> <BR> "We share all of the information between the two teams, but for some reason, this time, we are totally different in our set-up, so I don't know what is going to happen. We'll wait until tonight's practice, which is going to be more like the race that we're going to run. This was just qualifying. Qualifying doesn't give you any points, doesn't give you anything."<BR> <BR> <B>Milka Duno</B> No. 2 CITGO Howard-Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford<BR> "We tried to do the best that we can because we know that the engine has a problem, but (the crew) worked today and will change the engine tomorrow morning. During the practice we knew we had a problem and we knew that they needed to change (the engine). The team director decided we're qualifying in this condition and afterward change the engine because don't have enough time."<BR> <BR> <B>Oswaldo Negri</B> No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Lexus Doran<BR> "I think we're exactly where we should be. We've been playing a little bit with the set-up for the race - for the longer run. I'm just happy. We're working so hard. The team is just fantastic. I can't complain, everything is awesome."<BR> <BR> "It's much quicker - especially the car that I'm driving now, it's much better than the car that I had when I came here (for the 24-hour race). The team is a lot better. We know that we need to find more speed, especially in qualifying for the race. I think we've been pretty competitive - we've always been in the top-three. The qualifying - especially the Ganassi cars, they know something that we don't - so we just need to work harder."<BR> <BR> <B>Elliott Forbes-Robinson</B> No. 4 BOSS Snowplow Pontiac Crawford<BR> "It was OK. We still haven't hit on the setup for the car yet. The car was better than it was earlier in the day, but we're still a little ways off. It's happened to us a lot this year, where we were behind, behind, behind, then for the race the boys do a good job of getting it ready for the race. Hopefully, we can do that again."<BR> <BR> <B>Tony Stewart</B> No. 20 CITGO Howard -Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford<BR> "I didn't think that I could pick up that much time, but it shows what the team's capable of more so than what the driver's capable of. That was my first qualifying session in a sports car, so I'm pretty happy with it. I went probably a second faster than what I thought I would run, and I'm happy with that."<BR> <BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>