For Immediate Release
Contact Laz Denes with True Speed Communication
(704) 875-3388 ext. 806 or Laz.Denes@TrueSpeedCommunication.com
www.TrueSpeedCommunication.com
Online Media Kit Available at www.TrueSpeedMedia.com

Date: Aug. 12, 2011
Event: Canadian Tire 200 (Round 10 of 12)
Series: Daytona Prototype division of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series
Location: Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International (2.45-mile, 11-turn road course)
Pole Winner: Ricky Taylor of SunTrust Racing (1:05.962 at 133.713 mph)

The No. 10 SunTrust Chevrolet Dallara of Wayne Taylor Racing will start Saturday night’s GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Canadian Tire 200 from pole for the sixth race in a row after qualifying Friday afternoon at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

Ricky Taylor, the recently turned 22-year-old co-driver to veteran Italian Max Angelelli, earned his sixth consecutive and eighth career Rolex Series pole position with a lap of 1 minute, 5.962 seconds (133.713 mph) around the 2.45-mile, 11-turn NASCAR road course. It was fastest among 33 car-and-driver combinations that will take the green flag for Saturday night’s two-hour event.

“It was kind of drizzling earlier and I was saying to the guys that I wouldn’t be too upset if it just started pouring rain right now and we took our qualifying based on points and we started second,” said Taylor, who with Angelelli could manage no better than the ninth-fastest laps in each of today’s two morning practice sessions. “I knew the car would be improved after Max drove it in practice this morning and made some changes. The only different variable in qualifying was the NASCAR rubber. That qualifying was like 10 crashes every lap. It was pretty wild and I just can’t say enough about our Chevy power and our SunTrust team. Awesome.”

Taylor can tie Jon Fogarty’s series qualifying record of seven consecutive poles next week at the Montreal 200 on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Fogarty qualified on the pole for seven races in a row and nine altogether during his 2007 Rolex Series championship season alongside Alex Gurney in the No. 99 Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing Chevrolet Riley.

Memo Rojas grabbed the outside-front-row starting spot in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW Riley today while Fogarty qualified third.

“I didn’t think we had it today because all five poles that Ricky’s had to this point, he’d told me at some point in the weekend, ‘Don’t worry, Dad, the car’s good,’” said team owner Wayne Taylor, who co-drove with Angelelli to a pair of victories in late-summer sprint races at Watkins Glen en route to the Rolex Series championship for SunTrust Racing in 2005. “Today, when I asked him, all he could say was, ‘I don’t know, Dad. I’m not sure.’ I knew the guys would put a good set-up on the car and we knew that Ricky would haul it around, and he did. Yet again, the SunTrust team rose to the top. The car was not so good when we rolled it off the truck. Max did a lot of work to make sure the set-up was right, and gave it to Ricky and he did what he had to do.”

The top-five in qualifying were the following teams:

1. SunTrust Racing (No. 10 Chevrolet Dallara) with Ricky Taylor and Max Angelelli (1:05.962 at 133.713 mph)

2. Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (No. 01 BMW Riley) with Memo Rojas and Scott Pruett (1:06.182 at 133.269 mph)

3. Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing (No. 99 Chevrolet Riley) with Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney (1:06.307 at 133.018 mph)

4. Spirit of Daytona Racing (No. 90 Chevrolet Coyote) with Paul Edwards and Antonio Garcia (1:06.657 at 132.319 mph)

5. Action Express Racing (No. 5 Porsche Riley) with David Donohue and Darren Law (1:06.744 at 132.147 mph)

Race time Saturday is 6 p.m. EDT with live television provided by SPEED and live radio provided by the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Channel 94 beginning with pre-race activities at 5:45 p.m. Live timing and scoring during all on-track sessions can be found at www.grand-am.com, and now on mobile devices at m.grand-am.com.

- SunTrust: The Official Bank of Motorsports –

SunTrust Banks, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, is one of the nation’s largest banking organizations, serving a broad range of consumer, commercial, corporate and institutional clients.  As of June 30, 2011, SunTrust had total assets of $172.2 billion and total deposits of $124.9 billion.  The Company operates an extensive branch and ATM network throughout the high-growth Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states and a full array of technology-based, 24-hour delivery channels.  The Company also serves clients in selected markets nationally.  Its primary businesses include deposit, credit, trust and investment services.  Through various subsidiaries the Company provides mortgage banking, insurance, brokerage, investment management, equipment leasing and investment banking services. SunTrust’s Internet address is suntrust.com.