Front row start for Spirit of Daytona Racing at Barber Motorsports Park
Ricky Taylor turn a fast lap of 1:32.509-seconds to claim the second starting position
#90 Spirit Of Daytona Corvette DP: Richard Westbrook, Ricky Taylor
Mike Geng
Birmingham, Ala. (5 April 2013) – Spirit of Daytona Racing’s No. 90 VISITFLORIDA.com Corvette DP will start the Porsche 250 from the front row of the grid following Friday’s 15-minute qualifying session which saw Ricky Taylor turn a fast lap of 1:32.509-seconds to claim the second starting position. Taylor will open the 2-hour Rolex Series sprint event at Barber Motorsports Park before handing the controls over to co-driver Richard Westbrook as the duo targets a second consecutive Barber victory.
The qualifying result marks the team’s fourth consecutive front row start at the picturesque Barber Motorsports Park facility.
“This track’s always been good to us,” said team owner Troy Flis. “I got my first pole when coming back to GRAND-AM, in Continental Challenge—I think it was one of the first years Barber was here— so this track has always been good for us. It’s a great facility, and we really like it. We had a car today that was really close, the competition as you can see is on top of everybody. I think it was just about when your tires came in and then managing the traffic, but it is great to start on the front row again. I think we have a great VISITFLORIDA car to run up front all day tomorrow.”
Taylor looked poised to deliver the team its third consecutive Barber pole position, but traffic late in the session saw Taylor forced to slow while on his final flying lap.
“We have a pole car but it was unfortunate that we didn’t get to show it. We had a lap going that would have put us well above for the pole I think, but then Yacaman just blocked us at the end so I’m just frustrated. But at the same time I’m hopeful for tomorrow and we’ll look to bounce back after a rough outing at Texas.”
The outside pole position is Spirit of Daytona’s best starting position of the year after having started fifth at both Daytona International Speedway and the Circuit of the Americas. The team hopes to utilize the strong starting spot to its advantage as they pursue a repeat Barber win after scoring a breakthrough victory at the track last year.
The Porsche 250 event is set to begin at 12:45 PM local time. Live timing and scoring can be followed at www.grand-am.com.
Spirit of Daytona Racing
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