Rolex 24: Alex Gurney on pole at Daytona

GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing driver Alex Gurney won the pole today for the 52nd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The 39-year-old Californian topped the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship field with a lap of 1:38.270, which was over two-tenths of a second clear of second-place qualifier Richard Westbrook, who had led both practice sessions earlier in the day.“I'm really happy and excited about it all,” Gurney said. “When we pulled the fuel out the time came and it was nice to put one in there.”Gurney's GAINSCO-sponsored team is only confirmed for five races this season. He admitted securing today's pole position at Daytona could only help their chances of adding more events to the schedule.“It's been a difficult offseason,” he admitted. “Big thanks to Bob Stallings and everybody on the team. We worked through Christmas and New Years … this means a lot to all of us and our entire team. We're always trying to find more ways to keep going – so starting well and finishing well is the best place to be.”It was Gurney's sixth career pole in American sports car racing, and his second pole in the Rolex 24 after qualifying in the top spot in 2007.Westbrook's time of 1:38.487 in his No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP secured the second position on Saturday's starting grid. Scott Mayer made his final qualification lap count in the No. 78 Starworks Motorsports Riley DP with a time of 1:38.525, which elevated his team to the third overall position.(Marshall Pruett photos)

Colin Braun, who had paced the Prototype Challenge (PC) class in the both the day's practice sessions, drove his No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09 into the PC pole position with a top lap of 1:41.777.“We were able to pull one out of the bag there,” Braun said. “It comes down to the finer details and the guys did a good job. It's great to be on the pole here … but as soon as the green flag drops everybody forgets it.”Braun was followed by Renger van der Zande, whose lap of 1:41.815 in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport entry was good enough for second in class. Longtime open-wheel veteran, and former Indianapolis 500 polesitter, Bruno Junqueira rounded out the top three qualifiers in the PC class with a lap of 1:41.932 for RSR Racing.Marc Goossens captured the pole position in GTLM with a top lap of 1:44.506 in the No. 91 SRT Motorsports Viper GTS-R. Nick Tandy posted a lap of 1:44.582, which put his No. 911 Porsche 911 second in class.“(Being on pole) is not the most important thing, but it obviously helps,” Goossens said. “What's good for us is that after a year and a half of hard work we're at this level … we kept the momentum going from how strong we were last year.”Jonathan Bomarito (1:44.617) of SRT Motorsports rounded out the top three qualifiers in GTLM, which had a total of nine cars make a qualifying attempt.The No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R of Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Ryan Briscoe did not make a qualification attempt due to an electrical issue. The Corvette Racing entry will start Saturday's race near the rear of the field, in the 66th overall position.The GTD class was led by Paul Miller Racing driver Christopher Haase, who captured the pole position in his No. 48 Audi R8 LMS with a lap time of 1:48.973.“For qualifying we said we would be more aggressive,” Haase explained. “I'm really happy to be on the pole, but everybody knows in a 24 hour race being on pole is not important; you have to finish the race after 24 hours.”Haase was followed by Toni Vilander, whose time of 1:47.028 put his No. 48 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia in the second position on the grid. Oliver Jarvis rounded out the top three qualifiers in the GTD class with a top lap of 1:47.050 in the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports Audi R8 LMS. A total of 28 entries qualified for Saturday's race in the GTD class.There will be another practice session this evening from 6:30 – 8:00 pm (ET) and one hour-long session at 11:30 am (ET) Friday. 

IMSA TUNE-IN:

Tune in for the 52nd Rolex 24 At Daytona at the following times:

Saturday, Jan. 25

2-4 p.m. ET on FOX (Live)4-9 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2 (Live)Overnight (Jan. 25-26)9 p.m. – 7 a.m. ET on IMSA.com (includes live images, in-car cameras and announcers)Sunday, Jan. 267 a.m. – 3 p.m. on FOX Sports 1 (Live)

Tune in for the Daytona season opener at the following time:

Friday, Jan. 24

6 p.m. on FOX Sports 2 (Same Day)