Cleveland: Saturday qualifying report

(Cleveland, OH) July 13- Davy Cook of Tallahassee, Florida, set a new qualifying record in Saturday's final qualifying session at the Burke Lakefront Airport with a lap of 1:14.032 seconds around the 2.106-mile temporary course to win the pole position for this afternoon's race. Marc Breuers was unable to improve on his times from Friday's session, but will nonetheless start on the front row thanks to his provisional pole-winning effort in Friday's qualifying session. Josh Beaulieu of Langly, B.C.will start third in his Razor Magazine Reynard after having his best-ever Barber Dodge Pro Series qualifying session. Season points championship leader A.J. Allmendinger will take the green flag from the fourth starting position, only the second time this season that he has not started from the first row.

Behind them will be Julio Campos and Leo Maia in row three, Christian Szymczak and Piero Rodarte in row four, with Dan Di Leo and Rafael Sperafico comprising the fifth row of the grid. Pole winner Davy Cook was happy with his qualifying session, and is looking forward to the race start.

"The track was better than it was yesterday, and the car was just perfect, so I was able to get the time in early in the session," said Cook. "There is a lot of room out there, but there really is only one fast line around here, so I am hoping to get a good start and be the first one out of turn one and get the win."

Marc Breuers, who is second in the season points championship, encountered trouble in the second session and wasn't able to improve on his first qualifying effort in the Sunoco Race Fuels machine.

"I was slow in this session after I clipped a cone on the course, and bent my front wing," said Breuers. "The Barber Dodge crew did a great job to change the wing and get me back out there quickly. My car was fast right away once the nose was fixed, but we didn't get enough laps to have another run for the pole. The car is really strong, so I am confident about the race this afternoon."

Josh Beaulieu will take the green flag from third position, his best Barber Dodge Pro Series starting position in his rookie season in the series.

" We really got the car figured out overnight, said Beaulieu. "It's taken some time to get up front here, but I am really looking forward to the race this afternoon. I was really disappointed not to get some more laps in after the red flag, since the car was so good. My goal this afternoon is to just get a good start and bring home some points for the championship."

The half-hour qualifying session was red flagged early when a car clipped a corner cone and sent it right out into the track. Dan Di Leo led the session early with a 1:15.905 lap but had his session interrupted when he had to go into the grass to avoid a spinning car. Di Leo was forced to pit to clean out the radiator ducts which were blocked with debris.

Christian Szymczak, who was fastest in the Friday's practice session, held onto the top spot with a 1:14.681 with Campos, Sperafico, Allmendinger and Cook in the top five midway through the session. Cook was the next to raise the bar with a lap of 1:14.367 which put him into the top spot. Allmendinger came close to that time with a 1:14.405, but Cook was not yet finished, carding another best lap of 1:14.032 and setting the qualifying record as well.

The session was red flagged for a second time with only five minutes to go to collect a car that was stranded on course, giving Cook the pole, his first of the season and second in his Barber Dodge career.

The Barber Dodge Pro Series race will begin at 3:40 p.m. on Saturday. Full results and story to be posted at www.barberdodge.com.

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