Daytona 24: Synergy Racing Friday report

Murry leads Synergy Racing GT effort with 12th-place start in at Rolex 24 At Daytona

Rx.com Daytona Prototype moved up to 11th on overall starting grid

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 27, 2006) -- David Murry, of Cumming, Ga., will lead the Synergy Racing GT effort to the green flag on Saturday in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Murry will start the No. 80 SHOES FOR CREWS® Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the 11th position in the GT class following his 1:54.990 lap during first-round qualifying. Murry will share the SHOES FOR CREWS® Porsche with Leh Keen, of Dublin, Ga., and defending Rolex Series GT champion Craig Stanton, of Long Beach, Calif., with Frenchman Xaiver Pomeidou as back-up driver.

Two rows back from Murry, David Gaylord, of Graham, Wash., will start one of two Team Seattle entries. Gaylord clocked a 1:56.854 during Friday's second round of qualifying to put the No. 87 Strobe Data/Kid's Country Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the 16th GT position for the start of the race. Gaylord will team with twin brothers Wes and Ken Hill, of Bellevue and Snohomish, Wash., and Will Diefenbach, of Kirkland, Wash.

Team Seattle founder Don Kitch Jr., of Bellevue, Wash., shaved off more than 1.5 seconds off his first-round qualifying lap during Friday's second qualifying session to put the No. 86 Microsoft/Who's Calling Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the 28th GT position with a 2:00.022 lap. Kitch will partner with Chris Pennington, of Redmond, Wash., Don Gagne, of Redmond, Wash., and Chris Pallis, of Mercer Island, Wash.

John Pew, of North Palm Beach, Fla., will start Synergy Racing's No. 81 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the 31st GT position following his 2:00.887 lap during the first round of qualifying. Pew will team up with Hal Prewitt, of South Miami Beach, Fla., Ben McCrackin, of Corpus Christi, Texas, and brothers Danny and Steve Marshall, of Danville and Blacksburg, Va., for the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The No. 8 Rx.com Porsche Doran Daytona Prototype did not have to participate in Friday's second round of qualifying because it was able to secure its starting position on Thursday. Originally qualifying 13th, Burt Frisselle, of Kihei, Hawaii, was moved up to 11th on the starting grid when other competitors' lap times were disallowed for various violations. Frisselle will share driving duties in the Rx.com Daytona Prototype with his younger brother Brian and Dutchman Patrick Huisman, and with Clint Field, of Columbus, Ohio, as back-up driver.

-synergy