Cup's Allmendinger earns outside pole for Rolex 24

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Red Bull Racing's A.J. Allmendinger qualified his Daytona Prototype on the outside pole for Saturday's Rolex 24 at Daytona, joining his Michael Shank Racing teammate Oswaldo Negri Jr. on the front row for the famed endurance race.

Posting a lap that bested the previous Daytona Prototype track record by more than 2.5 seconds, Negri drove his No. 60 Ford Riley to a lap time of 1:40.793 (127.151 mph) around the 3.56-mile road course, capturing the pole for America's longest professional sports car race.

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A tradition was born in 1962 when Daytona Beach native Fireball Roberts became the first NASCAR driver to compete in the sports-car sprint that has evolved into the Rolex 24.

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"Mike Shank has put together a great team and I love coming to race for these guys, so it feels good to put them on the front row," Allmendinger said. "Mike is a racer to the core, and this team is full of a lot of good guys. Everyone has fun, but they are focused on getting the job done. The car was strong, and this is a great way to start the weekend, but everyone knows that this is a long race and the work really happens on Saturday once the race starts."

Roush Fenway Racing Craftsman Truck Series driver Colin Braun's teammate Mark Wilkins qualified the No. 61 Ford Riley in fifth position, just ahead of Scott Pruett in a Chip Ganassi Lexus Riley. Pruett will team with Ganassi Sprint Cup drivers Dario Franchitti and Juan Montoya.

Defending Rolex Series champion Alex Gurney, in the No. 99 Pontiac Riley, qualified 11th. He is a teammate of two-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

Negri will lead a field of 67 cars -- 25 Daytona Prototypes and 42 GT machines -- to the green flag before passing the No. 60 machine to season-long co-driver Mark Patterson and Champ Car stars Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson.

Allmendinger will co-drive the No. 6 machine with Rolex Series regulars Ian James, John Pew and Burt Frisselle.

Belgian Marc Goossens qualified third with a time of 1:41.041 (126.840 mph), also bettering the previous lap record set by Alex Gurney in 2007. Goossens will co-drive with season-long teammate Jim Matthews, IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year Ryan Hunter-Reay and sports car star Johnny O'Connell.

In GT qualifying, the No. 70 Mazda RX-8 of Sylvain Tremblay was fastest of four manufacturers in the class's top five. Tremblay's time of 1:50.758 (115.711 mph) topped the previous GT class record of 1:51.800, set by Patrick Huisman in last year's event.

The top 30 times have been locked in for Saturday's grid. Twenty-four of the 25 Daytona Prototypes posted a qualifying time, while six GT cars locked in times. The remaining 36 GT machines may try to improve their times Friday for Pos. 7-42.

The Rolex Series returns to the track for practice at 9 a.m. ET Friday, with final qualifying at 11:40 a.m. The final practice for the Rolex 24 at Daytona is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, with the twice-around-the-clock commencing at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and ending at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.