Long Beach Team KOOL Green Friday Qualifying Notes

GURNEY 7TH IN PROVISIONAL QUALIFYING

LONG BEACH, Calif., - Team KOOL Green's Alex Gurney impressed the hometown crowd by placing seventh in provisional qualifying for tomorrow's KOOL/Toyota Atlantic Championship race. Gurney, a native of Newport Beach, Calif., clocked a fast lap of 1:13.226 (89.673 mph) despite three red flags.

Alex Tagliani was the provisional pole winner, qualifying with a lap of 1:12.190 (90.959 mph). Anthony Lazzaro was second with a time of 1:12.261 (90.870 mph), while Kenny Wilden was third at 1:12.281 (90.845 mph).

ALEX GURNEY, #27 Team KOOL Green Toyota/Swift: (7th with a lap-time of 1:13.226 at 89.673 mph)

"I'm thrilled to be in the Top-10, especially in my first run at qualifying in the KOOL/Toyota Atlantic Championship. I'm a rookie to the series and there's a lot of veteran drivers, who know their way around out there. It was frustrating because of the yellows and red flags in the session. You must expect that though with a new track configuration. It's real slow in the cul-de-sac section. There's not a lot of grip and a lot of guys are going off there. I'm okay through it, but I almost touched a couple of times.

"I think we'll be okay for the race with a little more fine tuning. There's one more qualifying session and I'm not sure if the heat in the middle of the day will make the track slower. In the end, I'm pretty pleased with my first day of qualifying."