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GAINSCO team searches for speed on changing Alabama circuit Open test day raises more questions than it answers as Gurney, Fogarty search for grip LEEDS, Ala. (July 19, 2007) -- In unofficial promoter testing today for Sunday's Porsche 250 ...

Published: Jul 20, 2007, 5:02 PM

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GAINSCO team searches for speed on changing Alabama circuit
Open test day raises more questions than it answers as Gurney, Fogarty search for grip

LEEDS, Ala. (July 19, 2007) -- In unofficial promoter testing today for Sunday's Porsche 250 presented by Bradley Arant at the beautiful Barber Motorsports Park, GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing drivers Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty were challenged by a track surface that has changed dramatically from previous Rolex Sports Car Series races at the 2.3-mile road course. The duo were third-quick on the day in their No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac-powered Riley, with an unofficial best lap scraping the edge of the one-minute, 22-second barrier, about half a second off the pace-setting No. 75 driven by Colin Braun.

Neither driver was satisfied with the performance, strong though it may have been -- but they're both confident that they know the solution to the problem. With a four-day race weekend format returning, there's plenty of time for Alex and Jon to work with the team's engineer, Kyle Brannan to figure out what changes they need to make to get the No. 99 back to the top of the timecharts before race day dawns.

Alex Gurney: "The GAINSCO team had a good first day, and we got through a lot of changes. The 75 car looks like the clear leader right now, so we have some homework to do. Luckily, it's a long weekend and there's plenty of time to get the car sorted. We've got to work on balance -- if there's a little problem in every corner, it'll all add up. Both Jon and I were fighting understeer quite a bit, so we'll go to work on that and I think we'll be right there come Sunday."

Jon Fogarty: "The car's not right where we want it. There's quite a gap to the 75, but I think we're capable of closing that. Luckily, there was nothing that made us scratch our heads -- we know what we need to do to get the speed, but it's the path we take to get there that's the question. This one time we're fortunate to have some extra time in the weekend, so we'll use it to our advantage. The weather is taking its toll too -- the heat is brutal in the car right now."

Bob Stallings: "You can tell that as the track has aged and seasoned and been run on, it's taking on a different character. The setups we had in 2005 and 2006 really don't work this year. I'm glad we have the extra time this weekend, because we need to find more speed in the GAINSCO car."

-credit: bsr

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