Grand-Am

VIR: Michael Shank Racing qualifying report

Michael Shank Racing ready for sprint at VIR (Danville, VA) 26 April 08 --Michael Shank Racing driver John Pew will start Sunday's Bosch 250 at VIR from eleventh on the 45-car grid, with teammate Mark Patterson taking a spot on the seventh row ...

Published: Apr 29, 2008, 10:47 PM

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Michael Shank Racing ready for sprint at VIR

(Danville, VA) 26 April 08 --Michael Shank Racing driver John Pew will start Sunday's Bosch 250 at VIR from eleventh on the 45-car grid, with teammate Mark Patterson taking a spot on the seventh row in thirteenth position for the start of round four of the 2008 Rolex Sports Car Series season. Both racers will utilize the Ford-Riley combination that has proven highly effective for the Ohio-based team.

Pew's fastest lap took but 1:45.897-seconds around the 3.27-mile 17-turn circuit, and marked a significant improvement in his time through the day as he quickly got up to speed in his first Daytona Prototype start at VIR. The track rewards accuracy and patience in the slow sections, with courage and rhythm being rewarded in the high-speed "esses" section of the track.

"That was fun, can we go out and do that again?" joked Pew after the session. "I have a great car, a great team, and a great coach (Ian James). It's really rewarding to take big chunks of time off during the weekend--it only makes me wish for more track time so I can keep doing that. But we'll get more laps in tomorrow, and hopefully things will get off to a clean start in the race."

The No. 60 of Patterson and Negri will work to keep the championship momentum rolling in the VIR round, as the duo enters the race weekend fourth in the charts, with just five points separating them from second in the order. In order to keep that charge moving, the team is anticipating making some adjustments to the car overnight.

"The car was on the ragged edge the entire lap," said Patterson, who currently sits just 48 points out of the Jim Trueman Award lead. "I wasn't doing anything terribly different in the car, but the times just weren't there for us. We'll make some changes tonight and get the chance to test them in the morning-hopefully we can get the car a little more comfortable for the race tomorrow."

-credit: msr

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