IRL: Watkins Glen: Scott Sharp qualifying report

Sharp Qualifies 18th After Setup Issues

Scott Sharp will start 18th in the inaugural Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix after struggling with the handling of the #8 Delphi machine in qualifying this afternoon. Sharp is a two-time winner on the 3.37-mile, 11-turn road course in Trans-Am competition. He is currently sixth in the championship standings -- 10 points out of fifth -- and is battling for a top-five result in the final rankings with only one race remaining after tomorrow's 60-lap event. Sharp has claimed five top-five and 11 top-10 finishes to date this season, and scored his ninth career win last month in Kentucky.

Scott Sharp, #8 Delphi Panoz/Honda/Firestone:
"It was a great effort by the team. We came with an all-new setup for the car and certainly weren't one of the ones hoping for rain yesterday morning. We were really counting on those couple of hours of practice to help us get dialed in. We have been trying to play catch-up all weekend. I had it going pretty good this morning and we were really starting to get the car where we wanted it. We made a few changes going into qualifying and I thought we would take it that next step and grab a few more spots. Instead we slipped backwards. As I was driving, I had a cumulative split on my dash and I was losing a little bit everywhere and I am not really sure why that happened. We have to go back and look at the data to find out exactly what worked and what didn't work."

SCOTT SHARP FAST FACTS: Will be making his 114th IndyCar Series career start and 106th consecutive start-- claimed two wins at The Glen in Trans-Am competition ('91 and '93) in addition to wins in SCCA amateur competition-- currently sits sixth in the championship standings, 10 points shy of fifth place-- claimed first win of the season in Kentucky-- season-to-date record includes five top-five and 11 top-10 finishes-- is in his 10th season of IndyCar Series competition, and is the only driver to have contested every season of IndyCar Series competition since the inception of the IRL 10 years ago-- career record includes nine wins, five pole positions and 32 top-five finishes-- was the 1996 IndyCar Series co-champion and the 2001 Indianapolis 500 MBNA Pole winner-- is a former two-time SCCA Trans-Am Champion and three-time SCCA National Champion-- 37 years old from Norwalk, Connecticut-- currently resides in Jupiter, Florida.

-www.delphifernandezracing.net