WS: Sonoma: Greg Pursley qualifying report

Gene Price Motorsports Driver Greg Pursley Qualifies Fourth at Infineon
Pursley to Put Road Racing Experience to Test in 200km Contest

SONOMA, CA (June 18, 2010) Greg Pursley, driver of the GPM Performance Parts Ford in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, qualified fourth for the Thunder Valley Casino Resort "200" at Infineon Raceway Friday afternoon. Pursley toured the picturesque 1.99-mile 12-turn road course layout in 78.635 seconds (91.104 mph).

The GPM crew did not get a lot of practice time in the final practice before qualifying as a brake issue kept the championship contending team in the pit area for repairs. Once the issue was resolved, Pursley posted the sixth best time knowing he had a good car for qualifying.

Qualifying at Infineon is done in groups of 10 cars based on combined practice speeds from both practice sessions. Pursely's times put him in the first group and he drew the advantage of being the first car in the group to hit the track for his European style qualifying session.

Pursley only needed two laps to secure his second row starting position. "I gave it all I had and the car felt really good," Pursley said. "We have a really good car for the race so it will all come down to pit strategy and luck tomorrow."

There are two prevailing rules of thought for this race. Pit early or have the freshest tires at the end. "I would rather have track position late in the race," Pursley said. "It is really difficult to pass here so if we can be at the front in the closing laps then I think we will have a real good shot at the win."

-source: gene price motorsports