One blistering lap. That’s all it took for Ryan Dalziel to vault Starworks Motorsport from underdog to front-runner Thursday at Daytona International Speedway.

In spite of a morning motor failure that wiped out an entire practice session, Dalziel deftly drove his No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Ford/Riley to capture the pole for the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona with a lap of 1:41.119 (126.741 mph).

“Maybe sometimes the underdogs aren’t supposed to beat the powerhouse teams,” said Dalziel, who dueled SunTrust Racing’s Max Angelelli for the pole in a furious 15-minute qualifying session on the 3.56-mile road course. “But what has happened at Starworks the past four or five months is that we’ve tried to create a powerhouse team, hired the right people and put together an unbelievable car. I think the No. 8 car is not only going to be a contender this weekend, but a contender the entire year.”

Source : Starworks Motorsport