Chevy Racing–Camaro Z/28 at Watkins Glen

CAMARO Z/28.R AT WATKINS GLEN: Curran Lands First Pole Position for New Camaro
Watkins Glen veteran quick and consistent in qualifying; Stevenson Camaros second and fourth

·         Curran quick and consistent at a home track for CKS Autosport

·         Davis P2 and Bell P4 in Stevenson Camaros

·         Camaros quickest in practices as well ahead of Saturday race

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 27, 2014) – Eric Curran made Camaro history Friday with the first pole position for the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R. The Massachusetts native driving for CKS Autosport set the fastest time in qualifying for Saturday’s 150-minute race for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at Watkins Glen International – 2:00.749 (101.367 mph) in the No. 01 Camaro.

Three Camaro Z/28.Rs will start from the first four positions on the Grand Sport (GS) grid for the series’ sixth round of 2014.

“Congratulations to Eric Curran and everyone at CKS Autosport on the first pole position for the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R,” said Lisa Talarico, Chevrolet’s Camaro Z/28.R Program Manager. “It’s the result of many hours of development and engineering to have three Camaro Z/28.Rs in the top four of qualifying at Watkins Glen. We are seeing the potential of this program with our partners at CKS and Stevenson Motorsports. Everyone is cautiously optimistic for tomorrow’s race.”

Curran, driving with Lawson Aschenbach, set the two fastest times of the session. He was 0.155 seconds quicker than Andrew Davis in Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 6 Camaro Z/28.R. His best time was a 2:00.904 (101.237 mph) to make the two Camaros the only cars under the 2:01 mark in qualifying.

“For me, this is one of my home tracks. I grew up in the Northeast and I’ve been coming here since 1996 or so,” Curran said. “I get in the car and ‘boom’. I know this place like the back of my hand. The combination of that and having such a good Camaro Z/28.R was perfect. The car was perfect and consistent. It shows that all the work is paying off. We’re getting better and better.”

Matt Bell was fourth in Stevenson’s No. 9 Camaro at 2:01.563 (100.689 mph). Both the Stevenson and CKS teams will go for the Camaro Z/28.R’s second victory of the season. Davis and Robin Liddell won at Sebring in the Camaro’s second race.

Live coverage of Saturday’s race begins at 11:35 a.m. ET on IMSA.com. FOX Sports 1 will broadcast the race at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday, July 6.

ERIC CURRAN, NO. 01 CKS AUTOSPORT CAMARO Z/28.R
“Kirk Spencer and the guys at CKS Autosport have been working like crazy. This is the most amount of work I’ve ever seen them do in a year. All that is paying off, and you see it today. The Camaro Z/28.R has been really good all year but it’s the first year for it. It’s still sorting it out and trying to find little tweaks. We’ve been fast and consistent.”
(The Camaro in race trim) “Lawson did the long run today in practice because he will finish the race tomorrow. We gave him that longer run to feel it out and he was still pretty quick even then. We keep making the car better and better and sorting it more and more. This Camaro is so much fun – love the car and it’s such a blast. I’m hoping we can finish tomorrow where we start.”

ANDREW DAVIS, NO. 6 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO Z/28.R
“I’m excited. It’s our best starting position of the year, and it’s exciting to have our No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro Z/28.R up there. The car was really quite good in qualifying. We struggled a little bit in the first session yesterday and missed some time there and a little this morning. But the guys rallied and we made a good change for qualifying. I put down a really good lap on first lap, and I thought that would actually be good enough. But Eric (Curran) had a great run as well and nipped me by a couple tenths. We’ll have a really good car and a good race tomorrow.”