WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (July 2, 2010) 聙聯 Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., claimed to be surprised after earning the World Challenge Championships GT pole on Friday afternoon, based on the morning practices. After five poles in six races, including Saturday聙聶s World Challenge Grand Prix of Watkins Glen presented by Sunoco, very few others would be shocked by his success. Pobst is joined by GTS top qualifier Peter Cunningham, of Milwaukee, Wis., and Touring Car聙聶s Eric Meyer, of Indianapolis, Ind., on their respective class poles. Pobst was fourth on the combined practice charts after a pair of Friday morning practices in the No. 6 K-Pax Racing Volvo S60 at the 3.4-mile, 11-turn track in upstate New York. Even at the midway point of the 20-minute qualifying session, Pobst sat well behind the leaders. With 10 minutes to go, Pobst聙聶s Volvo roared to life and put down a lap of 1:54.467 (106.930 mph), 1.183-seconds ahead of Ron Fellows in the No. 2 Carlisle Companies/Cragar Chevrolet Corvette. It聙聶s the 31st career World Challenge pole for Pobst. 聙聹I聙聶m shocked, and very pleased,聙聺 Pobst said. 聙聹I聙聶m pleased with the K-Pax team for putting together a car that has handled all weekend. We tried three sets of Toyo Tires to see if any felt better. I found a set yesterday that felt good right out of the box, and I wanted to save them. I don聙聶t know why else we would have gone so incredibly fast. I had been disappointed in practice, turning good laps with a good handling car. I had no big complaints, and we were still off the pace. I聙聶m just thrilled to turn a good lap here, and it came out of nowhere, just like at Mosport. I think it聙聶s from a good set of tires that we prepared just right on the K-Pax Volvo for qualifying.聙聺 Pobst knows his way around Watkins Glen, having won three World Challenge races in 2007 (a GT race and a pair of Touring Car races) and another GT race in 2008. 聙聹I like Watkins Glen, and I聙聶m not real sure what it is,聙聺 Pobst said. 聙聹I聙聶ve had a lot of success here. There聙聶s just something about the flowing nature of this course. You accelerate for a while, then brake into a corner with a long entry. I still like it better than ever, it聙聶s beautiful up here.聙聺 Starting alongside Pobst is Fellows, of Mississauga, Ontario. Pobst is running a partial World Challenge schedule this season, but won the last round at his home track of Mosport. Fellows held the pole for the early part of the session with a best lap of 1:55.650 (105.836 mph) until being knocked off by Pobst. Patrick Lindsey, of Santa Barbara, Calif., jumped into the inside of the second row late in the session with a best time of 1:55.867 (105.638 mph) in the No. 57 Horton/Sloan Securities Porsche 911 GT3, his highest starting position of the season. The most interesting day may belong to fourth-place qualifier Kuno Wittmer in the No. 13 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Viper. Wittmer was second in the day聙聶s first practice session, but crashed his car on the first lap of the second practice. While the team scrambled to prepare a back-up car, Wittmer commandeered the car that teammate Jeff Courtney was driving, the No. 99 Kenda Tire Dodge Viper. That car became the No. 13, and Courtney is waiting to learn if the team can reassemble a car for him to drive in Saturday聙聶s race. Wittmer聙聶s qualifying time of 1:56.256 (105.284 mph) left four different manufacturers in the top four of GT qualifying, including the Volvo, Corvette, Porsche and Viper. Jason Daskalos qualified his No. 5 Daskalos Developments Dodge Viper in 1:57.707 (103.987 mph), good for fifth on the starting grid. In GTS, Cunningham earned his 36th career World Challenge pole to tie the all-time record held by Pierre Kleinubing. Cunningham turned a lap of 2:06.377 (96.853 mph) in the No. 43 Acura/RealTime Racing Acura TSX to best the GTS field. 聙聹Our car is working really well,聙聺 Cunningham said. 聙聹We got a good lap in toward the end of the run. It still wasn聙聶t a perfect lap, but we聙聶re quickest in our class anyway. I聙聶m very pleased with how the RealTime Acura is running and we聙聶ll hope we can run a consistent race tomorrow.聙聺 Cunningham will have a familiar paint scheme on the outside of his row, as Acura/RealTime Racing teammate Nick Esayian, of San Diego, Calif., qualified second. Esayian turned a lap of 2:07.324 (96.132 mph) in his No. 34 Acura/RealTime Racing Acura TSX. Oakville, Ontario聙聶s Ernie Jakubowski qualified third with a best time of 2:08.471 (95.274 mph) in the No. 91 Fuchs/CDOC/Forgeline Porsche Cayman S. While Cunningham and Pobst are enjoying one of many career pole positions, the story in Touring Car is considerably different. Meyer, a World Challenge rookie, earned his first career pole in the No. 32 XOWii/Samaritan聙聶s Feet/Delvira Mazda RX-8 after a best time of 2:13.757 (91.509 mph). It was a perfect Friday for Meyer, who also led both of the practice sessions earlier in the day. 聙聹Our Mazda is hooked up big-time, Watkins Glen favors our rear-wheel drive car,聙聺 Meyer said. 聙聹The guys did an awesome job on the car, it feels hooked up everywhere. We can carry a lot of momentum on these longer corners and the front-wheel drive cars are pushing in some corners. 聙聹It聙聶s good to be on pole, but I聙聶d rather chase than be up front. I聙聶d like to get up front and gap the cars behind us, but if I don聙聶t I聙聶d rather sit back and play possum for a bit and make a move at the end. Our car is absolutely great, though, our tire strategy has been to run on stickers for 45 minutes straight and yesterday at the test our lap times were spot on from the beginning to the end. I聙聶m looking forward to the race.聙聺 Dan Gardner, of Hermosa Beach, Calif., posted his best career qualifying effort with a time of 2:14.034 (91.320 mph) to start on the first row of the Touring Car field. Gardner is behind the wheel of the No. 36 DG Spec/Scion/TRD/Lepper&Associates Scion tC. Alexander Lvov, of St. Petersburg, Russia, qualified third with a lap of 2:14.401 (91.070 mph). It is Lvov聙聶s first World Challenge appearance in the No. 9 Honda GMS Honda Civic Si since the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. in the season opener. Robert Stout, the Touring Car Drivers聙聶 Championship leader, qualified fourth in the No. 18 DG Spec/Scion/TRD/Lucas Oil Scion tC with a best time of 2:15.211 (90.525 mph). Brett Sandberg聙聶s best time of 2:15.406 (90.394 mph) qualified him fifth in the No. 28 Whitehall Stable Acura TSX. The grid is now set for Saturday afternoon聙聶s World Challenge Grand Prix of Watkins Glen presented by Sunoco, with the standing start scheduled for 4:15 p.m. EDT. For more information, please visit Follow World Challenge on Twitter @WCRacing.