DETROIT, Mich. (Aug. 31, 2008) 聙聯 Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., collected his 24th career pole today at the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix for this afternoon聙聶s SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship Round Eight race. Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., will start second.In one of the busiest qualifying sessions of the season, Pobst bounced in and out of the pole position, his nimble Porsche battling with the hometown Cadillacs and Corvettes.聙聹It聙聶s my car chief Paul Delio聙聶s birthday today and I think fate wasn聙聶t to be denied,聙聺 Pobst said.聙聹I think the K-PAX Porsche is obviously suited to this racetrack. We have a great setup from Will Moody, the mad scientist, for street courses. What changed during that session was the track. We were out real early in the morning and we were basically cleaning the track. It was a real humid morning. There was actually a low fog hanging in the paddock that looked very ominous, like a horror film. Something where you聙聶d expect to see a zombie coming out of the woods.聙聺Once on top of the timing screens, Pobst brought his No. 1 K-PAX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 into pit lane. 聙聹I came in and parked, I was on pole and everything was beautiful. I was kind of in that mode where hopefully everyone used up their tires and nobody will go any faster. And then Will Moody told me that Eric Curran was on pole. Then I started hoping that the track was changing. It聙聶s unusual in World Challenge to see cars go faster later in the session.聙聹So I went back out and I know that Bob Raub was sweating bullets because he hates it when the car goes back out on the track in qualifying. He says that聙聶s always the perfect time for the driver to try too hard and wreck it, which I almost did about three times. But fortunately, its Paul聙聶s birthday and the fates kept stopping the car when it was heading for the wall.聙聹Somehow in there, we got the pole. I didn聙聶t even know it. The times come up on my dash really late on the pit straight and I聙聶m already in the braking zone and Will Moody is so quiet on the radio, he won聙聶t tell me. He doesn聙聶t like talking. But I knew I was going faster because my shift lights were coming on sooner in some parts.聙聺Though there was still time remaining in the 30-minute session, no challengers could top Pobt聙聶s lap of 1:30.939 (81.945 mph) around the 14-turn, 2.07-mile course.聙聹The Cadillacs are on their game. They聙聶re good handling cars with a lot of torque. I think they really wanted this one. I was actually kind of hoping that if it couldn聙聶t be us that it would be Andy or Mike .聙聺Pobst is feeling good heading into the standing start of this afternoon聙聶s 50-minute race.聙聹I聙聶m feeling real confident about my launches,聙聺 he said. 聙聹K-PAX/3R has kind of got that figured out for me. I聙聶m in a nice rhythm. When I see the five-second sign, I say to myself 聙聵lights go out, go. Lights go on, stay聙聶. That聙聶s from 2005 when I threw away a Touring Car Championship by blowing starts twice. That isn聙聶t happening again. I聙聶m really confident about starts. I聙聶m sure we聙聶ll be in Turn One first.聙聺America muscle will still make an appearance on the front row courtesy of Pilgrim in the No. 8 Remington Shaving Cadillac CTS-V. Pilgrim found an additional second from his session-leading practice time and entered a 1:31.194 (81.715 mph) to take the second spot on the grid.His teammate, Michael McCann, of Canton, Ohio, will start third in the No. 16 Remington Shaving Cadillac CTS-V. McCann earned his best qualifying spot of the season with a lap of 1:31.275 (81.643 mph).Dino Crescentini, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., will start fourth in the No. 4 Centric Parts/Stoptech Porsche 911 GT3. Entering a 1:31.298 (81.622 mph), Crescentini earns his best qualifying position since starting third in the 2005 Denver Grand Prix, driving in the SPEED Touring Car class.Brandon Davis, of Huntington Beach, Calif., completed the top five with a lap of 1:31.357 (81.570 mph) in the No. 10 ACS/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra.Round Seven winner Eric Curran will start his No. 30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette sixth after topping the time sheets halfway through the session, followed by the Corvette of Brian Kubinski.Michal Galati (Porsche 911 GT3), Joey Scarallo (Pontiac GTO) and James Sofronas (Porsche 911 GT3) completed the top 10.Round Eight of the SCCA SPEED GT Championship will launch from a standing start at 12:45 p.m. (EDT) this afternoon. Live timing and notes will be available at and the race will air on SPEED, Sept. 12, at noon (EDT). DETROIT, Mich. - Starting lineup for Sunday's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship Round Eight race, part of the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour.1, (1), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:30.939, 81.945.2, (8), Andy Pilgrim, Boca Raton, Fla., Cadillac CTS-V, 1:31.194, 81.715.3, (16), Michael McCann, Canton, Ohio, Cadillac CTS-V, 1:31.275, 81.643.4, (4), Dino Crescentini, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:31.298, 81.622.5, (10), Brandon Davis, Huntington Beach, Calif., Ford Mustang Cobra, 1:31.357, 81.570.6, (30), Eric Curran, East Hampton, Mass., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:31.550, 81.398.7, (12), Brian Kubinski, Shorewood, Ill., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:31.872, 81.112.8, (23), Michael Galati, Olmsted, Ohio, Porsche 911 GT3, 1:32.066, 80.942.9, (06), Joey Scarallo, Smithtown, N.Y., Pontiac GTO, 1:32.228, 80.799.10, (14), James Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:32.418, 80.633.11, (5), Jason Daskalos, Albuquerque, N.M., Dodge Viper, 1:32.604, 80.471.12, (13), Brian Simo, Carlsbad, Calif., Dodge Viper, 1:33.641, 79.580.13, (2), Cindi Lux, Aloha, Ore., Dodge Viper, 1:33.771, 79.470.14, (34), Tony Gaples, Libertyville, Ill., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:34.535, 78.828.15, (99), Jeff Courtney, Slinger, Wis., Dodge Viper, 1:34.673, 78.713.16, (11), Mike Davis, Huntington Beach, Calif., Ford Mustang Cobra, 1:34.748, 78.650.17, (31), Sonny Whelen, Old Saybrook, Conn., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:34.964, 78.471.18, (29), Eric Olberz, La Canada, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:35.007, 78.436.19, (89), Fred Roberts(R), Mississauga, Ontario, Dodge Viper, 1:35.762, 77.818.20, (24), Sean Allen(R), Manhattan Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:36.321, 77.366.