Simply Perfect Pole Position for ESM on National Patrón Tequila Day - Speedway Digest

Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) threw down the gauntlet in practice and qualifying today at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For the first time in ESM history, both of the Tequila Patrón-sponsored Honda Performance Development ARX-03b prototypes will start from the front row and side-by-side for Friday’s Brickyard Grand Prix.It seems appropriate that the Tequila Patrón-sponsored race cars qualified 1-2, especially on National Patrón Tequila Day.

ESM finished Thursday’s on-track activity the same way they started it – from the top of the timing charts. The Florida-based team was quickest in opening practice and remained quickest at the end of qualifying.

Ryan Dalziel, co-driver of the No. 1 Tequila Patrón HPD set the qualifying track record with a 1:17.603 (113.145 mph) en route to the first pole position for the No. 1 team this year. Dalziel dominated in qualifying and led the entire 15-minute session. His closest competitor was teammate Johannes van Overbeek.

“We’ve been close to the pole a few times until the last man crossed the line and took it from us,” stated an elated Dalziel. “Both cars had rough races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, so this is a great rebound; a good boost of motivation for the crew on both cars. You can’t ask for much more than both ESM Tequila Patrón cars on the front row.”

Scott Sharp, ESM owner/driver, will start the race in the No. 1 Tequila Patrón team. Sharp has 14 previous Indy 500 starts and two IROC starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

During his qualifying session, van Overbeek, co-driver of No. 2 Tequila Patrón, clocked a lap at 1:17.879 (112.744 mph), less than three-tenths of a second behind Dalziel. This marks the second front-row start for the No. 2 team. In May, van Overbeek was the pole winner at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – the site of the No. 2 team’s first win.

“This is fantastic for ESM, especially on National Patrón Tequila Day,” added van Overbeek. “I was thinking there was a little bit more there, but the rear of the car just wasn’t there for us. Congratulations to Ryan; that was a great lap. He helped me a lot in learning this place. We’re in a good position for the start of the race tomorrow, and hopefully we will avoid the trouble at the green flag. We have two hours and 45 minutes to make it count. If Ed can do the job he did at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, I think both cars have a really good shot at finishing where we qualified.”

Ed Brown is the starting driver for the No. 2 team for Friday’s race.

Friday’s two-hour, 45-minute Brickyard Grand Prix is the eighth race of 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. Green flag is 5:45 p.m. ET.

Television coverage of the Brickyard Grand Prix starts at 5:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.