Qualifying: Erwin takes pole
After watching team-mate Tom Wood knock Mark Taylor from the top spot with his qualifying run for this weekend's IRL Infiniti Pro Series race at Gateway International Raceway, Brandon Erwin responded by knocking Wood off the top of the standings, and holding on to win the pole position
The pole was a cheerful turnabout for the Sam Schmidt Motorsports team and Erwin, who crashed in the last race July 27 at Michigan International Speedway. Schmidt's second driver, Ross Fonferko, also crashed at Michigan, and remnants of both wrecked cars were combined to rebuild Erwin's No. 99 Dallara/Infiniti.
"We made a decision that we had to put that No. 6 car back together and make it the new No. 99," Erwin said. "Sam's just got to be ecstatic. I really want to win the race for him. He's really stepped up the last couple of races to keep me going."
Erwin, the next-to-last qualifier in the 12-car field, turned a lap of 152.312 mph on the 1.25-mile oval, topping Wood's lap of 150.125 mph. Erwin and Wood will fill the front row for the start of the Gateway 100, which is scheduled to begin at 4:45 p.m. EDT Saturday.
Jeff Simmons and Taylor, the points leader in the second season of the IRL's ladder series, will fill the second row.
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