Winning Pole Should Give Theys a Chance

Veteran Belgian endurance driver Didier Theys, two-time winner of the Daytona 24 Hour race, won the pole for today’s Grand American Rolex 400 at California Speedway on Friday with a lap of 113.874 mph in his Judd-powered Dallara.

Theys, also the 1987 Indy Lights champion, dominated every practice session and was more than 3 mph faster than runner-up James Weaver of Dyson Racing. Weaver’s Crawford-Judd ran 110.575 mph around the 21-turn, 2.8-mile course that incorporates turns one and two and the front straightaway of the oval track.

The Grand-Am Rolex race, with 22 starters, will begin at 12:30 p.m., following Indy Racing League qualifying.

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Jose Luis Valera of Weston, Fla., driving for Ferrari of Houston, led the final 11 laps and won the first of two 30-minute Ferrari Challenge races. He finished 14.399 seconds ahead of Joel Quaid of Santa Barbara. Pole-winner Darius Grala of Weston, Mass., led the first four laps before falling back to finish eighth.

Valera averaged 81.864 mph for the 15-lap race.

A second Ferrari Challenge is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. today.

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Rookie Tomas Scheckter of South Africa, driving boss Eddie Cheever’s backup Dallara-Infiniti, was the fastest IRL driver during the first round of practice for Sunday’s Yamaha Indy 400. Scheckter, whose primary car had an electrical problem, ran 222.130 mph.

Cheever was second fastest at 221.151.

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Shav Glick