CORE autosport maintains its perfect record for American Le Mans Series (ALMS) pole positions at Long Beach. The #06 machine will be starting first in the Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC) class for the second consecutive year, but it did not happen in its typical dramatic fashion.

As a result of the rain this afternoon, the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) field lines up tomorrow according to points gained at the season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March. The #06 Soloson Import ORECA FLM09 of Alex Popow and Ryan Dalziel will start from the pole thanks to Popow’s win with Ej Viso and Brian Frisselle.

“It’s a strange feeling sitting here for a pole position without even driving on the track for qualifying, especially my first time here at Long Beach and the second time I’ve ever driven a street race,” Popow said.

“I was only able to get a few laps in this morning with lots of rain and lots of puddles. I just have to get used to the track tomorrow, try to drive it as far as I can, be smart and keep it on the track.

“We are in a good position because we won the Sebring race and I’m very happy about that. For Saturday I’m just going to go hard and keep it up front as far as I can.”