#71-Andy Lally qualified 15th for his first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup Race at Watkins Glen International for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen to be run Sunday, August 9. Teammate #70-David Gilliland did not qualify for the race, so the team will put the TaxSlayer.com livery on the #71 for Sunday’s race. Lally put in a lap time of 72.460 that will see him start from the eighth row. The time was a half second faster than his best practice time. During the only practice before qualifying Lally and the team suffered through a misfire in the Chevrolet motor which hampered the amount of laps that he was able to complete. The team was able to fix the car with just eight minutes remaining in the session. Lally is elated to get his first Sprint Cup start at his home track. “I am having trouble putting it into words how I feel about qualifying for my first NASCAR race. I have my whole family here and it is a great day. I grew up in New York and making my Sprint Cup start in my home state is just amazing. It puts a lump in my throat just thinking about it.”
“This is a really big weekend for TRG Motorsports and all of our friends and partners that believed in us and helped us to get this far,” Kevin Buckler, TRG Motorsports team principal said. “What a job by Andy today. He had virtually no practice, couple that with the pressure of his first Sprint Cup start and that makes for a stressful day. He is a professional and has six pro wins here at The Glen and he gathered it up and did a great job in qualifying. It is too bad that David did not make the race. We have a lot faith in David and he represents the future of our team in NASCAR. He has done a fantastic job for us all season and got us here at The Glen and we will back next weekend at Michigan stronger than ever. We are excited to have TaxSlayer.com onboard with us. This will be one hell-of-a-good first race!”(TRG Motorsports), see images of the #70 Taxslayers and #71 Adobe Road Winery.(8-8-2009)
