Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin - James French did not disappoint.

French, from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, earned Performance Tech Motorsports its third TOTAL Pole Award of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season, taking the top spot in Prototype Challenge for the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America.

Once again showing dramatic flair, French grabbed the pole at his home track with a last-minute hot lap of 1 minute, 59.658 seconds in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports car. That edged Chris Cumming by .052 of a second.

This is the third time a pole position has come down to a last lap by French and Cumming.

"To be honest, half of what looks like strategy is just by chance," French said. "Chris put in a great lap. I know it looks like something's going on there, but on the last one I got lucky. Another really, really close finish between us.

"It's great to get our third pole. I couldn't have asked to get it anywhere better than in my own backyard. If there were any way to break the streak of third-place finishes, it would be by getting my third pole here. I think we have a great chance tomorrow."

French previously captured the pole at the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic Presented by Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers in late May at Detroit and at the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix Presented by Hawk Performance in mid-July at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Performance Tech Motorsports Team Principal Brent O'Neill is proud to see the growth of his program and the development of French.

"James has really got a handle on qualifying; he's really done a great job for us this year," O'Neill said. "Ryan (McCarthy, lead engineer) did an awesome job with the car setup. He's been a huge addition to this team. The guys have all done great this weekend. Now things just have to go our way tomorrow, so we'll see."

French and teammate Conor Daly, from Indianapolis, will try to keep position and take the win Sunday, Aug. 9 in the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase. The two-hour, 40-minute race begins at 2:05 p.m. CT and will broadcast live on FOX Sports 1.

Fans can also follow along on Twitter with @IMSALive, by visiting scoring.imsa.com or the official IMSA mobile app for iOS, Android or Windows. For a full schedule, visit imsa.com.

Keep up with Performance Tech Motorsports by following the team on Facebook and Twitter at @Perf_Tech. For more information on the team, visit performancetechmotorsports.com.

ABOUT PERFORMANCE TECH MOTORSPORTS:

Competing in IMSA races for nearly three decades as a driver and/or team manager, Brent O'Neill founded Performance Tech Motorsports with the goal to help drivers become more competitive and move up the racing ladder. Whether you are a driver or a sponsoring company or team owner/partner, it takes more than talent, money and desire to win a racing championship. It takes racing management experience. With thirty one years in the racing business and a cumulative team experience of over 110 years, Performance Tech Motorsports has a full range of leading edge engineering, vehicle enhancement, program management/logistics and at track support to help our clients win on and off the track.

Conor Daly won 5 races and Rookie of the Year hounours in the Ontario Formula Ford Championship while driving for Brian Graham Racing