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closeMenard wins Daytona pole, has teammate alongside
DEI celebration tempered by problems with Truex's car, possibility of points hit
DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer
Friday, Jul. 04, 2008
- Qualifying results | Unofficial lineup
- France touts value | NASCAR chief also talks about ownership, going 'green'
- Watching the wear | Busch’s blown tire a concern for Saturday night?
- This one counts | Weather holds and Boris Said's run stands
- Short stuff | Sadler's week has been a huge one, more
- First practice | Kurt Busch leads way early at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - One day after a misstep that could prove costly to its top-performing team, Dale Earnhardt Inc. got a boost in Friday's qualifying for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
DEI Chevrolets swept the front-row starting spots for Saturday night's race with Paul Menard winning his first career Sprint Cup pole for his 57th start. Menard's best previous starting spot at this 2.5-mile track was 21st and his best Cup start anywhere had been 13th at Dover earlier this year.
"I had no idea how the car would by itself," said Menard, who ran a lap at 185.916 mph to edge teammate Mark Martin's average speed of 185.870 mph. "Obviously, it was pretty good."
Regan Smith, in a third DEI car, qualified eighth fastest at 184.976 mph.
But even after putting three cars in the top eight for Saturday night's race, any company-wide celebration had to be tempered by concerns over what Thursday's developments might mean for Martin Truex Jr. and DEI's No. 1 team.
That team's primary car, a new one built for this race for Truex, failed to pass inspection before Thursday's practice and was impounded by NASCAR. The car did not meet templates in the roof area, NASCAR said, and will be taken to the research & development center in Concord, N.C., for more examination.
Truex is now 14th in the Sprint Cup standings, only 71 points outside the race for one of the 12 spots available in the championship Chase. But when NASCAR seized two cars before the Coca-Cola 600 in May for rules issues, it not only levied fines and suspensions, it also docked 150 points from each team.
That kind of blow would severely hamper chances for Truex to climb into the Chase.
"We hope this is just the beginning of many more days like this," said Max Siegel, DEI's president of global operations. "But it doesn't minimize the impact the situation with the No. 1 could have on Martin and his team."
As for Saturday, Menard and Martin were both not only happy to have earned front-row starting spots, they were very happy with the way their cars ran in the only practice the teams got before rain canceled a later session on Thursday.
"In practice, my car reminded me of watching this guy beside me drive the No. 8 car," Martin said as Dale Earnhardt Jr., the third-fastest qualifier at 185.437 mph sat down beside him in the interview room. "Toward the end of that practice it was spectacular. If it races like it practiced, we're going to have some big fun in the race."
Ironically, earlier in the day Martin had confirmed that he'll leave DEI at the end of this season to drive the No. 5 Chevrolets at Hendrick Motorsports full time next year, shadowing the career move that Earnhardt Jr. made after last year.
Earnhardt Jr. won this race in 2001 and has 10 top-10 finishes in 17 career Daytona starts. "It will be a fun race," he said. "It always is here."
Joe Nemechek and Johnny Sauter, both of whom had to make the race on their qualifying speed, rounded out the top five. Two other go-or-go-home cars will also start in the top 10 - Boris Said in seventh and Patrick Carpentier in 10th.
David Ragan starts sixth, while points leader Kyle Busch, who finished second by a whisker here last July, will start ninth. Jamie McMurray, who won here a year ago, starts 42nd. Ryan Newman, the winner of this year's Daytona 500, starts 34th.
Scott Riggs and J.J. Yeley failed to make the starting field.
