Martin, Earnhardt earn top two starting spots at Daytona
The two Hendrick Motorsports teammates are the only drivers from this year's entries that know where they'll be starting from for next Sunday's Daytona 500.
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(February 6, 2010)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Three
weeks ago, at a Fan Fest appearance at Daytona International Speedway,
Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke of a renewed spirit of cooperation at the
Hendrick Motorsports shop shared by the No. 5 and No. 88 teams.
What Earnhardt termed a "change in culture" spurred by personnel moves within the shop was in full flower Saturday at Daytona.
Mark
Martin, who led NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series with seven poles last year,
added another his resume, putting his No. 5 Chevy in the top starting
spot for the Feb. 14 season-opening Daytona 500. Navigating the
2.5-mile superspeedway in 47.074 seconds (191.188 mph), Martin edged
Earnhardt (190.913 mph) for the pole.
Those
two drivers, who will start first and second in the 52nd running of
NASCAR's most prestigious race, are the only two who know their
positions on the grid for the Valentine's Day event. The starting order
for the rest of the 43-car field won't be determined until Thursday,
with the running of the two Gatorade Duel 150-mile qualifying races.
Team owner Rick Hendrick lavished praise on crew chiefs Alan Gustafson (Martin) and Lance McGrew (Earnhardt).
"The
challenge was to run one team with two cars, and then to have those two
cars down here that ran almost identical times . . .," Hendrick said.
"I know this is just one race, but no one here, and no one outside our
company will know the effort Alan and Lance put into this team and
these two cars, and I'm really proud of them."
Martin,
who won his first Daytona 500 pole and the 49th of his career, tying
Bobby Isaac for eighth all-time, echoed those sentiments.
"This
is such a great accomplishment for the 5 and 88 teams," Martin said.
"That was not an accomplishment of mine. It is one of all our guys on
this team. To have Dale Jr. on the outside of the front row, locked in,
just means that we are doing stuff right."
Ryan
Newman (190.577 mph) was third quickest in Saturday's time trials,
followed by Wood Brothers Ford driver Bill Elliott (190.573 mph), the
fastest of the 19 drivers required to make the field on speed. Elliott,
Scott Speed (13th) and Joe Nemechek (16th) -- the three quickest in the
go-or-go-home group -- all know they'll start the race, but won't know
their starting positions until the Duels are run.
The
other 16 drivers whose cars are not locked into the field by virtue of
top-35 owner points finishes in 2009 must try to race their way into
the 500 on Thursday. Bobby Labonte, however, is guaranteed a place in
the field as the most recent past Cup champion not already exempt,
regardless of his finish in the Duels.
Juan
Pablo Montoya was fifth fastest, as Chevrolet claimed four of the top
five positions and seven of the top 10. Seventh-place Kurt Busch led
the Dodge contingent, and ninth-place Kyle Busch paced the Toyota
entries.
Martin will lead the field to the green flag in the first of Thursday's Duels, with Earnhardt pacing the second.
"I'm
real proud to be on the front row with my teammate, in Hendrick cars,
and it's a testament to the engine shop and the fabricators," said
Earnhardt, who took a positive step toward rebounding from a
career-worst 25th-place points finish in 2009. "Those guys really make
the biggest difference at Daytona. We obviously have got great
individuals piecing the cars themselves together and making sure
they're going to do all things we need to do in qualifying.
"I'm
real proud for our sponsors, AMP Energy and National Guard. They've
been really supportive, and we've been waiting for what seems like a
lifetime through the offseason to get to the racetrack and do good for
'em. So this felt really good today."
Notes:
The last driver to win the Daytona 500 from the pole was Dale Jarrett
in 2000. The last driver to win the Daytona 500 from the second
starting position was Dale Jarrett in 1993. … Martin's pole-winning
speed was the fastest for the 500 since Jeff Gordon took the top spot
in 1999 at 195.067 mph. … At 51, Martin is the oldest Daytona 500 pole
winner.
