Ernie Irvan kept his emotions bottled up and his focus on the racetrack Thursday as he won the pole for the Brickyard 400.

Irvan, whose mother suffered respiratory failure and is in a coma in a Concord, N.C., hospital, somehow kept his mind on business long enough to set a qualifying record of 177.736 mph in his Robert Yates Racing Ford Thunderbird.

“Obviously, it’s real tough,” said Irvan, who himself came back from near-fatal injuries in 1994 to resume his racing career. “There’s nothing I can do at the hospital right now except to sit.

I’ve been there for the last three days, and there’s not much we can do. The Good Lord has blessed me and hopefully is going to bless her.”

It was the 18th career pole for Irvan, who became the 13th different Winston Cup pole winner this season.

Other top qualifiers were Joe Nemechek, Dale Jarrett, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt and Mike Skinner. Spokane’s Chad Little qualified in 21st place.