Labonte Brothers Tame Daytona

Forget about sibling rivalry when it comes to the Labontes.

Bobby surprised elder brother Terry on Saturday by knocking the favorite off the pole for the Feb. 15 NASCAR Winston Cup season-opener.

But, if anybody was expecting the two-time series champion to be upset about being forced to start the main event from the outside of the front row, they were mightily disappointed.

“I’m real happy for Bobby,” Terry said. “We never really have been rivals in anything. We’ve always gotten along pretty well and I don’t think we’ve ever gone more than a day or two without talking.”

Asked what was said when they first saw each other after qualifying, Bobby grinned and said, “I don’t think we can say that here. But after that everything was OK.”

Terry Labonte, who was the favorite to take the top spot going into the first of three rounds of time trials. The trials determine the lineups for Thursday’s Twin 125-mile qualifying races.

The elder Labonte had led most of the sessions since Daytona International Speedway’s 2-1/2-mile, high-banked oval opened for practice Friday.

He went out second among the 55 drivers who drew for the first round, setting the target at 192.127 mph in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Bobby, the 16th driver to take to the historic track, easily topped that, putting his Joe Gibbs Pontiac on the pole at 192.415.

Nobody came close, and for the first time in the 40-year history of NASCAR’s most prestigious race, brothers will share the front row.

The time difference between the two laps was 0.070-seconds.

“I’m awfully happy,” said Bobby, who finished the 1997 season by beating his brother at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “The guys on this team put a big effort into it, more than they ever have. It’s paying off. This place here, the driver has some input into it, but not like other places.”

With Ford introducing it’s new Taurus, replacing the discontinued Thunderbird, nobody knew what to expect.

In practice Friday, it appeared the Fords might be capable of pushing the General Motors cars for the top qualifying spots. But, when it came time to take to the track on the partly sunny, cool afternoon, the Monte Carlos and Grand Prixs were dominant.

The top Ford, as expected, was the Taurus driven by Rusty Wallace. Instead of challenging for the front row, Wallace wound up eighth at 190.444.

The Tauruses will get their first race experience in today’s Bud Shootout, a made-for-TV dash for the previous year’s Winston Cup pole winners.

“I feel good to have the best Taurus in the field,” Wallace said. “I’d like to be a little quicker, but that’s all we could do. We’ll keep working on it.”

In front of Wallace, besides the Labontes, were the Chevys of Kenny Schrader and Dale Earnhardt at 191.787 and 191.006, the Pontiac of John Andretti at 190.828, the Monte Carlo of 1997 pole-winner Mike Skinner at 190.674 and the Grand Prix of former Daytona winner Derrike Cope at 190.617.

Rounding out the top 10 were Ward Burton’s Pontiac at 190.130 and the Ford of Lake Speed at 190.062.

Defending Winston Cup champion and Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon was 11th in a Chevy at 189.930. Spokane’s Chad Little had a run of 188.265 that placed him 30th.

Look out

Mark Martin was “so excited” by his qualifying run for the Daytona 500 that “I forgot to stop” - until it was almost too late. After completing his two timed laps at Daytona International Speedway, Martin sped along pit road and nearly hit cars still lined up to make their runs.

“… The radio didn’t have an antenna on it, so I couldn’t hear what they were saying until I got around here,” said Martin, who had a run at 188.557 mph for 28th.

“There was some mistake. I swear, I’m restrictor-plate illiterate.”

Just 1 of 33

The story of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona International Speedway is perhaps the most repeated in the modern era of stock car racing. The seven-time Winston Cup champion has a record 29 victories on the 2-1/2-mile superspeedway, but none in the Daytona 500.

Win or lose here next Sunday, he promises to forget it in a hurry.

“The season begins at Daytona,” the 46-old-driver said. “It doesn’t end there.”