Darlington, S.C. — The NEXTEL Cup Series points leader will take the field to green on Sunday after he was awarded the pole position for the Southern 500 when rain forced the cancellation of practice.
Kurt Busch will start on the pole, by virtue of his point standing position, and will be joined by 34 others who will start in spots based on their car owner point position. The final eight starting spots were awarded to teams based on prior attempts through the 2004 Cup season.
Other Ford pilots, who will start in the top-10, all Championship Chase qualified drivers, are Mark Martin (fifth), Elliott Sadler (eighth) and Matt Kenseth (ninth).
"It's definitely very helpful,” said Busch after having the pole land in his lap after heavy rains nixed Cup qualifying, well before it was scheduled to start. “We've always qualified somewhat decent here. I had a pole back in 2001.
“It's a track you have to qualify well on to run up front and to stay away from trouble, even though the race winner usually is the best car on the long runs,” Busch added. “But if you start towards the front, you have a much better time in deciding what decisions to make as far as changes on the race car and just your overall feeling about the day is gonna start off on a better foot when you start towards the front.
“So this is definitely a great opportunity to lead a lap early on and, if we've got the chance, to collect [five points for] most laps led. This is definitely a benefit for us to start up this close to the front."
Despite his fifth place starting spot Martin would have welcomed on-track qualifying to see if he could improve upon his gimme position, which is understandable given that Martin ran the second fastest time in the on-again, off-again practice session preceding the rain storm that put the kibosh on time trials.
One interesting item that remains to be seen is how Dale Earnhardt Jr. fares in Sunday’s race. The question is set in an odd set of circumstances surrounding the No. 8 Chevy. When he took to the track, today, the motor in his car sounded like trash. Then, several minutes later, the egg-shaped oval track was put under caution for an accident by this car.
Inspections of the car by knowledgeable garage types seemed to indicate there was no real damage, but a dandy Darlington Stripe decorates the car. However, NASCAR allowed Earnhardt’s team to removed the backup from the trailer and prep it for qualifying. NASCAR officials told www.teamfordracing.com the allowance was made because one of the roll bars was damaged.
Earnhardt’s car will start third, but how long will the car run, considering the awful sound during its 18 laps on the track where it posted a 38th fastest time as his best effort.
“It knocked the cage out pretty good,” said Earnhardt’s crew chief, Tony Eury. “It kind of kinked the main roll cage. Instead of taking a risk of something happening during the race, we decided to change. It really doesn't cost us anything. We don't have to go to the back for no reason. Why take the chance? We got the other car out and we've got another one on the way."
