Friday, Jimmy Johnson won the pole for the
Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. He joins his Hendrick
teammate Jeff Gordon, Bill Elliott and Ricky Craven as the
only two time pole winners in the 2002 season. Johnson sat on
the pole earlier this year at Daytona. For Johnson's crew
chief, Chad Knaus, it marks his 3rd straight restrictor plate
pole, and 3rd pole at Talladega. Knaus was crew chief last
season for Stacy Compton's Talladega pole sweep.
Robby Gordon gave the Richard Childress team something to
cheer about by capturing the outside pole in the #31 Chevy.
The Chevrolet sweep continued through the second row where
Michael Waltrip qualified 3rd, and his Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
teammate, Dale Earnhardt ,Jr. qualified 4th.
Ward Burton and Stacy Compton occupy row 3, Johnny Benson and
Ryan Newman line up 7th and 8th, while Steve Park and Jeff
Gordon round out the top 10.
The Ford and Dodge drivers had little to smile about today.
They each only had one car in the top 10. Ford had only 4 cars
in the top 20, while Dodge only had 3. The big news came with
who occupied Provisional Land. Matt Kenseth (2nd in points)
grabbed the first provisional, followed by Rick Rudd in 38th,
Bill Elliott (39th) and Dale Jarrett received the 41st
starting spot.
Heading into Sunday, all eyes will be on the Chevy teams to
see if they can continue their plate-track dominance.
QUOTES
Bill Elliott "The problem is that Talladega is a place where
the restrictor plate forces you into doing things that you
shouldn't be doing. You start cutting people off. People take
it for a while, the guy gets mad and he isn't going to take it
anymore. It puts you in a bad situation. That's the one thing
that's always tough about going to Talladega, especially in
today's scenario. NASCAR has tried to change things around
over from what it was last year. I like this a little bit
better with what they've got, but whether we need to tweak it
around more, we'll know more after this weekend. I think
Daytona was a good race for them, but we'll just have to see
what happens."
Jeremy Mayfield "It takes everything to run well at Talladega.
You have to have good aero and a good motor. We tested at
Talladega. We feel like we learned a lot. How much of that is
going to show up this weekend, I don't know. It takes some
time after you do a test like that to get stuff you learned
and turn it into the results you want. I've had some good runs
at gotten the pole a couple of times. I'm looking forward to
it."
Mark Martin "At Talladega, luck plays a big factor in the
outcome of the race. You don't need the best car to win, you
just need to avoid the big wreck that is bound to happen with
that many cars racing so close together. The rules change they
made with the spoiler a few weeks ago certainly won't help us,
but we'll just have to do the best we can do."
Kurt Busch "I really like racing at Talladega. My past history
with the Superspeedways is pretty good, and I think that we
should have an opportunity for another solid performance.
Racing at Talladega requires 100% focus and it can be one of
the most mentally challenging places that we race. Regardless,
I'm looking forward to it, I captured my first third place
finish there last year, and I hope to be able to deliver a
similar result this weekend."
Bobby Hamilton "It's funny. Everyone thinks that we grip the
wheel the whole time, but you're out there for so long and
holding it wide open. We just put our foot on the gas and
flatten it out. There is no changing gears and hardly any
movement. It's really funny. We all wave at each other out
there as we drive by. I remember last fall I was battling Dale
Earnhardt, Jr. for the lead and I drove up right beside him. I
looked over there at him and was going to kid around with him
by telling him he was 'number one.' I cracked up when I saw
him scratching the back of his neck and not even watching what
he was doing. Here we both are, running for the lead, and I'm
looking at him, but he's looking down."
Dale Jarrett "We've done a lot of work since Daytona trying to
figure out how to make our cars go faster at the plate races.
Obviously you have to have a good enough car to draft with and
to be near the front. You have to have a lot of patience, but
more than anything else, you have to position yourself towards
the end of the race. You can see there for 470 miles and it
doesn't really make any difference - it's those last 30 miles
- that's when you have to get yourself in the right position."
Dale Jarrett will be featured on Beyond The Glory Sunday after
the race at 8:00pm on FOX Sports Net.
Miscellaneous Track Happenings
Sirius Satellite Radio, sponsor of the #7 Dodge driven by
Casey Atwood, made a deal to be the title sponsor of the June
Michigan race, as well as the Winston Cup Race at Watkins
Glen. They also signed a sponsorship agreement with 12 ISC
tracks.
Kevin Harvick addressed the media for the first time since his
Martinsville parking incident. He said that the whole ordeal
has been a learning experience, he was sorry for his actions
not only affecting himself, but his wife, team, and fans, and
he also thanked everyone that showed support to him and
offered advice through the week.
During the Busch Series final practice, Casey Mears spun
coming out of turn 4. The team was on their toes and had the
backup car back out on the track before the practice session
ended.
GRID
|
Pos.
|
Car
|
Driver
|
Make
|
Sponsor
|
Speed
|
Time
|
Behind
|
|
1
|
#48
|
Jimmie Johnson*
|
Chevrolet
|
Lowe's
|
186.532
|
51.337
|
Leader
|
|
2
|
#31
|
Robby Gordon
|
Chevrolet
|
Cingular Wireless
|
186.408
|
51.370
|
-0.034
|
|
3
|
#15
|
Michael Waltrip
|
Chevrolet
|
NAPA Auto Parts
|
186.401
|
51.373
|
-0.036
|
|
4
|
#8
|
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
|
Chevrolet
|
Budweiser
|
185.912
|
51.507
|
-0.171
|
|
5
|
#22
|
Ward Burton
|
Dodge
|
Caterpillar
|
185.470
|
51.631
|
-0.294
|
|
6
|
#14
|
Stacy Compton
|
Pontiac
|
Conseco
|
185.430
|
51.641
|
-0.305
|
|
7
|
#10
|
Johnny Benson
|
Pontiac
|
Valvoline
|
185.315
|
51.673
|
-0.337
|
|
8
|
#12
|
Ryan Newman*
|
Ford
|
ALLTEL
|
185.297
|
51.679
|
-0.342
|
|
9
|
#1
|
Steve Park
|
Chevrolet
|
Pennzoil
|
185.136
|
51.723
|
-0.387
|
|
10
|
#24
|
Jeff Gordon
|
Chevrolet
|
DuPont
|
185.132
|
51.724
|
-0.388
|
|
11
|
#5
|
Terry Labonte
|
Chevrolet
|
Kellogg's
|
184.989
|
51.764
|
-0.428
|
|
12
|
#45
|
Kyle Petty
|
Dodge
|
Sprint
|
184.907
|
51.787
|
-0.451
|
|
13
|
#2
|
Rusty Wallace
|
Ford
|
Miller Lite
|
184.786
|
51.821
|
-0.485
|
|
14
|
#29
|
Kevin Harvick
|
Chevrolet
|
GM Goodwrench Service
|
184.704
|
51.845
|
-0.508
|
|
15
|
#25
|
Jerry Nadeau
|
Chevrolet
|
UAW/Delphi
|
184.704
|
51.845
|
-0.508
|
|
16
|
#7
|
Casey Atwood
|
Dodge
|
Sirius Satellite Radio
|
184.651
|
51.860
|
-0.523
|
|
17
|
#18
|
Bobby Labonte
|
Pontiac
|
Interstate Batteries
|
184.633
|
51.865
|
-0.528
|
|
18
|
#33
|
Mike Wallace
|
Chevrolet
|
Preen 'N Green
|
184.554
|
51.887
|
-0.550
|
|
19
|
#6
|
Mark Martin
|
Ford
|
Pfizer/Viagra
|
184.529
|
51.894
|
-0.557
|
|
20
|
#97
|
Kurt Busch
|
Ford
|
Rubbermaid
|
184.529
|
51.894
|
-0.557
|
|
21
|
#77
|
Dave Blaney
|
Ford
|
Jasper Engines & Transmissions
|
184.529
|
51.894
|
-0.557
|
|
22
|
#23
|
Hut Stricklin
|
Dodge
|
Hills Bros Coffee
|
184.519
|
51.896
|
-0.560
|
|
23
|
#09
|
Geoffrey Bodine
|
Ford
|
Miccosukee Indian Gaming
|
184.498
|
51.902
|
-0.566
|
|
24
|
#11
|
Brett Bodine
|
Ford
|
Hooters Restaurants
|
184.487
|
51.905
|
-0.569
|
|
25
|
#99
|
Jeff Burton
|
Ford
|
CITGO Racing
|
184.260
|
51.970
|
-0.633
|
|
26
|
#20
|
Tony Stewart
|
Pontiac
|
Home Depot
|
184.217
|
51.981
|
-0.645
|
|
27
|
#198
|
Kenny Wallace
|
Chevrolet
|
Aaron's
|
184.129
|
52.006
|
-0.670
|
|
28
|
#43
|
John Andretti
|
Dodge
|
Cheerios
|
184.107
|
52.013
|
-0.676
|
|
29
|
#26
|
Frank Kimmel
|
Ford
|
Advance Auto Parts/Pork
|
183.952
|
52.056
|
-0.720
|
|
30
|
#30
|
Jeff Green
|
Chevrolet
|
America Online
|
183.892
|
52.074
|
-0.737
|
|
31
|
#19
|
Jeremy Mayfield
|
Dodge
|
Dodge Dealers/UAW
|
183.817
|
52.095
|
-0.758
|
|
32
|
#41
|
Jimmy Spencer
|
Dodge
|
Target
|
183.772
|
52.108
|
-0.771
|
|
33
|
#40
|
Sterling Marlin
|
Dodge
|
Coors Light
|
183.751
|
52.113
|
-0.777
|
|
34
|
#44
|
Steve Grissom
|
Dodge
|
Georgia Pacific
|
183.733
|
52.118
|
-0.782
|
|
35
|
#32
|
Ricky Craven
|
Ford
|
Tide
|
183.659
|
52.139
|
-0.803
|
|
36
|
#36
|
Ken Schrader
|
Pontiac
|
M&M's
|
183.571
|
52.165
|
-0.828
|
|
|
|
Provisional
|
|
37
|
#17
|
Matt Kenseth
|
Ford
|
DeWalt Power Tools
|
182.961
|
52.339
|
-1.001
|
|
38
|
#28
|
Ricky Rudd
|
Ford
|
Havoline
|
183.307
|
52.240
|
-0.903
|
|
39
|
#9
|
Bill Elliott
|
Dodge
|
Dodge Dealers/UAW
|
183.392
|
52.215
|
-0.879
|
|
40
|
#21
|
Elliott Sadler
|
Ford
|
Motorcraft
|
182.292
|
52.530
|
-1.194
|
|
41
|
#88
|
Dale Jarrett
|
Ford
|
UPS
|
183.413
|
52.209
|
-0.873
|
|
42
|
#4
|
Mike Skinner
|
Chevrolet
|
Kodak Film
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
43
|
#55
|
Bobby Hamilton
|
Chevrolet
|
Schneider Electric
|
183.213
|
52.266
|
-0.930
|
|
|
|
Did not Qualify
|
|
44
|
#90
|
Rick Mast
|
Ford
|
Duke's Mayonnaise/ Sauer's
|
182.354
|
52.513
|
-1.176
|
|
45
|
#49
|
Shawna Robinson*
|
Dodge
|
BAM Racing
|
182.507
|
52.469
|
-1.131
|
|
46
|
#159
|
Bobby Gerhart
|
Pontiac
|
JamesAuto.com
|
180.747
|
52.979
|
-1.643
|
|
47
|
#191
|
Dick Trickle
|
Dodge
|
Dodge Dealers
|
181.687
|
52.706
|
-1.368
|
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