All News Dale Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt Jr. Eric McClure Joe Nemechek Kenny Wallace Kerry Earnhardt Mark Martin Michael Waltrip Ricky Rudd Rusty Wallace Scott Riggs Terry Labonte

StockCarFans.com – Ramblings – Talladega:

April 23, 2004 at 12:00 AM
  • It’s been a week of catchin up….First, Rusty Wallace wins his first race in three years last week, then…It had been 20 years since the Wood Brothers had won a pole, but Ricky Rudd grabbed the top-spot today at Talladega Superspeedway for Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 and ended that streak! Kinda hard to believe it’d been that long for the Wood’s, but for Ricky it was a mere two years ago when he took his last Bud Pole at Watkins Glen in August of 2002. Ricky’s speed of 191.180 (50.089 sec) was good for his 29th career pole, and nipped the DEI juggernaut of Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. He becomes the sixth different pole winner this season, and is now eligible for next February’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona.
    Michael Waltrip (2nd) has his best starting spot since he had the outside pole at Watkins Glen in August of 2002. So, if you’ve read closely, that means we’ve got the same front row here at a 2.66 mile Superspeedway that we had at that 2.45 mile road course. The more things change, the more they stay the same…..
    #01-Joe Nemechek (4th) has his best starting spot since he had the outside pole at Richmond in May of last year. #10-Scott Riggs (5th) has his career best starting spot. His previous best was 13th last week at Martinsville. #6-Mark Martin (6th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 3rd at Richmond last September. #5-Terry Labonte (13th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 9th at Dover last September. Welcome Back and Greetings: Kenny Wallace (27th) makes his first start of the season. Eric McClure (35th) makes his first-ever Cup start, and Kerry Earnhardt makes only his second Cup start this Sunday. His first was at Michigan in August of 2000….starting 27th and finishing 43rd.
    STREAKIN….Dale Earnhardt Jr. has 5 Top-10 starts in the last 6 races.(StockCarFans.com Nextel Cup Newsletter)(4-23-2004)