Boris Said (that noted oval-tracker) pulled a world class shocker today at Daytona International Speedway as he captured the Bud Pole for tomorrow night’s Pepsi 400. With a speed of 186.143 mph (48.350) he bested Tony Stewart (remember there was a little friction between those two last week) by over a tenth of a second. This is Said’s second career top-spot….his first was at Infineon Raceway in June of 2003. He becomes the 11th different qualifier for next February’s Budweiser Shootout when we return here for Speedweeks 2007.
Tony Stewart (2nd) has his best starting spot since he had the outside pole at Talladega in April.
David Stremme (3rd) has his career-best starting spot this weekend. His previous best starting position was 4th at Darlington last month.
Joe Nemechek (5th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 4th at Texas last November.
Dale Jarrett (7th) has his best starting spot since he timed in 4th at Talladega last April.
Martin Truex Jr. (8th) equals his career-best starting spot this weekend. He also started 8th at Atlanta last October.
Travis Kvapil (15th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 12th at Martinsville last October.
Mike Wallace (18th) has his best starting spot since he started 15th at Kansas last October (only six races).
Michael Waltrip (19th) has his best starting spot since he timed in 19th at California last September.
Tony Raines (21st) has his best starting spot since he lined up 12th at Martinsville in April.
STREAKIN….Jeff Gordon has 4 Top-10 starts in the last 5 races.(Stockcarfans.com)(6-30-2006)
