When you start qualifying at 10AM, oft times it’s not how but when. Jeff Burton once again proved that truism today…. Jeff Burton went out second and took the Bud Pole for tomorrow’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard with a time of 48.240 (182.778 mph)….barely edging out Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch (and barely in this case means .007 seconds!). Burton’s third top-spot of the season puts him one behind Kasey Kahne for that contingency….and this was the 5th pole of Burton’s NEXTEL Cup career.
Clint Bowyer (2nd) has his career-best starting spot this weekend. His previous best was 3rd at Darlington in May.
J. J. Yeley (6th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 4th at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May.
Robby Gordon (9th) has his best starting spot since he qualified 5th at Infineon in June of 2005.
Ken Schrader (11th) has his best starting spot since he timed in 7th at Bristol last August.
Tony Raines (13th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 12th at Martinsville in April.
Jeremy Mayfield (15th) has his best starting spot since he grabbed the outside pole at Dover in June.
Mike Skinner (17th) has his best starting spot since he qualified 15th at Atlanta last October (only five races).
Chad Chaffin (25th) has his career-best starting spot for Sunday. His previous best was 31st at Martinsville in April.
STREAKIN….Jeff Burton has 4 Top-10’s starts in a row. Jimmie Johnson has 4 Top-10 starts in the last 5 races.
The Trouble Train was crowded and rather significant today. With 50 cars on hand, the early outs were: Paul Menard, Michael Waltrip, Johnny Sauter, Kevin Lepage, Stephen Leicht, Bobby Hamilton Jr., and Derrike Cope. Mikey is reportedly keeping his checkbook in his pocket this week….(Stock Car Fans)(8-6-2006)
