All News Bobby Labonte Dale Earnhardt Denny Hamlin Elliott Sadler Greg Biffle Jeff Burton Kasey Kahne Kevin Harvick Kurt Busch Matt Kenseth Ricky Rudd Ryan Newman

Qualifying News and Notes:

August 18, 2006 at 12:00 AM

• Jeff Burton won the Nextel Cup Series Bud Pole for the GFS Marketplace 400, lapping Michigan International Speedway in 38.311 seconds at 187.936 mph. Ryan Newman holds the trackqualifying record of 37.069 seconds, 194.232 mph – set June 18, 2005.
• This is Burton’s sixth career Bud Pole in 426 Nextel Cup Series races.
• This is Burton’s fourth Bud Pole and 10th top-10 start in 2006. He moved into a tie with Kasey Kahne for the most Bud Poles this season. Greg Biffle (two), Kurt Busch (two), Denny Hamlin (two) and Ryan Newman (two) are the other multiple Bud Pole winners this season.
• This is Burton’s second Bud Pole, but just his seventh top-10 start, in 26 Nextel Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway. He posted his career-first Bud Pole here in this race in 1996.
• There have been nine different Bud Pole winners in the past 11 Nextel Cup races at Michigan. Bobby Labonte (both 2003) is the only repeat Bud Pole winner in the 10-race period since August 2001. Qualifying was canceled in August 2004.
• Elliott Sadler posted the second-quickest qualifying lap of 38.488 seconds, 187.071 mph – and will join Burton on the front row for the GFS Marketplace 400. Sadler posted his sixth top-10 start in 16 races at Michigan,
• This is the 40th career Bud Pole for Richard Childress Racing. It is the fourth Bud Pole for RCR in 2006, which ties their career best set by Ricky Rudd in 1983 and Dale Earnhardt in 1990.
• This is the eighth Bud Pole for Chevrolet in 2006. Dodge has 10 Bud Poles and Ford has four. Qualifying was canceled at Bristol.
• Matt Kenseth (third) has started from the top-10 in just two of his 15 races at Michigan. He started fifth in August 2004 when qualifying was canceled. This is his first qualifying effort better than 13th.
• Ryan Newman (fourth) has started from the top-10 in eight of his 11 races at Michigan, including five topfives. This is his 11th top-10 start in 2006 and his fifth straight.
• Kevin Harvick (fifth) has posted just five top-10 starts in 12 races at Michigan.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(8-18-2006)