Carpentier fastest rookie qualifier

Patrick Carpentier was the fastest of the Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidates, but the Canadian will still have to race his way into the Daytona 500 in the Gatorade Duel 150s on Thursday. Carpentier had a qualifying lap of 185.766 mph in his Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge. “To do that time today pretty much backed up what we had yesterday so I’m very proud of it," said Carpentier. “The car was fast and everything but with the wind today when you run up there it picks up the front end of the car and it gave me a lot more push than yesterday so we’ve got to be careful with that. But the car was still pretty good because it was so loose yesterday it was kind of neutral today so it was a good thing."