Earnhardt wins pole for Daytona 500

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

You could not write a better movie script if you tried. In Sunday's qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR's biggest star, gave the sagging series the shot in the arm it needed by edging Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon for the top starting spot in next Sunday's season-opening Daytona 500.

Turning a lap in 48.364 seconds (186.089 mph), Earnhardt claimed the 10th Coors Light pole award of his career and his first at a restrictor-plate superspeedway. He'll try to win NASCAR's most prestigious race for the second time in the 400th start of his Cup career.

With NASCAR's hope that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be leading at the time, Daytona International Speedway is asking for a moment of silence on the third lap of the Daytona 500 as a tribute to the late Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt was killed in an accident on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 because NASCAR refused to mandate the HANS Device. The speedway considered various ways to mark the 10-year anniversary of Earnhardt's death. "We felt the appropriate way to honor Dale Earnhardt was in the actual racing," said track president Joie Chitwood.

"The best way to appreciate the things Dale did — he was about racing — and how we respect him should be on the track. That to us was a real racing tribute and more appropriate than anything we could have done in the pre-race show." Chitwood said track officials were working with the broadcast partners to go silent on the third lap of the Feb. 20 race. Fans will also be asked to stand and raise three fingers on that lap. The #3 will also be painted into the grass at Daytona on Saturday night before the season-opening race and you can bet Dale Jr. will be leading on lap 3. NASCAR will make sure of that.

Jeff Gordon (L) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start on the Front Row next Sunday

Getty Images for NASCAR

What Earnhardt — and Gordon, for that matter — won't have to worry about is racing for position in Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Under the unique qualify procedure for the Daytona 500, the two fastest drivers in time trials are locked into the front row.

The rest of the field for the 53rd running of the Great American Race won't be set until the Duels are completed.

"The main thing [the pole] does for me is take the pressure off Thursday's race," said Earnhardt, who will start from the top spot in the first qualifying race. "I can go out and have fun and not worry about where I finish or getting a good starting spot for the Daytona 500."

Gaining a slight edge through Turn 1, Earnhardt narrowly beat Gordon (48.396 seconds, 185.966 mph) for the top spot on the grid.

It was the third Daytona 500 front-row sweep for Hendrick Motorsports, which placed Ken Schrader and Darrell Waltrip first and second in 1989. Mark Martin won the pole for last year's 500, with Earnhardt starting on the outside of the front row.

Rookie Trevor Bayne (185.445) was third fastest in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford, followed by Richard Childress Racing teammates Paul Menard (185.422), Clint Bowyer (185.223) and Jeff Burton (185.071).

Bayne was elated by his strong run — and equally impressed by the drivers starting ahead of him.

"If I'm going to get knocked off by somebody, I'm sure the fans were glad it was Dale Jr.," said Bayne, who briefly held the second spot before Earnhardt's pole-winning run. "But to be sitting third behind two of the most well-known drivers in NASCAR — and Jeff Gordon my childhood hero — I mean, this is incredible."

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