Mears Tops Front Row Joe for Pocono Pole
Written by John Davison · July 30, 2004
Casey Mears scored his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup pole position Friday for Pocono Raceway’s Pennsylvania 500. Mears’ previous best qualifying was fourth at Chicago in 2003. Mears’ lap time of 52.411 sec/171.720 mph beat out Joe Nemechek’s earlier attempt of 52.431sec for the inside front row starting position.
Mears’ time was slower than the track record of 52.164 sec/172.533 mph set in qualifying for June’s race at Pocono’s unique triangular track by Kasey Kahne.
Dale Earnhardt Jr qualified his car in 16th place with John Andretti standing by in case Earnhardt needs a relief driver on Sunday. With the difference in their heights, a road-race style insert has been prepared to allow the much smaller Andretti to fit Earnhardt’s seat.
Morning practice was delayed an hour while heavy fog burned off the area around the track. Visibility was limited to the point that spotters could not see the back straight and “Tunnel Turn” so NASCAR delayed the first session until conditions permitted.
Starting lineup, Pennsylvania 500:
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Speed | -Pole | -Next |
| 1 | Casey Mears | No. 41 Target Dodge | 52.411 sec | 171.720 mph | ||
| 2 | Joe Nemechek | No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet | 52.431 | 171.654 | -0.020 sec | -0.020 sec |
| 3 | Kurt Busch | No. 97 IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford | 52.466 | 171.540 | -0.055 | -0.035 |
| 4 | Sterling Marlin | No. 40 Aspen Edge Dodge | 52.553 | 171.256 | -0.142 | -0.087 |
| 5 | Elliott Sadler | No. 38 M&M’s Ford | 52.580 | 171.168 | -0.169 | -0.027 |
| 6 | Brian Vickers* | No. 25 GMAC Chevrolet | 52.629 | 171.008 | -0.218 | -0.049 |
| 7 | Jamie McMurray | No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge | 52.634 | 170.992 | -0.223 | -0.005 |
| 8 | Tony Stewart | No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet | 52.698 | 170.784 | -0.287 | -0.064 |
| 9 | Jeremy Mayfield | No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge | 52.701 | 170.775 | -0.290 | -0.003 |
| 10 | Brendan Gaughan* | No. 77 Kodak/Jasper Eng. & Trans. Dodge | 52.739 | 170.652 | -0.328 | -0.038 |
| 11 | Michael Waltrip | No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet | 52.748 | 170.623 | -0.337 | -0.009 |
| 12 | Rusty Wallace | No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge | 52.748 | 170.623 | -0.337 | 0.000 |
| 13 | Jeff Gordon | No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet | 52.779 | 170.522 | -0.368 | -0.031 |
| 14 | Jimmie Johnson | No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet | 52.796 | 170.467 | -0.385 | -0.017 |
| 15 | Matt Kenseth | No. 17 DeWalt Power Tools Ford | 52.823 | 170.380 | -0.412 | -0.027 |
| 16 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet | 52.880 | 170.197 | -0.469 | -0.057 |
| 17 | Bobby Labonte | No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet | 52.934 | 170.023 | -0.523 | -0.054 |
| 18 | Kevin Harvick | No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet | 53.038 | 169.690 | -0.627 | -0.104 |
| 19 | Greg Biffle | No. 16 National Guard Ford | 53.065 | 169.603 | -0.654 | -0.027 |
| 20 | Kasey Kahne* | No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge | 53.083 | 169.546 | -0.672 | -0.018 |
| 21 | Mark Martin | No. 6 Viagra Ford | 53.084 | 169.543 | -0.673 | -0.001 |
| 22 | Robby Gordon | No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet | 53.119 | 169.431 | -0.708 | -0.035 |
| 23 | Jeff Burton | No. 99 Roush Racing Ford | 53.168 | 169.275 | -0.757 | -0.049 |
| 24 | Dale Jarrett | No. 88 UPS Ford | 53.173 | 169.259 | -0.762 | -0.005 |
| 25 | Kyle Petty | No. 45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge | 53.197 | 169.182 | -0.786 | -0.024 |
| 26 | Scott Riggs* | No. 10 Valvoline Chevrolet | 53.233 | 169.068 | -0.822 | -0.036 |
| 27 | Ward Burton | No. 0 NetZero Hi-Speed Chevrolet | 53.243 | 169.036 | -0.832 | -0.010 |
| 28 | Scott Wimmer* | No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge | 53.370 | 168.634 | -0.959 | -0.127 |
| 29 | Terry Labonte | No. 5 Kellogg’s/Team USA Chevrolet | 53.439 | 168.416 | -1.028 | -0.069 |
| 30 | Ryan Newman | No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge | 53.479 | 168.290 | -1.068 | -0.040 |
| 31 | Dave Blaney | No. 30 America Online Chevrolet | 53.591 | 167.939 | -1.180 | -0.112 |
| 32 | Jeff Green | No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge | 53.602 | 167.904 | -1.191 | -0.011 |
| 33 | Ricky Rudd | No. 21 Keep It Genuine Ford | 53.707 | 167.576 | -1.296 | -0.105 |
| 34 | P.J. Jones | No. 50 Arnold Development Co. Dodge | 53.841 | 167.159 | -1.430 | -0.134 |
| 35 | Ricky Craven | No. 32 Tide Chevrolet | 53.905 | 166.960 | -1.494 | -0.064 |
| 36 | Jimmy Spencer | No. 4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet | 53.956 | 166.803 | -1.545 | -0.051 |
| 37 | Todd Bodine | No. 98 Lucas Oil Ford | 54.058 | 166.488 | -1.647 | -0.102 |
| 38 | Greg Sacks | No. 13 ARC Dehooker/Vita Coco Dodge | 54.220 | 165.990 | -1.809 | -0.162 |
| Provisional Starters | ||||||
| 39 P1 | Ken Schrader | No. 49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge | 54.481 | 165.195 | Provisional | |
| 40 P2 | Morgan Shepherd | No. 89 Racing with Jesus/Red Line Oil Dodge | 54.958 | 163.761 | Provisional | |
| 41 P3 | Kirk Shelmerdine | No. 72 Freddie B’s Ford | 55.432 | 162.361 | Provisional | |
| 42 P4 | Jason Jarrett | No. 02 The FanzCar Chevrolet | 54.913 | 163.896 | Provisional | |
| 43 P5 | Carl Long | No. 80 Commercial Truck and Trailer Ford | 54.328 | 165.660 | Provisional | |
| Did Not Qualify | ||||||
| Kevin Lepage | No. 51 negotiationssolution.com Chevrolet | 54.493 | 165.159 | -2.082 | -0.012 | |
| Andy Hillenburg | No. 37 Carter Royal Dispos-all Dodge | 55.046 | 163.500 | -2.635 | -0.088 | |
| A.J. Henriksen | No. 90 TBA Ford | 56.516 | 159.247 | -4.105 | -1.084 | |
| *: Rookie | ||||||
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