‘Smoke’ Smokes Daytona Qualifying
Written by John Davison · July 1, 2005
Tony Stewart continued his strong drive beginning last Sunday at Infineon Raceway by outrunning the rest of the field in qualifying for Saturday night’s Pepsi 400. Fresh off his win at Infineon, Stewart set pole at Daytona with a lap of 48.496 sec / 185.582 mph. In Thursday night’s Brumos Porsche 250 for the Grand American Road Racing Association’s Daytona Prototype racers, Stewart continued to show his versatility, co-driving one of the Pontiac-powered Crawfords in the road race.
Scott Riggs, in another of his team’s improving efforts, qualified second, just .043 sec behind Stewart. Last season’s dominant driver, Jimmie Johnson, qualified third, another .038 second behind. A strong effort by Boris Said, normally considered a road racing specialist, saw him qualify fourth on the grid at 48.595 sec / 185.204 mph. Joe Nemechek (”Front Row Joe”) qualified fifth to put the US Army car at the front again.
Nemechek gave Chevrolet the top five qualifying spots with sixth qualifier Elliott Sadler’s No. 38 Ford the top car not wearing Chevy’s bowtie emblem. Kevin Harvick and Jason Leffler put two more Chevy’s in the field with Rusty Wallace qualifying ninth in his final race at Daytona. Kerry Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr’s half-brother, placed the No. 33 Chevy tenth. His more famous relative, Dale Jr, could only muster enough speed to qualify 39th at 49.683 sec / 181.148 mph.
New point leader Greg Biffle put the No. 16 Ford in midfield, 18th place, with a qualifying lap of 49.022 sec / 183.591 mph on the 2.5 mile superspeedway.
Top qualifying rookie Travis Kvapil put his No. 77 Dodge in 25th after a lap of 49.165 sec / 183.057 mph. One more rookie, Mike Garvey, could not muster enough speed to make the field, joining Kenny Wallace, Morgan Shepherd and Dan Pardus on the long drive north after qualifying. Pardus and Shepherd failed to register times in qualifying.
Starting Lineup, Pepsi 400:
Pos., Driver, Car, Time, Speed, Behind
1, Tony Stewart, No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet, 48.496 sec, 185.582 mph, Leader
2, Scott Riggs, No. 10 Valvoline/Herbie: Fully Loaded Chevrolet, 48.539, 185.418, -0.043
3, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, 48.577, 185.273, -0.081
4, Boris Said, No. 36 CENTRIX Financial Chevrolet, 48.595, 185.204, -0.099
5, Joe Nemechek, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, 48.674, 184.904, -0.178
6, Elliott Sadler, No. 38 M&M’s Ford, 48.789, 184.468, -0.293
7, Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, 48.789, 184.468, -0.293
8, Jason Leffler, No. 11 FedEx Express Chevrolet, 48.800, 184.426, -0.304
9, Rusty Wallace, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, 48.813, 184.377, -0.317
10, Kerry Earnhardt, No. 33 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet, 48.850, 184.238, -0.354
11, Robby Gordon, No. 7 Fruit of the Loom Chevrolet, 48.887, 184.098, -0.391
12, Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 32 Tide Chevrolet, 48.899, 184.053, -0.403
13, Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Ford, 48.901, 184.045, -0.405
14, Mike Bliss, No. 0 NetZero Best Buy Chevrolet, 48.901, 184.045, -0.405
15, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 48.931, 183.932, -0.435
16, Brian Vickers, No. 25 GMAC/ditech.com Chevrolet, 48.963, 183.812, -0.467
17, Michael Waltrip, No. 15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 48.979, 183.752, -0.483
18, Greg Biffle, No. 16 National Guard Ford, 49.022, 183.591, -0.526
19, Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 49.035, 183.542, -0.539
20, Johnny Sauter, No. 09 Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts Dodge, 49.054, 183.471, -0.558
21, Hermie Sadler, No. 92 Taco Bell Chevrolet, 49.058, 183.456, -0.562
22, Bobby Labonte, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, 49.121, 183.221, -0.625
23, Mark Martin, No. 6 Viagra Ford, 49.140, 183.150, -0.644
24, Kevin Lepage, No. 37 R&J Racing Dodge, 49.155, 183.094, -0.659
25, Travis Kvapil*, No. 77 Kodak/Jasper Engines Dodge, 49.165, 183.057, -0.669
26, Scott Wimmer, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, 49.167, 183.050, -0.671
27, Ryan Newman, No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge, 49.172, 183.031, -0.676
28, Kurt Busch, No. 97 Smirnoff Ice Ford, 49.189, 182.968, -0.693
29, Casey Mears, No. 41 Target Dodge, 49.213, 182.878, -0.717
30, Dave Blaney, No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, 49.255, 182.723, -0.759
31, Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW/”Bad News Bears” Dodge, 49.270, 182.667, -0.774
32, Kyle Busch*, No. 5 Kellogg’s/Cheez-it Chevrolet, 49.296, 182.571, -0.800
33, Jamie McMurray, No. 42 Home123 Corp. Dodge, 49.305, 182.537, -0.809
34, Carl Edwards, No. 99 Pennzoil Platinum Ford, 49.440, 182.039, -0.944
35, Ricky Rudd, No. 21 Motorcraft Genuine Parts Ford, 49.471, 181.925, -0.975
36, Kyle Petty, No. 45 Georgia-Pacific/Stars & Stripes Dodge, 49.516, 181.759, -1.020
37, Sterling Marlin, No. 40 Prilosec OTC Dodge, 49.571, 181.558, -1.075
38, Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DeWalt Power Tools Ford, 49.604, 181.437, -1.108
39, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 49.683, 181.148, -1.187
40, Ken Schrader+, No. 49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge, 49.705, 181.068, -1.209
41, Jeff Green+, No. 43 Chex Most Popular Driver Dodge, 49.833, 180.603, -1.337
42, Jeff Burton+, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet, 49.926, 180.267, -1.430
43, Mike Wallace, No. 4 Lucas Oil Products Chevrolet, 49.174, 183.023, -0.678
Did not Qualify
Mike Garvey*, No. 66 Jani-King/Peak Fitness Ford, 49.234, 182.801, -0.738
Kenny Wallace, No. 23 Aaron’s Dodge, 49.419, 182.116, -0.923
Dan Pardus, No. 73 ARC Dehooker Chevrolet, NT
Morgan Shepherd, No. 89 Cornerstone Bancard/Victory In Jesus Dodge,NT
+ Set by Owner Points
*: Rookie
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qualifing means nothing at daytona.
dale jr will be leading within 30 laps,