In recent years, it became unsafe to hang out near the doors of the stately Dale Earnhardt Inc. race shop. You could get trampled to death by employees either fleeing the once-iconic team, or being sent into exile.
And those who remained with DEI, well, they had come to be viewed by some in the racing world as scrapped parts. Their team’s offseason merger with Chip Ganassi Racing was viewed not as a stroke of racing genius but as an attempt to keep both organizations alive.
Yes, life had gotten increasingly tough over at the place once known as the “Garagemahal,” but Sunday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway, all of that was relegated to the bad-memories file.
Martin Truex Jr., who has spent his entire 117-race Sprint Cup career at DEI (now Earnhardt Ganassi Racing), pushed aside all the Speed Weeks gab about four-peats, teenage phenoms and a two-time champion turned owner/driver, to win the pole for the 51st running of the Daytona 500.
In addition, Truex will start from the pole in the first of Thursday’s Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races, and Mark Martin will start from the top spot in the second qualifying event. The results of the Duel races will determine the starting order for the rest of the field. The top two finishers in each Duel outside the top 35 in 2008 owners’ points make the race, along with the next three fastest qualifiers not already locked in.
“We’re excited about it,” Truex said. “It’s not important to qualify up front, but we’ve never had a shot at the pole before, and it’s nice to come here and have a shot.
“I felt a good bit [of wind] down the back, but it didn’t seem to slow the car down too much. It was just kind of blowing me toward the bottom. It was more of a crosswind than a headwind, which was good.”
Competing for the first time for Stewart-Haas Racing, Ryan Newman (187.778) was third in the time trials, followed by Juan Montoya (187.743) and Bill Elliott (187.739).
Jimmie Johnson, Aric Almirola, Travis Kvapil, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart posted the sixth- through 10th-fastest times, respectively. NASCAR
“Everybody on this race team is so charged up,” Martin said. “It’s just so fun to go to work every day and I’m glad it’s just about ready to start.”
Many believed Elliott had a solid shot at the pole after pacing both of Saturday’s practice sessions in the storied No. 21 Ford for Wood Brother Racing. Like many smaller teams, the Wood Brothers have been saddled with sponsorship woes. Despite being one of the oldest teams in NASCAR history, the team currently has only enough funding for 12 races this season.
“I have such mixed emotions,” said Elliott, who was fifth fastest in qualifying. “This whole (sponsor) Motorcraft team, they really put a good plan together to come down here for the 500 this year and I’m so proud of what they’ve done. I’m disappointed for those guys that we didn’t sit on the pole.”
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