Jeff Green and the No. 66 Best Buy Racing team posted the 26th-fastest qualifying time on Sunday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway. Green was the 11th of 61 drivers to make a qualifying attempt during the session, and posted a time of 49.003 seconds, at an average speed of 183.662 miles per hour.
“The car felt good, but we didn’t have our qualifying speed up to where we wanted it,†Green said. “This is a brand new car, and we didn’t even get to test with it. Harold (Holly, crew chief of the No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet) took it to the wind tunnel and said the numbers were better than the car we did test with. With so many cars being here yesterday for practice, we just didn’t get enough track time to dial it in like we wanted. We should be really good by the time the (Daytona) 500 rolls around, though.â€
The two fastest times on Sunday were posted by the Robert Yates Racing entries, driven by David Gilliland and Ricky Rudd. Gilliland, driving the No. 38 entry, is on the pole for “The Great American Race, ” after posting a lap time of 48.304 seconds, at an average speed of 186.320 miles per hour. Rudd, driving the No. 88, will start on the outside of the front row.
The rest of the starting order for the Nextel Cup teams will be decided in the Gatorade Twin 150 races on Thursday, Feb. 15. The first race features those teams that finished in the “odd” positions in qualifying (Gilliland, followed by the third-fastest qualifier, the fifth-fastest, the seventh-fastest, and so forth).
The second race is made up of those drivers who qualified in the “even” positions (second, fourth, etc. ). Green and the No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet will start that race from the seventh row by virtue of his 26th-place qualifying effort on Sunday.
The qualifying session was not without controversy. Both Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne had their qualifying times disallowed, due to what NASCAR called “unapproved aerodynamic devices. ” NASCAR spokesperson Jim Hunter said both cars had “holes in places where they would normally be sealed, and these were not. “
Michael Waltrip’s car was confiscated by NASCAR after inspectors discovered a substance inside the car’s engine manifold during pre-race inspection. Waltrip’s team said the substance was oil, but officials apparently aren’t convinced that is the case.
According to NASCAR.com, NASCAR initially confiscated the manifold during the inspection process, and Waltrip qualified with a different manifold on the car. After Waltrip completed his qualifying run, NASCAR impounded the entire car. A NASCAR spokesperson said the car would be inspected, and gave no time frame as to when, or if, the car would be returned.
All three violations could bring penalties, fines and/or suspensions. NASCAR will likely announce what, if any, actions will be taken against those three drivers early next week.
There are no on track activities planned for the Nextel Cup Series on Monday or Tuesday, but the cars will return to the track on Wednesday for practice sessions in preparation for Thursday’s races.
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