NASCAR » Champ spoils Toyota party at Daytona.

Sunday, 10th February 2008

Jimmie Johnson on Daytona pole but Waltrip puts resurgent Toyota on front row.

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For nearly half of the session Nemechek's #78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet sat atop the timesheets on the cusp of the biggest upset in Daytona qualifying history. Helped in no small part by his Denver based team's engine deal with Hendrick Motorsports Nemechek's lap of 48.258-seconds (186.498mph) still held up for third fastest time and while Nemechek will now have to fight for his actual starting position in Thursday's Gatorade Duel qualifying race, as the second fastest non top 35 driver, he is at least assured of a place in the starting field.

The third and final non top 35 driver to secure a place in next Sunday's race was Waltrip's teammate David Reutimann, who placed the #00 Toyota fourth overall at 48.267-seconds (186.463mph). Although Reutimann's final starting spot will be decided on Thursday he, unlike the remaining 15 non-qualified drivers, can relax somewhat.

Kurt Busch is the only other non top 35 driver currently guaranteed a starting place, for after Roger Penske craftily switched the owner points of Busch's #2 team with those of newcomer Sam Hornish Jr's start-up #77 outfit, Busch finds himself with half a dozen Past Champions provisional at his disposal. Although the 2004 Cup Series Champion was only 34th fastest, he too can rest easy.

Fifth fastest and the third Toyota driver in the top five was Bill Davis Racing's Dave Blaney, who sat on the pole for much of the first quarter of the session with Casey Mears sixth, Yates Racing's Travis Kvapil seventh, Denny Hamlin eighth and the best of the non top 35 drivers who missed out on automatic qualification, Boris Said, in ninth.

Jeff Gordon rounded out the top ten with Patrick Carpentier eleventh, Tony Stewart 12th and David Ragan, Matt Kenseth and Bud Shootout winner Dale Earnhardt Jr rounding out the top 15.

Brian Vickers and Jacques Villeneuve were 16th and 17th fastest but, like Said and Carpentier, their destinies now lie in Thursday's two qualifying races. Mark Martin, AJ Allmendinger and last year's Daytona polesitter David Gilliland rounded out the top twenty.