Talladega, AL (Best E Casino) - "Front Row" Joe Nemechek lived up to his name winning the pole for Sunday's Aaron's 499 Sprint Cup race. The No.78 Chevrolet driver circled the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway in 51.103 seconds (187.386 m.p.h.).
The pole victory was Nemechek's first "Cup" pole of the season, fourth at Talladega and 10th of his career.
"I have a lot of people to thank," said Nemechek. "We work so hard, we're kind of the underdog team, a single-car team, out here competing with the big guys and we've been able to put one on them today."
It's already been a pretty good weekend for Tony Stewart as he won his second front row position in two days at Talladega. Yesterday, Stewart won the Nationwide Series pole and on Saturday afternoon he nearly duplicated the feat taking second place in the "Cup" qualifying event. The No.20 Home Depot Toyota circled the giant tri-oval in 51.237 seconds (186.896 m.p.h.).
It comes just a couple of days after it came out that Stewart was looking at his "employment options" after his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing expires (end of the 2009 season).
Ken Schrader (51.346) and A.J. Allmendinger (51.367) will start in row two.
Other drivers of note and their starting positions: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (ninth), Jimmie Johnson (10th), Carl Edwards (11th), Jeff Gordon (20th), Ryan Newman (21st), Kurt Busch (23rd), Juan Pablo Montoya (26th), Jeff Burton (38th) and Kevin Harvick (39th).
If ever Gordon is going to kick-start his 2008 season, he's at the right place - Talladega. The four-time series champion swept both events on the 2.66-mile superspeedway in 2007 and has a total of six wins at the track. That number is tops for active drivers and second all-time to Dale Earnhardt.
If not for the current Gordon domination, the Talladega Superspeedway would be known as "Earnhardt's House." The Intimidator" owned the huge track, winning 10 times and son Earnhardt Jr. is third on the all-time wins list with five victories. All five of "Junior's" wins were with DEI.
As always in a restrictor-plate event, this race will be about putting your car in the right place at the right moment to take advantage of an opening.
That's how Newman won the last restrictor-plate event - the 2008 Daytona 500. He was sitting behind Tony Stewart and had his Penske teammate Kurt Busch right behind him. When Stewart ducked to the bottom of the track in hopes of hooking up with his JGR teammate Kyle Busch, Newman had a clear shot at the lead and help already behind him. It was no contest as he and Busch powered their way to a one-two finish.
The race is scheduled to drop the green flag on Saturday at 2 p.m. (et).
