Biffle proves to be both fast learner, driver

Second-year driver grabs top spot for Sunday's race.

By Mike Harris ~ The Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Greg Biffle is full of surprises at Daytona.

After winning the Pepsi 400 here in July -- the only rookie in NASCAR's top stock car series to win a race in 2003 -- the former Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series champion grabbed the pole Sunday for the Daytona 500.

Asked what it is that brings out his best at Daytona International Speedway, Biffle credited established Nextel Cup stars and former Daytona 500 winners Michael Waltrip and Dale Jarrett, as well as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Bobby Labonte for showing him how it's done here.

"I've just learned a lot from all those guys and tried to apply it," said Biffle, who won his first pole in 43 Cup events. "But anybody will tell you, the driver means nothing here. It's the team."

Biffle's fast lap of 188.387 mph was just good enough to relegate Elliott Sadler's 188.355 to the outside of the front row in next Sunday's Nextel Cup season-opener. The time difference between the two fast laps was just 0.008 seconds.

A strong headwind on the backstretch of the famed 2 1/2-mile oval -- with gusts to 20 mph -- played havoc with just about everybody's expectations in qualifying.

Earnhardt, the favorite in every event he enters at Daytona these days, missed the front row with his lap of 188.210 and will determine his starting spot in next Sunday's 43-car field by racing in one of Thursday's twin 125-mile qualifying events.

"We just weren't fast enough," said Earnhardt, who finished second to Jarrett in Saturday night's made-for-TV Budweieser Shootout on the same track. "We're going to go out and try to win our 125-miler, like we did last year."

Sadler, who was fastest in Friday's practice, sat on the pole for about an hour until Biffle pushed his Ford to the outside of the front row.

"Our car is fast but the wind just killed us," Sadler said.

Ricky Rudd was fourth at 188.162, followed by Jarrett at 187.884.

All but Earnhardt, who drives a Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc., were in Fords -- cars with improved front end aerodynamics and powered by engines from the new alliance of Robert Yates Racing and Roush Racing.

Sadler and Jarrett drive for Yates. Rudd drives for the Wood Brothers, who get technical help from Roush and are also using the Yates-Roush engines.

"The Taurus is a much improved car over what it was last year, we've got a great engine program going and Greg did a great job with the car," said team owner Jack Roush, who fields five Cup cars, including the pole winner's.

Two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin was one of the disappointed drivers who thought he had a shot at the pole but wound up 12th.

"The wind is the same for everybody, but it's about 300 rpm's off from the front straightaway to the back straightaway," Marlin said.

The top 10 on Sunday was rounded out by Kevin Lepage at 187.876, surprising 23-year-old rookie Kasey Kahne -- replacing longtime Cup star and former champion Bill Elliott -- at 187.766, Joe Nemechek at 187.750, Casey Mears at 187.672 and Kevin Harvick at 187.602.

Waltrip, the defending 500 champion and winner of two of the last three February races here, qualified 13th, with 2003 series runner-up Jimmie Johnson 14th.

Except for Jarrett, none of the former Cup champions among the 45 qualifiers fared very well.

Rusty Wallace was 16th, reigning champion Matt Kenseth was 28th, Terry Labonte 31st, Bobby Labonte 35th, Tony Stewart 37th and Jeff Gordon 39th.

Ryan Newman, who led the series with eight victories in 2003 and is expected to be a top contender for the Cup championship this season, qualified 42nd.

"We knew we weren't going to be super fast, but we didn't think we were going to be that slow," said Newman, who also led the series last year with 11 poles.

Only the top two qualifiers nailed down starting spots Sunday in NASCAR's unique qualifying format. The next 28 positions are determined in 125-mile qualifying races -- 14 from each. Then it goes back to the qualifying results, with eight more spots doled out based on Sunday's speeds. Finally, the last five spots are determined by last year's car-owner points.

Meanwhile, everyone gets a day off before practice resumes on Tuesday.