Burton wins pole for Sunday's Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Jeff Burton picked a great time to grab his first NASCAR pole in more than five years.

Burton outran 57 other competitors Sunday to earn the top starting spot for the Feb. 19 Daytona 500, his third career pole and first since fall 2000 in Richmond, Va. Burton's fast lap of 189.151 mph on a chilly day at Daytona International Speedway was the fastest qualifying run on the 2.5-mile, high-banked oval since Dale Jarrett's 191.091 in February 2000.

"We knew we had a fast car, we just didn't know how fast these others guys really were," Burton said.

Four-time series champion and defending Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon, one of the last drivers to take to the track on the windy afternoon, came close to knocking Burton's Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet off the top spot with a lap of 188.877 in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Clint Bowyer, Burton's RCR teammate, was fastest of the large 2006 rookie class, qualifying seventh at 187.786.

The pole for a good sign for the Childress team, which has struggled in recent years but made significant internal changes over the winter.

Only the top two qualifiers locked in starting positions in the 500. The rest of qualifying results were used to set the lineups for Thursday's two 150-mile qualifying races.

The top 35 teams in last year's standings are guaranteed starting positions in the race, leaving just eight positions for the rest of the entries. The two top-finishing nonqualified drivers from each of the Thursday's races will make the field, along with the fastest remaining drivers from Sunday's time trials.

Robert Yates Racing teammates Jarrett and Elliott Sadler just missed the front row with laps of 188.849 and 188.810 in a pair of new Ford Fusions. They were followed by Gordon's teammate Jimmie Johnson at 188.762 in a Chevy and Bobby Labonte, making his first start for Petty Enterprises, at 187.935 in a Dodge.

The fastest of the drivers not guaranteed a starting position was two-time Daytona 500 winner Bill Elliott, eighth at 187.715. Travis Kvapil and Hermie Sadler, 19th and 20th, were next fastest among the entries who must drive into the race.

Those three will make the 43-car field, either by racing in on Thursday or because of their qualifying speeds.