Said takes pole spot for today's Pepsi 400

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Boris Said can master a superspeedway as well.

The road-racing specialist was the surprising Pepsi 400 pole-winner Friday night at Daytona International Speedway, posting a lap at 186.143 mph. It was the second pole of his career; the other was at Infineon Raceway's road course in 2003.

Tony Stewart, the defending race winner, qualified second and will start right next to Said on the front row. The two tangled during last week's road course race in Sonoma, Calif., -- Stewart even made an obscene gesture at Said -- and the drivers were critical of each other after the race.

David Stremme, a rookie who is having a rough first season, qualified third. Jeff Gordon, a three-time winner of this race, qualified fourth and was followed by Joe Nemechek, rookie Denny Hamlin, Dale Jarrett, and rookie Martin Truex Jr.

-- AP