Auto Racing

Terry Labonte set a track qualifying record on the way to winning his first pole of the season, taking the top starting spot for Sunday’s Glen NASCAR race at Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Rain played havoc with the schedule at Watkins Glen International, but the cars were finally able to get onto the 2.428-mile road course for practice at 3:30 p.m. EDT, and began the qualifying session two hours later.

By that time, the track was dry, while the sky remained overcast and the temperature cool, almost perfect conditions for qualifying. Labonte was able to lead a competitive session with a lap clocked at 1 minute 11.851 seconds, a speed of 121.652 m.p.h.

That was good enough to knock off three-time pole-winner Mark Martin, who had a lap of 121.397 m.p.h. earlier in the session, breaking the year-old track mark of 121.190 set by Dale Earnhardt.