Daytona 500

What is more dreary than a beach resort town on a cold and rainy Sunday?

A racetrack in a beach resort town on a cold and rainy Sunday.

That was the scene at Daytona International Speedway, where instead of Winston Cup cars attempting to qualify at better than 180 mph, only raindrops and seagulls were moving.

Fifty-one cars, poised for action, sat silently in rows of two, their peacock-like color combinations covered by canvas tarps.

Sunday’s entire program, Bud Pole qualifying for next Sunday’s Daytona 500 and the Goody’s Dash 150 were moved to today -- weather permitting.

The all-day rain threw a damper on the momentum Chevrolets were taking into the two-lap time trials. Despite new body chassis regulations NASCAR designed to equalize competition among the four manufacturers, Chevrolets seemed to have figured something out better than the others.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, in a pair of Monte Carlos, finished one-two in an exciting Budweiser Shootout under the lights Saturday night. Earlier in the day, in the final round of practice, the five fastest cars were Chevrolets.

“It seemed like when Junior wanted to go he could really go,” said Ford Taurus driver Matt Kenseth, who finished third in the Shootout. “There was one time where there was three of us on the bottom and he just went by us on the outside by himself. Those DEI cars are pretty stout.”

DEI is Dale Earnhardt Inc., owned by Earnhardt’s step-mother, Teresa, widow of the late Dale Earnhardt. The cars driven by Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip, winner of the 2001 Daytona 500, have been generally acclaimed as favorites to win the pole.

Although only the two front row positions will be guaranteed in today’s time trials, the remaining qualifying speeds will determine the fields for Twin 125 qualifying races Thursday. The Thursday races will set positions 3-30, with the final 13 determined by qualifying speeds or provisionals from last year’s Winston Cup standings. Each car gets two laps, with the fastest lap counting.