Jarrett Makes a Return to Daytona 500 Pole

The last time Dale Jarrett sat on the pole for the Daytona 500 he won the race. That was 2000 and Jarrett hasn’t been close since.

The 48-year-old, three-time winner will be on the pole again Sunday for the 47th running of the Great American Race after pushing his UPS Ford to a 188.312 mph lap during Sunday’s front row time trials at Daytona International Speedway.

“This is a nice reminder to everyone that we’re not finished yet,” said Jarrett, who did not win a race last year and had not finished better than 10th in the Daytona 500 in the four years since he won. “I think we can be considered a car and a team to beat on Sunday.

“We haven’t been contenders for a while but that doesn’t mean we haven’t worked our tails off trying to catch up. These guys [Robert Yates Racing] have been working on this race car for 18 months, working night and day to make it better than anything we’ve had before.”

Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR’s dominant driver last year even though he fell short of catching Kurt Busch for the Nextel Cup championship, will start alongside Jarrett after posting a 188.170 mph lap in the Lowe’s Chevrolet.

“I feel good about my performance last night [winning the Bud Shootout] and I feel very good about our team today,” the former off-road racer from El Cajon said. “We haven’t been focusing on qualifying so to come out second was a little bit of a surprise.”

A disappointed Jeff Gordon, who had been practicing in the 189 mph range a day earlier, could muster only 188.155, third best.

“The way we have been running, I thought we would be good enough for the pole, but this is Daytona and things happen,” the two-time 500 winner said. “It was great having Jimmie get on the front row, though.”

Gordon is owner of the car Johnson drives.

For four drivers -- Jason Leffler of Long Beach, Boris Said of Carlsbad, Mike Skinner of Susanville and John Andretti of the racing Andrettis -- where they qualified was almost as satisfying as if they had won the pole. With 35 drivers guaranteed starting positions no matter how they qualify, new NASCAR rules stipulated that the four fastest non-guaranteed drivers would be in the Feb. 20 starting lineup.

They are the four.

“It’s all about perspective,” said Andretti, making a comeback of sorts with ppc Racing. “I saw Jeff Gordon and it looked like he was pretty dejected because he was after the pole and wound up third. So I feel like the other side of it.

“We’re 18th, but we’re over the moon.”

Not so fortunate was Robby Gordon, who finished 23rd in points last year driving for Richard Childress, but this year as a new team owner with his own car he has no points.

Four more unqualified drivers will advance through their finishing positions in Thursday’s Gatorade Duel, a pair of 150-mile heats. The heats will also determine starting positions for everyone but Jarrett and Johnson.

“Starting a new team is obviously a big undertaking in the beginning, and we’re a little behind, but hopefully we can work our way into the 500 with a good showing Thursday,” said Robby Gordon, who will start 18th in his heat.

In the curious world of NASCAR, Kyle Busch, a rookie who has driven only six Cup races and ranked 52nd last year, is in the 500 because he is in a car driven last year by Terry Labonte, who is skipping Daytona. Busch, younger brother of the Nextel Cup rookie, qualified impressively, however, in the 16th spot, fastest of the rookies. Brother Kurt is eighth.

The DEI cars, driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip, have dominated restrictor plate racing at Daytona and Talladega, the only tracks where they are mandated, but both had disappointing qualifying results. Earnhardt, last year’s 500 winner, is 39th and Waltrip, winner of two of the last four 500s, is 33rd.

“They may be way back today, but don’t think they won’t be around when the racing starts,” Jarrett said. “I’m sure when we get into drafting situations, Junior and Michael are very good at that.”

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Veteran ARCA driver Billy Venturini suffered a broken neck when he was involved in an accident Saturday night in a Re/Max series race, his team reported Sunday.

Venturini will undergo several surgeries at the Halifax Medical Center to repair ligaments in his neck.

He is expected to have full mobility, the report said.