Busch Tops Field, but Gilliland Makes Mark

Kurt Busch won the pole for Sunday’s Nextel Cup race at Infineon Raceway, but the man who qualified 31st nearly stole Busch’s thunder.

David Gilliland of Riverside, who’s quickly becoming NASCAR’s version of Cinderella, qualified for his first Cup race Friday in his first attempt.

He did it only a week after pulling off a stunning victory in NASCAR’s second-tier Busch series in only his seventh start in that division.

“We’re going to race on Sunday,” Gilliland shouted as he walked through the garage area, accepting high-fives from members of other race teams. “This has been my dream forever, to run on Sunday” with the Cup regulars, he said.

Gilliland, 30, is a veteran of NASCAR’s lower-level series in the West, though his resume includes victories on the hilly, 1.99-mile Infineon road course in the wine country.

Even with his local knowledge, Gilliland was considered a longshot to make the Cup field. But he made it look easy on a day during which the temperature reached the high 90s, qualifying his Dodge ahead of such Cup regulars as Jeremy Mayfield and Casey Mears.

Many of those drivers don’t care for road courses, but Busch said he was in no position to complain.

The 2004 Cup champion, Busch is 16th in points this year and in danger of missing the Chase for the Championship in which only the top 10 in points compete for the title in the season’s final 10 races.

So the Penske Racing South driver is hungry for more points wherever he can earn them, starting with the Dodge/Save Mart 350 on Sunday.

“I just tried not to overdrive it and stay on the course, and it paid dividends,” said Busch, who ran a lap at 93.055 mph in his Dodge.

“It’s a great feather in the cap for this team to sit on a road-course pole.”

Jamie McMurray of Roush Racing will start next to Busch on the front row after qualifying his Ford second at 92.948 mph.

Boris Said of Carlsbad, a road-racing specialist who is not a regular on the Nextel Cup circuit, qualified fifth.

Few were surprised that Said, 43, had a good showing in his Ford Fusion, since he finished sixth in this race in 2003 and 2004.

“So far, so good,” he said. “We definitely have a chance. Our goal for the race is to be in the top five with 30 laps to go, and then you never know.”

Two strong pole contenders -- each named Gordon and each from California -- came up short.

Jeff Gordon, the only four-time winner of this race, set a record qualifying speed of 94.325 mph last year in winning the pole for Hendrick Motorsports, and he also was the fastest car in practice Friday in his Chevrolet.

But during qualifying, he slid off the ninth turn of the 10-turn course into the dirt, kicking up a wave of dust and fading to an 11th starting spot.

Gordon said he had a strong car but momentarily lost control.

“I didn’t live up to my part of the deal, so I’m a little disappointed right now,” he said.

Meanwhile, 2003 race winner Robby Gordon qualified 14th in his Chevrolet after having been third-fastest in practice.

He said the track became much slicker during the late-afternoon qualifying.

“The car slid all over the place, and I just spun the tires everywhere,” he said.

Tony Stewart, last year’s winner, qualified 12th in his Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet.