NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Menard Claims Daytona Pole
Paul Menard isn’t exactly known as the king of pole day...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted July 04, 2008   Daytona Beach, Fla.
Paul Menard qualified quickest for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.(David Cannon/Getty Images Photo)

Paul Menard isn’t exactly known as the king of pole day, but the Wisconsin driver stunned the field at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, when he claimed the pole for the Coke Zero 400.

How big a shocker was it for the second-year driver to put his No. 15 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet Impala SS on the pole for Saturday night’s race? Well, consider this little nugget: In 56 prior NASCAR Sprint Cup starts, Menard had never qualified higher than 13th.

Menard’s pole-winning lap was 185.916 miles per hour, which was the fastest among 45 drivers who took times during the qualifying session, as he led a sweep of five Chevrolets in the top five positions.

Qualifying right behind Menard was his DEI teammate, Mark Martin, who officially became a lame duck on Friday, when he announced that next season he’ll drive for the powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports team. Martin’s best of two qualifying laps was 185.870 mph.

“Tony Gibson (Martin’s crew chief) and the DEI team also gave me the confidence to do something like this by giving me such great race cars this year and making it fun,” said Martin. “I’ve had more fun this year racing than I can remember, in racing with those guys.”

Third fastest was a former DEI driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who ran 185.437 mph in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Earnhardt, of course, will be teammates with Martin next year.

He was followed by “Front-Row” Joe Nemechek, who in the spring qualified on the pole at Talladega but destroyed his car in a last-lap crash not of his own making. Nemechek put his Furniture Row Chevy in the field at 185.288 mph. “We threw everything at it,” Nemechek said of his crew’s attempts to find speed as he struggled Friday in practice.

Fifth was Johnny Sauter’s Haas-CNC Chevrolet, who ran 185.250 mph. Positions six through 10 were David Ragan in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford, Boris Said’s own Ford, Regan Smith in a third DEI Chevy, points leader Kyle Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and the Gillett Evernham Dodge driven by Patrick Carpentier.

Failing to qualify were two drivers, J.J. Yeley in the Hall of Fame Racing Toyota and Scott Riggs in a second Haas-CNC entry.

COKE ZERO 400 QUALIFYING RESULTS

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to


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