Backstretch Motorsports

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola
Daytona International Speedway
Qualifying Fast Facts

Coors Light Pole Winner: Paul Menard
Age: 27
Team: No. 15 Menards/Vertis Chevrolet
Owner: Teresa Earnhardt
Crew Chief: Doug Randolph

Paul Menard, driver of the No. 15 Menards/Vertis Chevrolet Impala SS won his first career pole in 57 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts. His best previous career start was 13th earlier this season at Dover. Menard turned a lap of 185.916 mph and an average time of 48.409 seconds.

Menard’s previous best start at Daytona was 21st at this season’s Daytona 500.

“I really had no idea,” said a surprized but pleased Menard after the qualifying session. “I knew the ECR engine boys gave us some more power for this race. We really didn’t do a qualifying run yesterday in practice; we just worked on drafting. We might have overdone it a little bit with the tape because the motor got a little bit warm but nothing too bad or nothing that is going to affect us for tomorrow so looking forward to the race for sure. We drafted yesterday and we really had good speed in the car, had to work on the drivability a little bit but we’re right there.”

Menard is the second first-time pole winner this season (Patrick Carpentier, New Hampshire).

On starting in the top position for tomorrow night’s race:

“Well, its obviously a good position to be in.” Menard explained. “We didn’t focus at all on qualifying yesterday. All we did was draft practice so honestly I had no idea how we’d run by ourselves but obviously pretty good. I was really happy with the way the car drove in the draft and how fast it was. It really had good speed so I knew that it would qualify the best that we had all year. Hats off to everyone at DEI and Earnhardt-Childress Racing engines. They gave us more power and this is the same car that we ran at Talladega a couple months ago and it was really fast there. We ran top-ten basically all day long and came back here with the same car and just brushed up on it a little bit and gave it a little more power. That’s what did it.”

Mark Martin (second) notched his seventh top-10 start of the season, and 19th at Daytona.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (third) registered his 11th top-10 start of the season, and 13th at Daytona.
Regan Smith (eighth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Joe Nemechek (fourth) was the fastest of those drivers who were required to make the field on time.

Starting Line Up by Row
Daytona International Speedway
Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola

Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Cale Yarborough 02/19/70 12:40:48 183.295
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 15 Paul Menard Menards/Vertis Chevrolet 48.409 185.916
2 8 Mark Martin U.S. Army Chevrolet 48.421 185.870
Row 2: 3 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet 48.534 185.437
4 78 Joe Nemechek Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 48.573 185.288
Row 3: 5 70 Johnny Sauter Haas Automation Chevrolet 48.583 185.250
6 6 David Ragan AAA Insurance Ford 48.584 185.246
Row 4: 7 60 Boris Said No Fear/Advance Auto Parts Ford 48.601 185.181
8 01 Regan Smith # Principal Financial Group/DEI Chevrolet 48.655 184.976
Row 5: 9 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 48.694 184.828
10 10 Patrick Carpentier # Auto Value Parts Store Dodge 48.734 184.676
Row 6: 11 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Drive one Ford 48.735 184.672
12 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Toyota 48.740 184.653
Row 7: 13 84 AJ Allmendinger Red Bull Toyota 48.744 184.638
14 29 Kevin Harvick Reese’s Chevrolet 48.772 184.532
Row 8: 15 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 48.773 184.528
16 5 Casey Mears Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet 48.784 184.487
Row 9: 17 20 Tony Stewart Home Depot Toyota 48.788 184.472
18 09 Sterling Marlin Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet 48.791 184.460
Row 10: 19 17 Matt Kenseth R & L Carriers Ford 48.799 184.430
20 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios/Pillsbury Cinnabon Dodge 48.810 184.388
Row 11: 21 00 Michael McDowell # Champion Mortgage Toyota 48.817 184.362
22 21 Jon Wood Air Force Ford 48.817 184.362
Row 12: 23 31 Jeff Burton AT&T Mobility Chevrolet 48.857 184.211
24 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 48.869 184.166
Row 13: 25 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 48.869 184.166
26 24 Jeff Gordon Dupont Chevrolet 48.889 184.090
Row 14: 27 38 David Gilliland freecreditreport.com Ford 48.891 184.083
28 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 48.900 184.049
Row 15: 29 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 48.921 183.970
30 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 48.961 183.820
Row 16: 31 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Slim Pack Dodge 48.964 183.809
32 12 Ryan Newman alltel/Samsung Dodge 48.977 183.760
Row 17: 33 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 48.983 183.737
34 44 David Reutimann UPS Toyota 49.013 183.625
Row 18: 35 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Swing Vote Chevrolet 49.023 183.587
36 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 49.035 183.542
Row 19: 37 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 49.062 183.441
38 19 Elliott Sadler Best Buy/GARMIN Dodge 49.085 183.355
Row 20: 39 41 Reed Sorenson Polaroid/Tums Dodge 49.098 183.307
40 26 Jamie McMurray IRWIN Marathon with WeldTec Ford 49.111 183.258
Row 21: 41 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge Owner Points
42 77 Sam Hornish Jr. # Penske Truck Rental Dodge Owner Points
Row 22: 43 45 Terry Labonte Richard Petty Driving Experience Dodge Past Champion
Did Not Qualify: # 66 Scott Riggs; # 96 J.J. Yeley.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 14 1 Ford 9 0
Dodge 11 0 Toyota 9 1