DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 13, 2005) -- Joe Nemechek's stellar superspeedway performance
continued Sunday as he posted the fifth fastest speed
in Daytona 500 qualifying.
Nemechek's No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet toured Daytona
International Speedway's 2.5-mile tri oval in 47.914 seconds
at 187.837 miles per hour.
Sunday’s pole qualifying locked in the fastest two qualifiers
for the Daytona 500 (Feb. 20) and also determined the starting
fields for Thursday's (Feb. 17) 150-mile qualifying races.
It was the fifth straight time that Nemechek's qualifying
speed placed him in the top 10 at superspeedway events. He had
a 4.75 qualifying average at the four superspeedway races in
2004.
"That was a good lap and that was all we had," said Nemechek.
"But deep down we came here with a goal of taking the pole.
Our expectations were high, but that's how confident this U.S.
Army team is."
Pole Day qualifying turned into a speedfest for Nemechek and
his two MB2 teammates -- Scott Riggs (Valvoline Chevrolet) and
Boris Said (CENTRIX Financial Chevrolet). Riggs was right
behind Nemechek with the sixth fastest speed and Said was
close by with the 11th fastest mark.
"This is as close as you can get to building racecars," said
Nemechek. "I think we have eight speedway cars and they all
ran just about identically in testing. That's a pretty good
feat for those guys back at the shop. I'd also like to thank
Hendrick Motorsports for the engines. The motors run strong
and that makes our job a lot easier. A solid team effort all
the way around."
The MB2/MBV/MB Sutton trio will line up third (Nemechek),
fourth (Riggs) and fifth (Said) in Thursday's second Gatorade
Duel 150 qualifying race. The twin qualifying races will
determine the starting order for the Daytona 500."
FX will televise Thursday's qualifying races, beginning at 1
p.m. ET.
