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Rainout gives Stewart pole

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By TONY FABRIZIO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 4, 2009

DAYTONA BEACH - Tony Stewart got the pole for tonight's Coke Zero 400 without turning a lap.

Rain washed out Sprint Cup qualifying Friday, and the lineup was set by the car owner points. Stewart and Jeff Gordon will start in the front row and Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch the second.

"The advantage is, it gives us a good pit selection," Stewart said. "Other than that, it doesn't matter."

Zephyrhills' David Reutimann, who is only 12 points outside the top 12, will start 14th. Defending 400 champion Kyle Busch starts eighth.

As of Friday evening, the rain chance for tonight at 8 was 30 percent, according to Weather.com.

Needing a boost

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won the Daytona 500 (2004) and Coke 400 winner (2001), and he's still considered one of the best drivers on restrictor-plate tracks. But he enters tonight's race with no top-10 finishes in his last eight races.

He's 19th in the points, 285 points outside the top 12, and Friday, he sounded as though he has all but given up on making the Chase.

Earnhardt said his goal is to get his team turned around before next year.

"Making the Chase is the goal, but at the end of the year, when you're done racing at Homestead and you've run the last lap and you get out of the car, what kind of feeling do you want to have?" he said. "The one I want to have is that we've fixed it."

Earnhardt has been bringing up the rear at Hendrick. Gordon and Johnson are second and third in the points, and 50-year-old Mark Martin is 11th with three wins.

Midseason update

NASCAR chairman Brian France held his midseason news conference Friday, and three-fourths of it was devoted to the saga revolving around Jeremy Mayfield's suspension for failing a drug test.

Asked if NASCAR's experts are certain Mayfield isn't telling the truth with his explanation that the combined use of two legitimate drugs must have caused his positive result for methamphetamines, France said yes.

"We are very comfortable that that test is accurate and reliable and will hold up, ultimately, when all the facts are heard," he said. "Everybody can say ... they don't believe they did something. That kind of happens when people do something wrong."

Mayfield has not made an appearance at the track since winning an emergency injunction in federal court to race this weekend, and he missed Thursday's deadline to enter his No. 41 Toyota.

France also said with Chevy and Dodge cutting support to teams because of the bankruptcy filings by General Motors and Chrysler, NASCAR has been fielding more feelers from foreign manufacturers.

"There's nothing imminent ... but do I see more interest because there's more opportunity? Sure," he said.

Also notable

Greg Biffle is ninth in the points, but the 2003 Coke 400 winner will have to start in the back of the field in a backup car that didn't complete a lap of practice. ... If traffic on Interstate 4 is any indication, the economy is better this summer than last. Traffic has been exceptionally heavy - and ticket writers have been out in force.

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