DEI Front Row

July 4, 2008 8:00pm CDT

Remember the adage, "It doesn't matter where you start, but where you finish?" That can't be truer than on a superspeedway.

At tracks like Daytona International Speedway and Talladega SuperSpeedway, the restrictor plates keep the field bunched together for almost the entire race. Cars cannot run by themselves on the track for long, so drivers must stay together in order to gain more speed. Because of this, someone can lose the draft and fall from first to 43rd in one lap, then find a good drafting partner and work his way back to the front a couple of laps later. That is why, fantasy-wise, it is not too important where a driver qualifies.

The Winners' starting position statistics create an interesting quandary. Although Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick each won after qualifying 15th and 34th, respectively, four of the last six winners at Daytona have started inside the top-10. In fact, Harvick and Greg Biffle, who qualified 30th in the summer of 2003, are the only winners to have started their days outside the top-20 since Bill Elliott won in the summer of 1988 after starting 38th. What this indicates is that, despite the importance of the draft, it pays to roll off the hauler fast.

There are two teams that will not have to worry about starting position. Just a week after finishing a season-best third at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, J.J. Yeley found himself on the outside looking in at the Coke Zero 400 field. Scott Riggs had a shoulder for him to cry on, as the No. 66 Chevrolet didn't make the race, either.

Pole
#15 Paul Menard
185.92 mph

Menard outdid himself Friday afternoon, winning his first career pole and Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s first pole of the season. Prior to Friday's qualifying session, he had not started a race any higher than 13th during his entire Cup career, and he had never started a Daytona race from the top-20. His two trips to Florida did not end too badly; last July, he started 41st and finished 21st, and he qualified 21st and went home 22nd in February.

Outside Pole
#8 Mark Martin
185.87 mph

It has been a long time since Martin qualified this high at Daytona. The last time he started a race in the top-five was in 2000. Before Friday, his best in nearly 20 years was when he qualified fourth in July 1992. The veteran's results, though, are stronger than his qualifying numbers. He was second in the 2007 Daytona 500 after he started 26th. However, that has been his only top-10 at the Florida superspeedway in the last six races there. On the day he announced he would run full time with Hendrick Motorsports in 2009, he's showing DEI he's still giving them his all in 2008.

Third
#88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
185.44 mph

Earnhardt typically follows a good qualifying run with a nice finish. In February, Earnhardt started the Daytona 500 third and finished a respectable ninth. He started the 2006 Great American Race seventh and went home eighth. At Talladega this spring, he started ninth and finished 10th. What was truly impressive, though, was his run in July 2005, when he started 39th and finished third. With such a good starting spot, expect big things from "Little E" this weekend.

Fourth
#78 Joe Nemechek
185.29 mph

"Front Row Joe" may not be on the front row this week, but he is close enough for this struggling team. Outside the top-35 in owner points, they had no guaranteed starting position waiting on them, so the No. 78 Chevrolet team put together a solid qualifying package. It resulted in his best start at Daytona since he qualified fifth in the 2006 Pepsi 400. One thing about Nemechek is that he does well when he starts near the front. In his five previous top-10 starts at Daytona, he has turned in a top-10 and four top-20s.

Fifth
#70 Johnny Sauter
185.25 mph

Although Sauter's teammate Riggs failed to make the show, the No. 70 Chevrolet squad had its act together. This is by far his best qualification effort of the season. In his four previous starts this season, his best was a 37th-place qualifying mark. Unfortunately, he has yet to finish above 33rd this year, although his last three attempts at Daytona have resulted in top-20s.

Sixth
#6 David Ragan
185.25 mph

Heading into Friday's qualifying session, Ragan had been much better in the race than in qualification. While his results included a fifth and 12th in three previous starts, he had never qualified higher than 14th. His superspeedway qualifications have been getting better. He started sixth at Talladega in April and went home fourth, so that should make fantasy owners feel good about his starting sixth this week.

Seventh
#60 Boris Said
185.18 mph

Remember the last time Said qualified for a Daytona race inside the top-10? It was July 2006 and he started that event from the pole and went on to finish fourth after a good call from pit road. He has not started a race at the Florida restrictor-plate track since the 2007 Daytona 500—a race he finished 14th after qualifying 23rd. Said is driving with Roush-Fenway Racing equipment, so don't underestimate his abilities or his car this week.

Eighth
#01 Regan Smith
184.98 mph

The Dale Earnhardt, Inc. teams must have shared qualifying notes since three of their teams will be starting the Coke Zero 400 from inside the top-10—and the only one who is not, Martin Truex Jr. had his primary car confiscated by NASCAR. Smith is the least likely to hang with the top-10 once the green flag drops. In his first Daytona start, he went home 37th in the Daytona 500 only a year after Martin steered the team to a near-win in that same race in 2007. He was 21st at 'Dega in the spring, so there is hope for a top-20.

Ninth
#18 Kyle Busch
184.83 mph

There is no denying Busch on any type of track this year. He has won on a road course, a flat track, an unrestricted intermediate speedway, a rough track and a high-banked speedway. Most important to this weekend's festivities is his win on the restrictor-plate track of Talladega after starting fifth in April. His last two trips to Daytona have seen him finish second and fourth, which further recommends him this week and a good starting position only makes him an even more tempting fantasy selection.

10th
#10 Patrick Carpentier
184.68 mph

Carpentier is getting the hang of qualifying a stockcar, now he just needs a good finish to go along with that. A week after earning his first career pole, he follows with his third top-10 start of the season. He has never started a Sprint Cup series race in Daytona—having failed to race his way into the 500—although he qualified 17th at Talladega earlier this year. On that day, he went home 31st.

Starting Grid