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Junior knows best Earnhardt Jr. tops dad as Labonte captures pole position
Posted: Wednesday May 26, 1999 10:52 PM
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) - Bobby Labonte upstaged everyone in first-round qualifying for the Coca-Cola 600. Dale Earnhardt Jr. settled for upstaging The Intimidator. Labonte won the pole for NASCAR's longest race with a fast lap of 185.230 mph on Wednesday night. Earnhardt, trying to make the field for his well-publicized and much-anticipated first Winston Cup race, had a 184.407 in his only allotted lap around Lowe's Motor Speedway at Charlotte. "I ain't never been that nervous in my life," said Earnhardt, whose lap guaranteed him the eighth starting spot in Sunday's 43-car field. It also put him seven spots ahead of his father, seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt. "In 600 miles we're bound to run into each other sooner or later - not literally, I hope," said Earnhardt, 24, who heightened expectations for his move up to NASCAR's top circuit by winning NASCAR's Busch Grand National title last year as a rookie. Labonte, third in the 1999 Winston Cup standings, won his third pole of the season and the 16th of his career. "It's a good car for us and a good track for us," said Labonte, who got the first of his seven career victories at this race in 1995. Tony Stewart, trying to become just the second driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, failed to qualify Wednesday night, when the top 25 starting spots were set for the 600. He had the 27th-fastest speed, and team officials said he probably would stand on that lap for Thursday's second round of time trials, when the remainder of the field was to be set. Such a tactic probably would give Stewart a starting spot somewhere in the high 20s or low 30s for the 400-lap race. He will start 24th at Indianapolis, where he plans to run 500 miles before flying immediately to Charlotte for the early evening start of the 600. John Andretti, who in 1994 became the only driver to pull off the daily driving double, qualified 22nd Wednesday night. The driver known as Little E was the 40th of 52 competitors in the qualifying session. Taking the track to a loud chorus of cheers from the crowd of about 30,000, Earnhardt followed a slightly higher-than-preferred line through the first and second turns. From there on, however, he looked like a seasoned veteran as he made his way around the 1.5-mile, high-banked trioval. When he got back to the garage, there were high-fives all around from his crew, the same team that prepares and services what for the past 11/2 years has been the best car on the Grand National circuit. Earnhardt wasn't sure what to expect when his team made the jump up to NASCAR's big leagues. Adding to the pressure was Anheuser-Busch's decision to sponsor his Winston Cup team to the tune of $10 million per year. "We've got a lot of pressure on us, and we're just trying to deliver," Earnhardt said. "It's not easy, and it ain't going to be easy from here on out, but we're excited to be here." As Earnhardt was being peppered with questions by a swarm of reporters, his father, who 24 years earlier made his Winston Cup debut at Charlotte, was out making his qualifying run for the latest version of NASCAR's longest race. Earnhardt, 48, didn't fare nearly as well as his son. A lap of 183.692 was the best he could do, putting him 15th on the starting grid and four rows behind his son. "We'll have a lot of fun with it," said the younger Earnhardt. "I'm sure he's going to have a lot of laughs watching me try to wheel that thing around here."
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