End of a long drought

T. Labonte earns pole at Richmond; Nadeau crashes

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Terry Labonte won his first pole in more than three years in qualifying before Jerry Nadeau was critically injured in a crash while practicing Friday at Richmond International Raceway.

Pontiac Excitement 400 Lineup Pl.  No.  Driver  Speed  1  5  Terry Labonte  Chevrolet  2  25  Joe Nemechek  Chevrolet  3  8  Dale Earnhardt Jr  Chevrolet  4  18  Bobby Labonte  Chevrolet  5  12  Ryan Newman  Dodge  6  24  Jeff Gordon  Chevrolet  7  97  Kurt Busch  Ford  8  45  Kyle Petty  Dodge  9  20  Tony Stewart  Chevrolet  10  48  Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet  11  41  Casey Mears  Dodge  12  01  Jerry Nadeau  Pontiac  13  10  Johnny Benson  Pontiac  14  23  Kenny Wallace  Dodge  15  16  Greg Biffle  Ford  16  99  Jeff Burton  Ford  17  2  Rusty Wallace  Dodge  18  17  Matt Kenseth  Ford  19  19  Jeremy Mayfield  Dodge  20  22  Ward Burton  Dodge  21  40  Sterling Marlin  Dodge  22  42  Jamie McMurray  Dodge  23  1  Steve Park  Chevrolet  24  43  John Andretti  Dodge  25  7  Jimmy Spencer  Dodge  26  4  Mike Skinner  Pontiac  27  21  Ricky Rudd  Ford  28  9  Bill Elliott  Dodge  29  0  Jack Sprague  Pontiac  30  6  Mark Martin  Ford  31  77  Dave Blaney  Ford  32  31  Robby Gordon  Chevrolet  33  49  Ken Schrader  Dodge  34  54  Todd Bodine  Ford  35  74  Tony Raines  Chevrolet  36  29  Kevin Harvick  Chevrolet  37  15  Michael Waltrip  Chevrolet  38  32  Ricky Craven  Pontiac  39  38  Elliott Sadler  Ford  40  88  Dale Jarrett  Ford  41  30  Jeff Green  Chevrolet  42  14  Larry Foyt  Dodge  43  11  Brett Bodine  Ford        Failed to Qualify      44  02  Hermie Sadler  Pontiac  45  37  Derrike Cope  Chevrolet

Nadeau, who qualified 12th, was airlifted from the track with what doctors said was "the potential for serious injuries" after slamming his Pontiac into the wall. NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said Nadeau was in critical condition at the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals in Richmond.

Hunter provided no specific information on Nadeau's injuries. He said the hospital was prevented from saying more while awaiting the arrival of the driver's wife, Jada, who was traveling from South Carolina after attending her grandfather's funeral. NASCAR sent a plane to pick her up, and she arrived in Richmond about 11 p.m.

Rescue crews cut the roof off Nadeau's car to get him out. NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said the 32-year-old driver from Danbury, Conn., was alive at the time, but he didn't know if Nadeau was conscious.

When practice resumed, Busch series driver Jason Keller drove Nadeau's backup car.

Earlier, Labonte was surprised when the 126.511-mph lap he posted early in the session withstood challenges from 31 other drivers. It is his 27th career pole and first on the three-quarter-mile oval since 1997.

"After I qualified, I thought, `Well, that probably could be a top 10,' " the two-time Winston Cup champion said. "Then, when I was sitting there watching, I thought, `Gosh, this could probably be a top five.'

"Then I got kind of nervous for the last two. I thought, `I'm going to be kind of mad if these two guys beat us. It's so close up there.' "

Labonte's Chevrolet bumped that of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Joe Nemechek to the outside of the front row for Saturday night's Pontiac Excitement 400. Nemechek's fast lap was 126.369.

"I would have been happy to get a top-10," Labonte said.

Nemechek, like Labonte, said his car was fast all day long.

"We made quite a few changes today. We made a lot of run," Nemechek said. "Every change we made, it seemed to make the car faster."

Only driver error might have cost Nemechek a shot at the pole.

"My first lap was my fast lap and the second one I didn't drive it quite hard enough to go any faster," he said. "But that is one of those things you do here. If you drive it too hard, sometimes you go slower."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Bobby Labonte qualified in the second row, giving Chevys a sweep of the top four positions. Ryan Newman was fifth in a Dodge.

The Hendrick team wound up with four qualifiers in the top 10. Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon -- twice a Richmond winner -- will start sixth, and Jimmie Johnson will line up 10th in the 43-car field.

Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart, the winner of this race the last two years and a three-time winner here overall, qualified ninth. Chevys took seven of the first 10 spots.

Kurt Busch, the winner last week in Fontana, Calif., wound up seventh in a Ford. Kyle Petty was eighth in a Dodge.

Earnhardt, who trails series leader Matt Kenseth by 44 points after 10 races, had the car to beat after practice, but wasn't quite able to back it up.

"We were just a couple hundredths (of a second) from getting the pole, and I think I could go back over my lap and know exactly where I lost it," he said, adding that his car was too loose going through the third turn.

The track showed no signs of the water seepage that delayed Busch series qualifying for 3 hours, 40 minutes Thursday. Hunter said crews worked until almost 2 a.m. cutting grooves in the track to aid in draining the surface.

Kenseth qualified 18th.

 

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