Posted March 6, 2009; Source - NASCAR Communications; Photo Credit: Getty Images for NASCAR



Earnhardt Jr. Wins Atlanta Pole

HAMPTON, GA (March 5, 2010) – It has been a long drought for Dale Earnhardt Jr., but he took a cool sip of water during Friday’s Georgia Power Qualifying Night at Atlanta Motor Speedway, earning his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole position since April 2008. Earnhardt Jr.’s lap of 192.761 (28.761 seconds) will put him in front of the field for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500.

“The car did everything I asked it to do,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “The Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet was pretty good in practice; we just needed to get a little better. And we just need to hit that perfect lap.”

Kyle Busch didn’t find that perfect lap, but he wasn’t too far off, posting a speed of 192.280 mph, 28.833 seconds).

“I felt really good about our lap,” Busch said. “We got the most out of it we could get.”

Juan Pablo Montoya will start third (192.106 mph, 28. 859 seconds) after turning what he said was a “crazy fast” lap.

“I’m surprised we ran that fast,” Montoya said. “It was a good lap; we have been working on it really hard.”

But perhaps no team has been working as hard as Earnhardt Jr.’s, which is desperately trying to shake the memory of last year’s dismal season. In fact, even after earning his second career pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and even after learning he had turned the fastest qualifying lap for the new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car, Earnhardt Jr. was subdued.

“It’s good to be on the pole, and I’m real proud of it,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “But we’re hungry … we’re just so hungry to do so much better on Sunday. We’re starving for a good finish, and for something like this to happen Sunday for us. That’s all we can think about.”

Unadilla’s David Ragan qualified was 17th, Alpharetta driver Joey Logano will start 29th and Dawsonville’s Bill Elliott will start 34th.

Great seats are still available for Saturday’s E-Z-GO 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Purchase tickets online at www.atlantamotorspeedway.com or call (877) 9-AMS-TIX.

QUALIFYING NOTES

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Coors Light Pole Award for the KOBALT TOOLS 500 with a lap of 28.761 seconds, 192.761 mph. This is his ninth pole in 367 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2010. Earnhardt's last pole came at Texas in April of 2008, 68 starts ago.
• Earnhardt's pole speed set a record for fastest in the new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car. The previous fastest was Jimmie Johnson's speed of 192.376 mph at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October of last season.
• This is Jr.'s second pole in 22 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
• Kyle Busch (second) posted his fourth top-10 start of 2010 and his seventh in 12 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
• Juan Pablo Montoya (third) posted his second top-10 start at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is his fourth in four races this season.
• Drivers that failed to qualify include: Casey Mears, Terry Cook and Aric Almirola.

Complete Starting Lineup click here