Mayfield motors to Winston Open pole

CONCORD, N.C. -- Jeremy Mayfield put himself in the best starting spot to transfer into The Winston after winning the pole position for The Winston Open on Friday night.

	Jeremy Mayfield

Mayfield laid down a lap of 183.337 mph (29.454 seconds) around the 1.5-mile oval of Lowe’s Motor Speedway. If he can win the 30-lap portion of the race on Saturday night, he’ll move into The Winston.

Mayfield was the 13th of 23 cars to make a qualifying run. With his fast lap, he knocked Jerry Nadeau off the pole position.

“Man, I have to catch my breath,” Mayfield said. “The car was fast in practice and I was surprised I drove it that fast (qualifying), I’ll tell you that.

“That run was pretty much on the edge and when it came off Turn 4, it was a little loose. I couldn’t ask for a better car, it was a little on the free side but that’s the way you want it when you race here.”

Mayfield battled into the lucrative The Winston in 1998 when he won The Winston Open.

Nadeau, filling in for the injured Johnny Benson, had a lap of 182.976 mph.

Rounding out the top 10 positions were Ryan Newman, Jimmy Spencer, Dave Blaney, Kenny Schrader, Hut Stricklin, Ron Hornaday, Mike Skinner and Stacy Compton.

Immediately following the Winston Open, the rest of the field will battle for a final transfer spot in the 16-lap No Bull Sprint.