Dale Jarrett had the third-fastest speed in qualifying. Credit: Autostock

Yates' Ford Fusions fast in Daytona 500 qualifying

Jarrett, Sadler post third- and fourth-fastest speeds, respectively

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Sunday's Bud Pole Qualifying session for the Daytona 500 confirmed what every Nextel Cup garage insider already knew: Robert Yates Racing has a potent package for Daytona International Speedway.

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While Chevrolets swept the front row for next Sunday's Nextel Cup season opener, Yates took the third and fourth spots with drivers Dale Jarrett and Elliott Sadler.

When Jimmie Johnson's fifth-place qualifying speed was disallowed due to a "template violation" in post-qualifying inspection, Yates then tied Richard Childress Racing instead of Hendrick Motorsports for the unofficial qualifying team trophy.

RCR's Jeff Burton won his first pole in five years, with a lap in 189.151 mph in the No. 31 Chevrolet and three-time Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon was second at 188.877 in the No. 24 Chevy.

But defending Daytona 500 pole winner Jarrett's No. 88 Ford was third (188.850 mph) and teammate Sadler's No. 38 Ford was fourth (188.810).

But the fact that the Yates duo's positions totaled "seven," as did the top two Childress cars, which included sixth-place Clint Bowyer, wasn't as important to the Yates drivers as their outright speed.

Qualifying mirrored the promise the Yates cars showed in practice Saturday. In the first, two-hour practice, Sadler was fourth and Jarrett, sixth. In the second, one-hour practice Sadler was quickest and Jarrett, fourth.

Jarrett, in particular was thrilled to rack up the third spot in qualifying with a different crew chief, Slugger Labbe, and a totally new body style, the 2006 Fusion, than a year ago when he won the pole with a lap in 188.312 mph.

"I'm extremely happy," Jarrett said. "That's actually faster than I thought that we could go with this car, but the guys worked extremely hard with it to be able to make it go fast, but we also think that this car is gonna draft well.

Daytona duoThe Yates teammates post two of the five fastest qualifying laps Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

"We have a lot of unknowns because we made a lot of changes, but if you look at it on paper, we've installed a lot of good people in a lot of places that are very important for us."

Sunday's qualifying session locked in only the front row for the Daytona 500. The remainder of the starting positions for the race will be set following Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races.

Inside the Numbers Daytona 500 Qualifying Pos. Driver Speed Time 1. J. Burton 189.151 47.581 2. J. Gordon 188.877 47.650 3. D. Jarrett 188.850 47.657 4. E. Sadler 188.810 47.667 5. J. Johnson 188.762 47.679 • Complete results, click here DALE JARRETT •   2006 Driver Page •   Store: Jarrett gear!

Sadler was also pleased with his run, despite a nagging doubt about a possible mechanical problem.

"We got all of it, I think," Sadler said. "We're just having a question about the brakes. I think my brakes were dragging the whole time, but as far as the car, the car drove great and the engine felt good.

"We were really shooting for the pole and we just missed it."

Despite the myriad of changes at RYR in the last year, including new crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr. at Sadler's team, Jarrett is enthused about not only the coming week, but also the rest of the season.

"Tommy and Slugger work well together and Elliott and I feel very strongly about our race teams right now," Jarrett said. "The thing that makes us go fast here -- good bodies, yeah -- but Doug Yates and his people in the engine shop do a terrific job.

	Elliott Sadler likes his new Fusion. Credit: Autostock
	ELLIOTT SADLER •   2006 Driver Page •   Store: Sadler gear!

"There's just no substitute for that kind of horsepower, so we have a lot of optimism. Some of it may be guarded because we know that we have to prove it on the racetrack first to get everybody's attention."

Jarrett said that qualifying was only the first step of Speedweeks, with the next being Thursday's Gatorade Duel qualifying races.

"My biggest objective is to get something that I can drive and be competitive with for the 500," Jarrett said. "So hopefully we have a great package for next Sunday."

Sadler, who won a qualifying race from the pole in 2004, agreed that Thursday would be show-and-tell time for the Yates duo.

"I think we've got a really good race car -- I swear," Sadler said. "It's driving good, I think the guys are fired up and I just really think we're gonna have a really good week."

But for him, the Duels are the next touch point.

"We're gonna go try to win the race," Sadler said. "I won here a couple of years ago and it felt really good going to Victory Lane.

"We need to try to start up front in the Daytona 500, so we go this Thursday and run as hard as we can. We'll draft a little bit and see how it's gonna do in real racing conditions.

"You're not gonna learn anything riding around the back, so we're gonna ride up front, be aggressive, and see what it gives us."