Daytona 500 pole won by North Carolina soul

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- David Gilliland will end up with his name in the record books, but Sunday's pole-winning run really belongs to a group of folks back in North Carolina.

Gilliland needs to buy a round of beers for the guys in the engine shop, take the fabrication shop out for steaks and send the folks at the wind tunnel a nice floral arrangement.

	MARK AUMANN
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Sure, Gilliland was the guy who climbed in the window of the No. 38 Ford, shifted the car, stomped on the throttle and held the wheel straight. And just like the other 60 drivers who participated in a four-hour Daytona 500 qualifying session Sunday that feels much longer, he knew who did most of the work.

"[Crew chief] Todd Parrott and the guys at the shop have prepared me a great [car] to come out here with and it's a pleasure to drive," Gilliland said.

"Every time we've gone out, we've gotten faster and faster and I think that's just a tribute to the Yates organization and Todd and all his success here. I'm just the guy lucky enough to drive it."

Let's face it. The pole for the Daytona 500 is a tremendous accomplishment, not to be taken lightly. But looking at the big picture, it's probably less of an advantage than at any other track on the circuit, with the exception of Talladega.

Sheer speed may win you a spot on the front row, but it doesn't guarantee a darn thing seven days from now. It's been six years since Dale Jarrett won from the pole in 2000.

The last three Daytona 500 pole winners were Jeff Burton, who finished 32nd last year; Jarrett, 15th in 2005; and Greg Biffle, who wound up 12th in 2004.

Teammate Ricky Rudd also needs to buy some Florida souvenirs to put in the suitcase after joining Gilliland on the front row, but he knows he basically was just along for the ride.

"It's about 99.9 percent car and .1 percent driver," Rudd said. "Getting it set up to go run for the pole, there's more driver input. The driver percentage changes a little bit, giving feedback to help the guys dial in the car but actually once you get it set, the effort level it takes is very little."

It's not just the Ford guys. Dodge driver Juan Montoya had a similar opinion.

"There's not much to it," Montoya said. "You always want to try and get a little bit more, be a little bit smoother, be a little bit more precise, try a little trick here or a little trick there and see if you can gain anything."

Chevrolet's Tony Stewart concurs.

"My responsibility on Sunday is once I put it in first gear, is to shift three times at the right RPMs and that's literally all I have to do," Stewart said. "The cars drive themselves around the track."

Until they figure out how to drive the cars with joysticks from the garage, drivers will have job security.

But make no mistake: Sunday's real heroes weren't at Daytona. They were a few hundred miles north, watching the culmination of countless hours of hard work pay off.