Kvapil gives Yates the pole; DEI strong in 'Dega quals (cont'd)

It was the eighth Talladega pole for a car owned by Yates, which was also the last Ford team to win at this track when Dale Jarrett grabbed a 2005 victory.

Yates' is a well-established operation, but had fallen on hard times as the engine program became the most successful part of the organization. Technology seemed to pass the Yates' by, and Jarrett and Elliott Sadler both jumped ship and their sponsors soon followed.

Robert Yates stepped aside at the end of last season, and son, Doug, formed an alliance with Roush Fenway Racing that has kept the team afloat. What's most impressive is that Yates has done it with very limited sponsorship on Kvapil and teammate David Gilliland's cars.

In winning the pole, Kvapil hopes he can attract funding to the team.

"[Saturday] is a big day in helping for 2009 and beyond for Yates Racing. Paul coming over and adding a third car, that's great," Kvapil said. "We're still trying to lock down all of our sponsors for ... next year. We're talking with a bunch of companies and we've had a bunch of interest, but to go out there and get those deals wrapped up, if you can go out and run good and run up front, that makes it a lot easier.

"So this is just a big step and hopefully will help put those packages together -- get our name out there and run up front and a lot of times those sponsor things kind of take care of themselves."

DEI has the same hopes. With just one full sponsor signed on for next year following the announcement earlier this week that Menard will take his services and family owned sponsorship to Yates, the team wants to run four cars but needs to find the funding to secure its 2009 plans. An engine alignment with Richard Childress Racing gave DEI the horsepower it needed for qualifying, and a team-wide strong run Sunday would put a positive spotlight on the slumping team.

"It's a tough time for all the teams right now," Smith said. "I think if you look through the garage, there's probably five or six teams that have at least one car unsponsored, maybe two. That's not just directed to our company. That's going on all over the garage right now.

"We're very comfortable where we are performance-wise right now, and I feel like the cars and the company as a whole is getting better each week."

Mears will start on the outside of the front row (watch video), if circumstances don't intervene. His girlfriend, Trisha Grablander, is due to give birth in the next few days, and Brad Keselowski is standing by as a possible relief driver if Mears has to leave before or during the race.

Mears said it's unlikely his child will be born this weekend, but a Hendrick Motorsports plane is ready to take him home to North Carolina if it happens.

"Right now, the last thing I want to do is miss the birth of my child," said Mears, who will leave Hendrick at the end of the season to drive for Richard Childress Racing next year.

Of the remaining Chase drivers, Jeff Burton starts 17th, points leader Jimmie Johnson 20th (watch video), Greg Biffle 22nd, Jeff Gordon 26th, Matt Kenseth 31st, Tony Stewart 34th, Clint Bowyer 35th, Denny Hamlin 36th, Kyle Busch 37th and Kevin Harvick 39th.

Of course, with the rapid-fire changes of position that take place in the draft at Talladega, starting position is less important there than at any other Cup track.

But a lackluster qualifying effort prompted a pessimistic comment from Busch, who has fallen from first to 12th in the standings over the first three Chase races.

"It didn't go too good, and don't expect much better for [Sunday]," he predicted.

Notes: Earnhardt, Bowyer, David Gilliland, Kasey Kahne, and David Reutimann all will start Sunday's race in backup cars because of a multi-car wreck in Friday's final practice session triggered by Earnhardt's blown right rear tire (watch video) ... Jon Wood qualified 27th in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford and will make his fourth Cup start ... Sam Hornish Jr. and Patrick Carpentier failed to make Sunday's race.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.