This will be Jr’s first pole in almost two years, his last came in April 2008 A Texas Motor Speedway.

Earnhart’s lap is the fastest lap recorded with the COT Sprint Cup car.

Kyle Busch (192.280), Juan Pablo Montoya (192.106), Mark Martin (191.814) and Jeff Gordon (191.774), rounded off the top five for Sundays Kobalt Tools 500.

  

Earnhardt Jr. said his pole run “definitely a step in the right direction. I hope we’ll see these kinds of improvements on Sunday in our race team. And I think we will. If we keep performing like this, it should start leaking over into our car on Sunday.”

Earnhardt Jr. has finishes of second, 32nd and 16th through the first three races of the season. He is 15th in the point standings.

Busch said the high speeds are fun, , but the track demands attention.

“The only thing I’ve ever really been able to give a close description of to compare it to is this: Pick your favorite (interstate) off ramp that’s a round one and drive it as hard as you can and see if it sticks,” he said. “Now this is like doing that off ramp while it’s raining.

“But it’s a fun racetrack. The sensation doesn’t really hit you because the corners are wide. You’ve got a lot of room off 2 and 4.”

Driver that did not qualify for Sundays race were Casey Mears, Terry Cook and  Aric Almirola .

Related articles by Zemanta

• Junior on the pole for Atlanta race (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Dale Earnhardt’s top qualifying time earns him pole as Kobalt Tools 500 (sports.espn.go.com)
• 5 more fresh articles…