Mayfield Sings “The Monster Mash”
David Pearson won the pole position for the first race at Dover International Speedway in 1969 with a speed of 130.430 mph. Ricky Rudd topped the 140 mph mark in 1984 and Ernie Irvan cracked 150 mph in 1993.
It was Jeremy Mayfield who brought down the 160 mph barrier at the high-banked, one-mile oval on Friday, smashing the track record and earning the pole for Sunday’s MBNA 400 “A Salute to Heroes” Nextel Cup race. Mayfield drove his No. 19 Evernham Motorsports Dodge around Dover in 22.288 seconds for an average speed of 161.522.
“Man, that was a great lap,” said Mayfield, who led a parade of four Dodges in the top-five starting spots. “I went into it with an open mind and was thinking, ‘I just got to get all that I can get.’ My crew gave me a fast car and I feel blessed to drive a car like that. I felt like it was a good lap, but I wasn’t sure.”
Mayfield spent two days testing at Dover in mid-May, and it appears to be paying dividends. The 35-year-old driver from Owensboro, Ky., finished second to Newman last September at Dover.
“I don’t think I can sit here and tell you how happy I am to be on the pole,” said Mayfield, who has eight career poles. This shows that we can get the job done, and it’s going to be a huge momentum boost for us. As a team, we’ve got a lot to prove, and I think this is the start of it.”
Ryan Newman - who swept both races at Dover last year - qualified second at 160.643 and was followed by rookie Brian Vickers (160.521), three-time Dover winner Rusty Wallace (160.214) and rookie Brendan Gaughan (159.849).
The top four drivers all bested Wallace’s previous qualifying mark of 159.964 mph set in September 1999. The fast speeds were attributed to a softer tire compound, which gives drivers more grip early in a run, and cool temperatures under gray, overcast skies.
Newman, who is tied with Kasey Kahne for the series’ lead with three poles this season, expected Mayfield to be stout. After all, he was quickest throughout the morning practice sessions.
“I wasn’t surprised at Jeremy,” Newman said. “He was quicker than us in practice. It was a good run. I wish we could’ve got the pole, without a doubt.“I think Jeremy got close to a perfect lap. But we know what it’s like to be in victory lane here, so we’ll get it ready for Sunday.”
Vickers, whose team appears to be starting to jell, earned his fourth straight starting spot inside the top six.
“It was definitely a good lap for us,” Vickers said. “One thing those guys got us on was, they were in qualifying trim all morning [in practice]. We ran about 80 percent of practice in race trim. We just had two laps in practice in qualifying trim.“We wanted to focus on our race setup, and hopefully that will pay off for us on Sunday.”
Source: Delaware Journal
Photo: Crash Net
Qualifying times, MBNA 400, Dover Downs Raceway , Delaware, round 13 of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.
1. Jeremy Mayfield #19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Evernham Motorsports 161.522mph
2. Ryan Newman #12 ALLTEL Dodge Penske Racing 160.643mph
3. Brian Vickers* #25 GMAC Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 160.521mph
4. Rusty Wallace #2 Miller Lite Dodge Penske Racing 160.214mph
5. Brendan Gaughan* #77 Kodak Easy Share/Jasper Dodge Penske/Jasper Racing 159.844mph
6. Elliott Sadler #38 M&M’s Ford Robert Yates Racing 159.518mph
7. Mark Martin #6 Viagra Ford Roush Racing 159.053mph
8. Michael Waltrip #15 NAPA Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt Incorporated 158.779mph
9. Jamie McMurray #42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing 158.772mph
10. Tony Stewart #20 Home Depot Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing 158.737mph
11. Kurt Busch #97 Sharpie/IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford Roush Racing 158.716mph
12. Kasey Kahne* #9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Evernham Motorsports 158.695mph
13. Jeff Gordon #24 DuPont Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 158.674mph
14. Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowes Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 158.604mph
15. Ken Schrader #49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge BAM Racing 158.520mph
16. Sterling Marlin #40 Coors Light Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing 158.395mph
17. Casey Mears #41 Target Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing 158.339mph
18. Bobby Labonte #18 MBNA/D-Day 60th Anniversary Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing 158.290mph
19. Jeff Green #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge Petty Enterprises 158.242mph
20. Stanton Barrett #194 Husqvarna Chevrolet WW Motorsports 157.819mph
21. Scott Wimmer* #22 Caterpillar Dodge Bill Davis Racing 157.749mph
22. Jeff Burton #99 RoundUp Ford Roush Racing 157.591mph
23. Scott Riggs* #10 Valvoline Chevrolet MBV Motorsports 157.570mph
24. Robby Gordon #31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 157.308mph
25. Ward Burton #0 NetZero Hi-Speed Chevrolet Haas CNC Racing 157.288mph
26. Dale Earnhardt Jr #8 Budweiser Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt Incorporated 156.965mph
27. Dave Blaney #23 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Dodge Ultra Motorsports 156.890mph
28. Ricky Rudd #21 US Air Force/Motorcraft Ford Wood Brothers Racing 156.760mph
29. Dale Jarrett #88 UPS Ford Robert Yates Racing 156.597mph
30. Kyle Petty #45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge Petty Enterprises 156.542mph
31. Ricky Craven #32 Tide Chevrolet PPI Motorsports 155.986mph
32. Joe Nemechek #01 US Army Chevrolet MB2 Motorsports 155.878mph
33. Kevin Harvick #29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 155.871mph
34. Terry Labonte #5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 155.804mph
35. Tony Raines #09 Miccosukee Resorts Dodge Phoenix Racing 155.743mph
36. Mike Wallace #50 GEICO Dodge Donald Arnold 155.716mph
37. Johnny Sauter* #30 America Online Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 155.555mph
38. Kevin Lepage #51 negotiationsseminar.com Chevrolet Joe Auer 155.454mph
39. Matt Kenseth #17 DeWalt Power Tools Ford Roush Racing 154.110mph (provisional)
40. Greg Biffle #16 National Guard/Subway Ford Richard Childress Racing no time (provisional)
41. Jimmy Spencer #4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet Morgan-McClure Motorsports 154.619mph (provisional)
42. Morgan Shepherd #89 Red Line Synthetic Oil Dodge Cindy Shepherd 155.447mph (provisional)
43. Kirk Shelmerdine #72 Freddie B’s Ford Kirk Shelmerdine 144.433mph (provisional)
Did not qualify
44. Hermie Sadler #02 Zapf Creations Chevrolet Angela Sadler 154.387mph
45. Todd Bodine #37 Carter’s Royal Dispos-all Dodge John Carter 148.099mph
46. Larry Gunselman #198 Lucas Oil Ford Chris Edwards no time
* = rookie
