Qualifying takes a back seat

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Unlike seasons past, there is little drama in pole qualifying for the Daytona 500.

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The reason is simple: Most of the teams scheduled to run laps today don't care. New qualifying rules have changed a lot of attitudes, allowing most teams to worry about more important things.

There are six or seven cars with a realistic chance to win the top-starting spot for the Daytona 500, and everyone else said they will be going through the motions today. In fact, more than half the teams practicing Saturday at Daytona International Speedway used the time to work on race setups for one of two 150-mile qualifying races next Thursday.

"It's about the races anyway," said three-time 500 winner Dale Jarrett. "I think we put too much emphasis on qualifying up to this point. Personally, I like the idea."

Jarrett should like it. He's one of the few who is considered a favorite for the pole position.

NASCAR now guarantees a starting spot in the main event for the top 35 teams from this past year's standings. Four more teams will advance to the 500 from the qualifying races and the final four spots will go to the fastest speeds from today's time trials that still aren't in the race.

"I wish they would just draw for qualifying to tell you the truth," Jeff Green said. "But now if you're in the top 35 you can practice for the race more. We did that a lot in the Busch Series. We really didn't worry about qualifying. The main thing is to get your car driving good and handling right. I think just about every racetrack you can win from anywhere."

The fastest cars in Saturday's practice sessions were: Jeff Gordon in first at 189.849 mph, Elliott Sadler in second at 188.675, Kyle Petty in third at 188.312, Kurt Busch in fourth (188.233), Jimmie Johnson in fifth (188.127), Jason Leffler in sixth (188.021), Jarrett in seventh (187.837), Scott Riggs in eighth (187.797), Joe Nemechek in ninth (187.512) and Boris Said in 10th (187.297).

Petty isn't confident he will be one of the contenders today.

"I'm just being realistic," Kyle Petty said. "Our goal was to come down here and be in the top 15. We'll build on top of that."

Green said Gordon, Sadler and Busch are the ones to beat today.

Petty said he likes Gordon, Sadler, Busch, Johnson, Johnson and Nemechek.

"I think they're going to be tough," he said.