Irwin on pole for Pepsi 500

He lapped the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway in 28.763s at 170.970 mph, breaking the event qualifying record of 28.769s set by Dale Jarrett three years ago.

This is Irwin's third career Bud Pole in 60 NASCAR Winston Cup races, and his first in 18 attempts.

Ward Burton had the second-quickest time at 28.784s and will join Irwin on the front row.

Jerry Nadeau was third, posting his sixth top-10 qualifying effort for 999. It is his career-best NASCAR Winston Cup qualifying effort on a superspeedway.

Jeff Gordon (fourth) scored his 18th top-10 qualifying effort of 1999 and remains the only driver to qualify in the first round for every race in 1999. It is his 11th top-10 qualifying effort in 14 NASCAR Winston Cup races at Darlington.

Fifth-placed Bobby Hamilton put in his season-best and his second top-10 qualifying position for this season. It is his best start in 18 NASCAR Winston Cup races at Darlington.

The Bud Pole has been the most productive starting position at Darlington, yielding 19 race winners in 77 NASCAR Winston Cup races. The last 16 races at Darlington were won from a top-10 starting position.

Qualifying for Pepsi 500