Qualifying: Craven takes pole position

He set a time a full two tenths of a second clear of his closest rival, lapping the one-mile oval in 23.468secs, at an average speed of 156.01mph.

Craven scored his first Winston Cup victory last year, which was also his maiden season with Cal Wells Racing. "I've had more fun in the last 13 moths than anybody out here and that, along with being with a good team, has really helped," he said. "This is a race track that has been good to me statistically and we're getting great race cars."

His nearest challengers were the MB2 Motorsports Pontiacs of Ken Schrader and Johnny Benson. The latter held second spot for most of the day, only for Schrader to bump him.

The team benefited from a recent test at the oval. "We just wanted to get a good solid starting slot," said Schrader. "Johnny and James [Ince] came down here and tested and gave us some solid data on our set-up."

Former champion Dale Jarrett, Jerry Nadeau and Sterling Marlin completed the top six.

Jimmy Spencer and Buckshot Jones, who both missed the cut to qualify for last weekend's Daytona 500, line up 12th and 13th. But defending Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon has less reason to be happy. He is down in 33rd in what will be his worst starting position at the Rockingham oval of his career.

For full qualifying results, click here.