Qualifying: Rudd takes pole
Ricky Rudd, running near the end of the order, lapped the 2.4-mile course at Watkins Glen in 1m11.885s (122.696mph average) to win the pole for Sunday's Sirius at the Glen race at the aging ISC facility
On a splendid Finger Lakes afternoon, Michael Waltrip seized the top spot early with a lap in 1m11.921s (122.635) before Rudd, one of the better road-racers in the field, ran a better one.
Meanwhile, the mystery of Rudd's plans to 2003 appears to be a step closer to resolution, with Havoline, sponsor of Rudd's No. 28 car, officially calling a press conference for Tuesday at Lowe's (Charlotte) Motor Speedway.
Chevron/Havoline had several choices, but it appears likely the brand will follow the driver to a Chip Ganassi-owned team next year. Mars Candy and driver Elliott Sadler are set to pick up with Robert Yates.
Tony Stewart, fighting through the penalty phase of his run-in with a photographer last Sunday at Indy, was third in Friday's trials, with Indy winner Bill Elliott fourth and solid Ryan Newman fifth.
P.J. Jones did a creditable job in A.J. Foyt's car, qualifying 14th, and Scott Pruett was 19th in Ganassi's No. 41. Jimmy Spencer, bumped to a third car (No. 42) for this race only, failed to qualify.
Provisionals went to Ricky Craven, Terry Labonte, Johnny Benson, Tom Hubert (sitting for Hut Stricklin in Bill Davis's No. 23), Ken Schrader, Kenny Wallace, and Joe Varde, in BACE Motorsports's No. 74.
Others who missed the train were Austin Cameron, Shane Lewis and Briton Justin Bell.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments