Wallace takes pole in record style

Wallace completed another record breaking lap Friday afternoon at Pocono Raceway to take the pole for the Pocono 500. He toured the 2.5-mile 'triangle' in 52.440 seconds at an average speed of 171.625 mph.

Wallace has started from the top spot four other times in 2000 -- Rockingham, Martinsville, Richmond and Dover. Dale Jarrett is the only other repeat pole winner this season - at Daytona and Atlanta.

Wallace was not the only driver to fell Sterling Marlin's year-old track record of 170.506 mph. The top-9 qualifiers also exceeded Marlin's mark: John Andretti, Ricky Rudd, Jarrett, Jeff Gordon, ,Mark Martin, Mike Skinner, Jeff Burton and Tony Stewart. Joe Nemechek rounds out the top-10 with a lap of 170.402 mph.

Current NASCAR Winston Cup Series points leader Bobby Labonte will start eleventh. Second-place Dale Earnhardt will start fifteenth, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. lining up on the outside of Row 8.

Bill Elliott snagged the 25th spot by just .006 second over Jerry Nadeau. Among the drivers who wound up outside the top-25 were Steve Park, Matt Kenseth, Marlin, Ward Burton and Bobby Hamilton.

Just one driver, Bill Baird from the ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series, received a DNF.

Second round qualifying for the Pocono 500 is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. EDT on Saturday, June 17.

Pocono 500 First-round Qualifying Results
Pocono Speedway, June 16, 2000
Long Pond, Pa.

Pos # Driver Make Time Speed -Time -Speed

1 2 Rusty Wallace Ford 52.440 171.625
2 43 John Andretti Pont 52.551 171.262 -0.111 -0.363
3 28 Ricky Rudd Ford 52.687 170.820 -0.247 -0.805
4 88 Dale Jarrett Ford 52.697 170.788 -0.257 -0.837
5 24 Jeff Gordon Chev 52.724 170.700 -0.284 -0.924
6 6 Mark Martin Ford 52.728 170.687 -0.288 -0.937
7 31 Mike Skinner Chev 52.748 170.623 -0.308 -1.002
8 99 Jeff Burton Ford 52.751 170.613 -0.311 -1.012
9 20 Tony Stewart Pont 52.761 170.581 -0.321 -1.044
10 33 Joe Nemechek Chev 52.816 170.403 -0.376 -1.222
11 18 Bobby Labonte Pont 52.832 170.351 -0.392 -1.273
12 7 Michael Waltrip Ford 52.901 170.129 -0.461 -1.496
13 14 Rick Mast Pont 52.938 170.010 -0.498 -1.615
14 5 Terry Labonte Chev 52.949 169.975 -0.509 -1.650
15 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr Chev 53.009 169.782 -0.569 -1.842
16 3 Dale Earnhardt Chev 53.053 169.642 -0.613 -1.983
17 75 Wally Dallenbach Ford 53.208 169.147 -0.768 -2.477
18 16 Kevin Lepage Ford 53.212 169.135 -0.772 -2.490
19 36 Ken Schrader Pont 53.219 169.113 -0.779 -2.512
20 11 Brett Bodine Ford 53.229 169.081 -0.789 -2.544
21 10 Johnny Benson Pont 53.242 169.039 -0.802 -2.585
22 12 Jeremy Mayfield Ford 53.257 168.992 -0.817 -2.633
23 44 Kyle Petty Pont 53.258 168.989 -0.818 -2.636
24 55 Kenny Wallace Chev 53.267 168.960 -0.827 -2.665
25 94 Bill Elliott Ford 53.273 168.941 -0.833 -2.684
26 25 Jerry Nadeau Chev 53.275 168.935 -0.835 -2.690
27 1 Steve Park Chev 53.370 168.634 -0.930 -2.991
28 77 Robert Pressley Ford 53.455 168.366 -1.015 -3.259
29 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 53.463 168.341 -1.023 -3.284

30 21 Elliott Sadler Ford 53.485 168.271 -1.045 -3.353
31 40 Sterling Marlin Chev 53.568 168.011 -1.128 -3.614
32 22 Ward Burton Pont 53.604 167.898 -1.164 -3.727
33 4 Bobby Hamilton Chev 53.623 167.838 -1.183 -3.786
34 26 Jimmy Spencer Ford 53.807 167.264 -1.367 -4.360
35 93 Dave Blaney Pont 53.827 167.202 -1.387 -4.422
36 27 Mike Bliss Pont 53.828 167.199 -1.388 -4.425
37 66 Darrell Waltrip Ford 53.864 167.087 -1.424 -4.537
38 9 Stacy Compton Ford 53.875 167.053 -1.435 -4.571
39 60 Geoffrey Bodine Chev 53.966 166.772 -1.526 -4.853
40 42 Kenny Irwin Chev 54.076 166.432 -1.636 -5.192
41 90 Ed Berrier Ford 54.189 166.085 -1.749 -5.539
42 32 Scott Pruett Ford 54.199 166.055 -1.759 -5.570
43 97 Chad Little Ford 54.227 165.969 -1.787 -5.656
44 71 Dave Marcis Chev 54.300 165.746 -1.860 -5.879
45 72 Dwayne Leik Chev 55.569 161.961 -3.129 -9.664
46 57 Bill Baird Chev DNF