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Friday, August 17
Craven saves best for last
Associated Press
BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Ricky Craven, the final driver to make an attempt, knocked sentimental favorite Bill Elliott off the pole Friday in qualifying for the Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Craven gave second-year Winston Cup owner Cal Wells his first
pole with a lap of 188.127 mph, about 3 mph slower than Dale
Earnhardt Jr.'s top speed at the track last year.
|  | | Ricky Craven, right, is congratulated by teammates after Craven won the pole for the Pepsi 400 at Michigan. |
"I've always enjoyed it here," Craven said. "I just felt like
this was a place where we could turn the corner. And actually the
last month we've really run well. Every week, I get a car that
keeps getting better and better."
Elliott, who dominated Michigan in the 1980s with seven wins,
went out seventh and ran 187.857. He withstood challenges from
Ricky Rudd, a surprising Elliott Sadler and John Andretti before
Craven took the top spot.
Elliott, on his way to the interview room when Craven ran his
lap, shrugged off losing the pole.
"We're on the pole, we're just on the wrong side of it," he
joked. "Qualifying is over with and we'll worry about the race
Sunday. That's the main objective now. Whether you're on the pole
or 39th or 43rd, the next objective is to run well Sunday."
He's been a fan favorite at Michigan since his heyday driving
for local business owner Harry Melling. The fans cheered loudly
when Elliott's time was announced, and even louder when he exited
his car on pit road after his lap.
Still, he got beat.
"I thought he was going to do it," Elliott said of Rudd.
"Everybody's got good equipment. If you hit it just right and get
the combination right, and anybody's got the potential to do it."
Rudd wound up third, followed by Sadler and Andretti. Point
leader Jeff Gordon, who has won two straight races, qualified
13th.
"I knew it was the best lap I'd run all day," said Gordon, who
also won here in June. "It's the same car we had here last time,
but it didn't seem like it was as fast. If we can keep it running
the whole race, we'll be satisfied."
Craven has slowly rebuilt his career since being released by
Hendrick Motorsports in 1998. He was without a full-time ride the
past two seasons and joined Wells late in the offseason. Although
he sits 26th in points, Craven has two top-10 finishes in the past
three races.
But he struggled in the 2-hour practice, posting only the
24th-best speed.
"The first hour of practice wasn't a lot of fun," he said.
"The second hour was better, and then qualifying was perfect."
He was particularly happy with being able to hold on through the
final two turns.
"I just knew 1 and 2 were fast," he said. "I jumped back on
the gas in 3 and 4 and it kind of got away from me. But I really
felt like it was top five because I had so much momentum."
Rudd, in second place, 194 points behind Gordon in the
standings, had been fastest in practice.
"And we picked up a little bit in qualifying, so you can't
really help but ask for much more than that," Rudd said.
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