Rudd wins CarsDirect.com 400 pole by shattering course record

Friday, March 3, 2000 | 5:05 a.m.

It might not have impressed him at the time, but Ricky Rudd's qualifying lap shattered the track record by nearly two miles per hour and put the 43-year-old Rudd on the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Winston Cup CarsDirect.com 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"It didn't feel like that fast of a lap to me," Rudd said after ripping off a 31.293-second lap at 172.563 mph Friday afternoon in the No. 28 Texaco/Havoline Ford. "I was a little disappointed because I didn't think I had run anywhere near that type of speed."

Rudd's lap easily eclipsed Bobby Labonte's track record of 170.643 mph, set in qualifying for last year's Winston Cup race at LVMS. The top eight qualifiers Friday all bettered Labonte's mark.

Rudd bumped Dale Earnhardt Jr., who turned a 172.216-mph lap in a Chevrolet, from the provisional pole. Open-wheel racing veteran Scott Pruett, like Earnhardt Jr. a Winston Cup rookie, later nudged Earnhardt off the front row with a run of 172.381 mph in the No. 32 Tide Ford.

"I was probably more nervous when Earnhardt Jr. cranked out that lap he ran - which, to me, was an unbelievable lap that he ran," Rudd said. "I really didn't think we had anything for him. I was hoping that if we could just get down to (31.50), we'd be pretty good."

The pole was Rudd's first of the season, but it marks the third front-row start in as many races in 2000.

In a touch of irony, Rudd will start alongside Pruett's Tide-sponsored Ford Taurus - the same colors Rudd carried for six years as an owner-driver prior to losing the sponsorship last year and joining Robert Yates Racing.

"I'm sure it'll be a little strange," Rudd said of starting next to the Tide car. "I got some experience with that at Daytona, when I ran around Scott some. But it's got the (number) 32 on the door and it's not quite the same thing for me, but it will be a little awkward."

Pruett, who failed to qualify for last week's race at North Carolina Speedway, credited a two-day test at LVMS last month for his qualifying run Friday.

"Coming here and doing some testing was the biggest thing," Pruett said. "The Tide car ran good in testing and came back and ran good in qualifying.

"It was pretty tough to load up and go home last weekend. We'll just run hard (Sunday), get good, clean pit stops and see if we can keep it up in the front all day long and see what we can get."

Labonte, who sat on the pole for last year's race at Las Vegas, qualified fourth in a Pontiac and will start alongside Earnhardt Jr. on the second row. Mark Martin, who won the inaugural race here, qualified fifth in a Ford and will start next to defending Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett (Ford) in row three.

Friday's first round of qualifying set the starting order for the first 25 positions for Sunday's race. Among the drivers who failed to qualify Friday were Dale Earnhardt (33rd fastest), Ward Burton (39th), Bill Elliott (41st) Darrell Waltrip (42nd), Kyle Petty (44th) and John Andretti (49th).