Earnhardt Jr. on NASCAR pole in Atlanta

Thursday, 04 March 2010 19:00

Written by PAUL NEWBERRY, AP Sports Writer

HAMPTON, Georgia − Dale Earnhardt Jr. is on a NASCAR pole for the first time in two years after setting the best time in Friday's qualifying for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Earnhardt claimed pole for Sunday's race with a blistering speed of 310.2 kph (192.8 mph). It will be the first time he has taken green at the head of a Sprint Cup field since the April 2008 race at Texas.

"It's good to be on the pole and I'm real proud of it,'' Earnhardt said. "Getting a pole anywhere is good for our team. We're so hungry to do well on Sunday.''

He's coming off a miserable 2009 season in which he failed to win a race, cracked the top 10 only five times, and finished 25th in the overall standings despite racing for Hendrick Motorsports, the best team in the business.

After a major shake-up within his group, Earnhardt is hoping to be a contender in 2010.

"You've just got to try to be confident,'' he said. "We got beat down last year. We figured we'd have a chance to start new this year. It's a better race team. We're working well together. It's a really, really good group of guys and I just hope we have success. They deserve it.''

Taking advantage of a chilly night that boosted speeds on the high-banked oval, Earnhardt put up a lap that was faster than any pole-winning speed since 2007.

Kyle Busch will start from the outside of the front row, with Juan Pablo Montoya to begin third. Jeff Gordon qualified fifth, giving Hendrick Motorsports three of the top five spots. Last year's pole-sitter Mark Martin qualified fourth.

Series leader Kevin Harvick was down the list in 35th in his Chevrolet.

Former Sprint Cup regular Casey Mears again failed to qualify for his first race of the season. Also failing to crack the 43-car field were Aric Almirola and Terry Cook.