NASCAR Biffle surprise starter on Daytona 500 pole

It was his first pole in 43 tries on NASCAR's biggest series.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- For years, Jack Roush and Robert Yates were bitter competitors. They rarely spoke and even avoided eye contact during the NASCAR season.
Now they're partners in an engine-building program, and each of the longtime team owners has a driver qualified on the front row for the Daytona 500.
Roush driver Greg Biffle was the surprising pole winner Sunday. Taking the outside of the front row for the race next Sunday was Elliott Sadler.
Their Fords did a better job against a strong headwind that made others falter on the backstretch at Daytona International Speedway.
Didn't expect to be on pole
Like everybody else, Biffle didn't expect his Roush Racing Taurus to be on the pole for the Daytona 500.
"I was sweating it out and I'm still half sick to my stomach," Biffle said after a nerve-racking wait of nearly an hour while a succession of NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers took a shot at knocking him off the pole.
After taking the Pepsi 400 here in July -- the only rookie in NASCAR's top division to win a race in 2003 -- the former Busch and Craftsman Truck series champion got his first pole in 43 tries in Cup competition.
"I would have never thought we'd be on the pole for the 500, but I'm excited," Biffle said.
Edged Sadler
Biffle's fast lap of 188.387 mph was just good enough to push Sadler's 188.355 to the outside of the front row for the Nextel Cup season-opener. Biffle got around the 21/2-mile oval in 47.774 seconds, just 0.008 seconds faster than Sadler.
The unexpected headwind on the backstretch -- with gusts to 20 mph -- played havoc with just about everybody's expectations.
It also put a premium on engine power, playing right into the hands of Biffle, Sadler and the rest of the drivers using the engines produced by the 21/2-month-old alliance of Roush and Yates.
"We've been taking things apart and seeing how they work and just putting the best of both together," said Roush, who won last year's Cup championship with Matt Kenseth.
New engine success
The result has been a big jump in power, and drivers using the Roush-Yates engines qualified in four of the top five positions Sunday.
"The Taurus is a much improved car over what it was last year, we've got a great engine program going and Greg did a great job with the car," Roush said.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., the favorite in every event he enters at Daytona these days, missed the front row with his lap of 188.210 and will determine his starting spot in the 43-car 500 field by racing in one of Thursday's twin 125-mile qualifying events.
Earnhardt Jr., in qualifier
"We just weren't fast enough," said Earnhardt, second to Dale Jarrett in Saturday night's made-for-TV Budweiser Shootout on the same track. "We're going to go out and try to win our 125-miler, like we did last year."
Sadler, the fastest in Friday's practice, sat on the pole for about an hour until Biffle made his run.
"Our car is fast, but the wind just killed us," Sadler said. "It's just unbelievable horsepower we've had since we unloaded. I'm so proud of our guys. They take so much pride in the motors we bring to Daytona each and every year and it seems to be paying off."
Ricky Rudd was fourth at 188.162, followed by three-time 500 winner Jarrett at 187.884.
All but Earnhardt, who drives a Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc., were in Tauruses -- cars with improved front and rear-end aerodynamics and powered by the Roush-Yates engines.