DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Army News Service, Feb. 12, 2007) - Mark Martin qualified 33rd in Sunday's Pole Day at Daytona International Speedway. The U.S. Army Team will now turn its attention to Thursday's Gatorade Duel qualifying race, as they continue to get ready for Sunday's Daytona 500.
Martin's No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet toured the 2.5-mile oval in 49.109 seconds at 183.266 miles per hour. His qualifying result places him in the second Gatorade Duel 150-mile race. He will start 16th in the 30-car field.
Pole Day locked in the front row for the Daytona 500. David Gilliland took the pole, and his Robert Yates teammate, Ricky Rudd, will sit on the outside pole. Gilliland's winning pole speed was 186.320.
Martin's Ginn Racing teammates - Serling Marlin, Joe Nemechek and Regan Smith - are also seeded in the second Duel race.
"Qualifying really doesn't mean much out here unless you sit on the front row," said Martin. "We had a spectacular U.S. Army Chevy in the Bud Shootout last night and we have a great race team. We just need to make sure that these guys keep their chins up. We'll make it all back on Thursday I guarantee that."
"All the rest of this stuff is just filler," added Martin. "The 500 is all I care about and we had a great car last night and we'll have a better one on Sunday, so I'm really excited about what we have going on."
Martin and the team will return to action on Wednesday for practice as they prepare for Thursday's qualifying race.
The Gatorade Duel races will be televised on SPEED. The first race begins at 2 p.m. ET.
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