Date:               July 4, 2008

Event:             Coke Zero 400 Qualifying (Round 18 of 36)

Series:             NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Location:        Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval)

Pole Winner:   Paul Menard of Dale Earnhardt Inc. (48.409 seconds at 185.916 mph)

J.J. Yeley:       Did Not Qualify (48.892 seconds at 184.079 mph)

J.J. Yeley failed to qualify for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

Yeley, driver of the No. 96 DLP® HDTV Toyota Camry for Hall of Fame Racing, toured the 2.5-mile oval in 48.892 seconds at 184.079 mph. Unfortunately, that lap was not fast enough to put him in the 43-car starting field.

Paul Menard captured his first career Sprint Cup pole with a time of 48.409 seconds at 185.916 mph.  Mark Martin, Menard’s teammate at Dale Earnhardt Inc., will start on the outside of row one, as he timed in at 48.421 seconds at 185.870 mph.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. (48.534 seconds at 185.437 mph) was third, while Joe Nemechek (48.573 seconds at 185.288 mph) and Johnny Sauter (48.583 seconds at 185.250 mph) rounded out the top-five.

Forty-five drivers attempted to qualify for the Coke Zero 400, with Yeley and Scott Riggs failing to make the starting field. 

As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet swept the top-five, while the next quickest make was Ford at the hands of sixth-quick David Ragan (48.584 seconds at 185.246 mph).  Toyota was the third-fastest make thanks to ninth-quick Kyle Busch (48.694 seconds at 184.828 mph).  And carrying the flag for Dodge was 10^th-quick Patrick Carpentier (48.734 seconds at 184.676 mph).

The Coke Zero gets underway at 8 p.m. EDT on Saturday with live, high-definition coverage provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at 6:30 p.m.  The race will also be broadcast on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.

 –DLP^® HDTV–