Martin, Bayne share front row for Coke Zero 400

Martin, Bayne share front row for Coke Zero 400

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(July 1, 2011)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Mark Martin apparently didn't get the memo about NASCAR's youth initiative—or didn't care.

With a lap at 182.065 mph (49.433 seconds), Martin, at 52 the fourth-oldest driver in the field, knocked the youngest, 20-year-old Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne off the pole for Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

"I was just the lucky guy who got to strap in it today," said Martin, who credited the Hendrick Motorsports engineering and engine shop with the speed he found in his car. "I really didn't expect to get the pole. When I ran, I could have been first or 21st—I had no idea."

Bayne (182.002 mph) will start the race on the outside of the front row, followed by Clint Bowyer (181.624 mph) and resurgent Jeff Gordon (181.583 mph), who has more wins at restrictor-plate tracks (12) than any other active driver.

David Ragan, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Andy Lally, Jimmie Johnson, AJ Allmendinger and Paul Menard will start the race from positions five through 10, respectively.

The Coors Light Pole Award was Martin's first of the season and the 50th of his career, eighth most all-time.

Bayne missed six weeks of racing this season with an illness that still hasn't been diagnosed. The Coke Zero 400 will be Bayne's second Cup race since returning from the illness—speculated to be the result of a tick or insect bite—that sidelined him after the April 17 event at Talladega. After two trips to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and extensive treatment with antibiotics, Bayne got a clean bill of health and resumed racing June 4 in a Nationwide event at Chicagoland.

Bayne said returning to Daytona as the 500 champion didn't really hit him until he drove onto the racetrack for the first time.

"When I got on the track … I realized that my last lap here was a victory lap," Bayne said. "That was the biggest eye-opener, when I finally got back on the track."

Bayne had to qualify for the race on speed. Consequently, he spent his time during Thursday's practice on single-car runs, while those already locked into the field spent their time in the two-car drafting hookups that will characterize Saturday night's race.

"We didn't do any drafting runs in practice," Bayne said. "We did two mock (qualifying) runs, because we had to make it on time, and people pulled out in front of us on those runs, so we really didn't get any practice at all."

Tony Raines and J.J. Yeley failed to qualify for the 43-car field.