BROOKLYN, Mich., June 14 (UPI) -- Dale Jarrett overcame the weather Friday to capture the pole position for Sunday's Sirius Satellite 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Jarrett drove his Ford at an average speed of 189.071 miles per hour, circling the 2-mile superspeedway in 38.081 seconds.
To capture his second pole in as many weeks, Jarrett had to endure a rain delay of 1 hour, 48 minutes. Jarrett also started first last week at Pocono en route to winning the race.
"Everything was perfect for us to go out and do that," Jarrett said. "With the way it was going to cool off after the rain there were some guys capable of beating it. But I think it shows how good a car we have. I missed turns one and two a little bit, but we really went through turns three and four and that did it for us."
Jarrett has had success here, winning three times, the last in 1999.
"When things are going well you have to take advantage of it," he said. "Things are going for us right now. We ran good at Dover and won at Pocono. When people ask what track is my favorite, this is it for me."
Starting outside Jarrett will be Michael Waltrip in a Chevrolet. Waltrip had a lap of 188.793 mph in 38.137 seconds.
Like Jarrett, Waltrip also has been on a quite a roll lately, capturing three top-10 finishes in his last five starts
"What happened to us in practice kind of messed us up in qualifying," Waltrip said. "We were really good in turns one and two all through practice and I kept getting to turns three and four and my car would get really tight and push off the turn.
"When I ran my qualifying lap, I made it through one and two perfect. When I got through three and four I tried to protect against it pushing and I just messed up. I should have been more aggressive because it didn't push like I was afraid it was going to."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start third in a Chevrolet after running a lap of 188.744 mph. Rounding out the top five were Bill Elliott and Ward Burton, both in Dodges.
