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Rockingham Speedway qualifying summary

Swindell grabs ARCA pole for American 200; Poole starts at head of UARA field ARCA points battle gets tighter with Goess's third-place qualifying effort; UARA points leader Pressley starting near rear of field ROCKINGHAM, N.C. (October 8, 2010) - ...

Swindell grabs ARCA pole for American 200; Poole starts at head of UARA field
ARCA points battle gets tighter with Goess's third-place qualifying effort; UARA points leader Pressley starting near rear of field

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. (October 8, 2010) - Kevin Swindell, son of three-time national Sprint Car champion Sammy Swindell, earned his first career pole in the ARCA Racing Series presented by REMAX and Menards Friday during qualifying at Rockingham Speedway for Saturday's season finale American 200 presented by Black's Tire and Auto Service.

Swindell, driving a Toyota, posted a 145.378-mph, 24.763-second lap on Menards Pole Day presented by Ansell, to edge Chad Finley for the No. 1 starting position. Finley's Chevrolet clocked in at 145.361 mph, 24.766 seconds.

"We did this basically on a shoe-string budget," Swindell, the season's 14th different pole winner, said after qualifying for his fifth career ARCA race. "This says a lot for what these guys have been able to do with what we got.

"I feel like we put ourselves in a little bit of a hole. We were kind of bearing on some of our adjustments to get our stuff hooked up for qualifying. I think we could have been a little bit better there, but, obviously, it was good enough."

Swindell said he thought his car was better for racing than for qualifying.

"We didn't really even worry about qualifying trim at all," Swindell commented. "When you feel like you have a good enough race car and you qualify in the front, it goes well."

Craig Goess earned the third starting position to edge five points closer to standings leader Patrick Sheltra in the championship battle. Sheltra qualified eighth at 144.631 mph, 24.891 seconds. Entering Saturday's season finale, which will be televised live at 1:30 p.m. on Speed Channel, Sheltra now leads Goess by a mere five points -- 4,495 to 4,490. Tom Hessert is third in the standings, 20 points in arrears to Sheltra.

He qualified his Dodge 14th at 143.753 mph, 25.043 seconds. "I was a little disappointed because I thought that we were stuck in second and I thought that would even us up (in the point standings)," said Goess, who qualified his Toyota at 145.196 mph, 24.794 seconds. "I was thinking in my mind we had 10 (bonus points). Five is better than nothing.

"I wanted to pick up some points in qualifying, and we were able to do that. The other two guys that we are running against in the championship were not able to pick up any bonus points. So, that is something to help us out. That is one less spot I have to finish ahead of somebody tomorrow to get this championship."

Rounding out the top five, respectively, were Justin Marks, Dodge, 145.132 mph, 24.805 seconds, and Steve Arpin, Chevrolet, 145.056 mph, 24.818 seconds.

Ty Dillon, grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress and the winner of the most recent ARCA event at Kansas Speedway, qualified sixth at 144. 805 mph, 24.861 seconds in a Chevrolet.

Brandon McReynolds, son of TV analyst and former NASCAR crew chief Larry McReynolds, qualified seventh, also in a Chevrolet, at 144.747 mph, 24.871 seconds.

Steve Park, who won a NASCAR Winston Cup race at the 1-mile oval in February 2001, qualified 20th in a Ford.

Veteran James Hylton used a provisional to gain entrance into the 41-car starting field. He will start 37th.

In UARA qualifying, Brennan Poole earned the pole with a 25.469-second lap, while Kyle Grissom, son of former NASCAR driver Steve Grissom, earned the other front-row starting position with a 25.497-second lap. "On this track, you are frickin' flying," Poole said. "It's just really fun out there. We had a really good car and put down a really good lap. I'm pretty pleased with the guys. I'm just really happy to put it on the front row for them. You know, a lot of heroes have raced here, so this feels really awesome right now."

Poole noted the track's roughness meant he had to pay attention to his car's tire wear.

"We have a little smart plan - stay out of trouble, be there at the end, and hopefully, we will be able to win this thing," Poole said. McReynolds, the only driver competing in both series' season finales, qualified fourth. However, standings leader Coleman Pressley had to settle for the 15th starting position in the 16-car field. Pressley, who holds a 29-point lead over Poole heading into the season finale, recorded a lap of 29.936 seconds.

-source: rs

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