Fri Feb 22 20:22:20 2008

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Burton inherits Nationwide pole

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Fontana, CA (Sports Network) - Jeff Burton will be on the pole for Saturday night's Stater Bros. 300 at the newly named Auto Club Speedway of Southern California (formerly called the California Speedway). The No.29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driver will start on the pole because officials have cancelled Saturday's qualifying session.

Rain forced the cancellation of almost all on-track activities on Friday, forcing NASCAR officials to use Saturday morning and afternoon for practice.

Burton was handed the pole because his team won the owner's championship in 2007 despite Carl Edwards winning the driver title. Burton and Scott Wimmer shared the ride in the No.29 Chevrolet and together they score more points than the No.60 Roush Fenway Racing team.

Tony Stewart will start alongside Burton in the No.20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Edwards and Clint Bowyer will make up row two.

When you look at the top-10 standings in the Nationwide Series, one name pops out at you. No not Stewart, who won the season opener at Daytona for the third time. Not Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brian Vickers or Matt Kenseth all of whom hold top-five positions after the Camping World 300 at Daytona.

No, the name that jumps off the page is Bryan Clauson. The 18-year-old Carmichael, CA native drove the No.41 Chip Ganassi Dodge to a sixth-place finish. He was the only non-Sprint Cup driver in the top-10. And he is just a rookie with six career starts in the series. He will start 16th on the grid tomorrow.

The race is scheduled to drop the green flag on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. (et).