Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned the pole for Sunday's race at Daytona International Speedway because his crew chief correctly predicted the weather. Greg Ives instructed Earnhardt to go flat-out at the start of Friday's first practice session because the rules state the field will be set by practice times if a qualifying session is canceled. ''I asked Greg before we went out to practice what we were trying to accomplish in that first practice and that was the first thing he mentioned, was to go out that first run and try to put a lap down because the weather wasn't looking real good,'' Earnhardt said. More...