Qualifying notebook: Sleepless nights ahead for Said

DAYTONA BEACH -- Needing to be among the 3 fastest qualifiers in the group of 17 drivers not guaranteed starting spots in next weekend's Daytona International Speedway to earn a slot on the Daytona 500 starting grid, Boris Said came up just short on Sunday.

But, unlike his last trip to Daytona, when he was on the pole before rain washed out his qualifying time prior to the Pepsi 400 here last July, Said still as a shot at firing the No. 60 Ford next weekend.

"If we were third, we'd be locked in, and I'd sleep better this week," Said said. "We've got to race our way in (in Thursday's Gatorade Duels), and it doesn't really matter where you start. You've got to get your car handling right , and I've got all the confidence in the world in (crew chief) Frankie Stoddard and the guys and how hard they've worked."

Two of the three cars that Said was qualifying against that finished ahead of him were Michael Waltrip Racing Toyotas.

"Doug Yates has done a great job with the motors, and that's all we can expect righ now with how fast the Toyotas are," Said said. "There's no competing with them right now."

Only front-row starters Jimmie Johnson and Waltrip are locked into starting spots in the 500. Joe Nemecheck qualified 3rd-fastest and David Reutimann was 4th-fastes, so each of those drivers have their qualifying times to fall back on should they fail to make the 500 through the qualifying races.

The top 2 finishers in each Gatorade Duel not covered under the top-35 exemption will make the 500.

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Hendrick Motorsports' domination of the Sprint Cup Series simply rolls on.

With Jimmie Johnson on the pole (48.258 seconds, 186.498 mph), all 4 of Hendrick's cars qualified in the top-15. Casey Mears qualified 6th, Jeff Gordon was 10th and Bud Shootout winner and latest addition to the fleet, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 15th overall.

"Great engine, great body, great car," Johnson said. "We saw what we could do (in the Bud Shootout) with a backup car, so I couldn't be more proud of all my guys and all of Hendrick Motorsports."

Owner Rick Hendrick said that he understands that other teams may be frustrated with competing against his organization's success, but that he hasn't felt any ill-will from his competitors. He also declined to urge teams to remember the No. 48 bunch -- despite Toyotas strong performance in qualifying.

"If you start with that," Hendrick said, "you're going to get whipped."

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Johnson's pole was his 2nd for the Daytona 500 and the 14th of his Cup Series career. He won the pole for the 500 in his rookie year, 2002. ... Michael Waltrip had never before qualified on the front row for the 500, despite twice winning the race. ... 3 of the last 7 Cup races at Daytona have been won from the front row, though all 3 of those came in the July event.