RICHMOND, Va. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. made his venture into race car ownership a smashing success Thursday night, setting a track qualifying record of 126.868 mph for the FUNAI 250 NASCAR Busch Grand National race.

        Earnhardt set the record on his lone qualifying lap around Richmond International Raceway, easily bettering Matt Kenseth's mark of 125.780 set in May 2001.

        “It's a brand new car, brand new team, brand new people,” Earnhardt said. “It's the first time we've all worked together and we're real excited.”

        Greg Biffle and Kevin Lepage also broke Kenseth's record. Biffle qualified for the outside of the front row at 126.399, and Lepage turned a lap at 125.792 on the three-quarter-mile oval.

        Jeff Burton qualified fourth for the Friday night race, followed by Jason Keller, Jeff Green, Casey Mears, Stacy Compton, Kerry Earnhardt and Shane Hmiel.

        The qualifying session immediately followed qualifying for the Craftsman Truck Series event later Thursday night, and was delayed for nearly 40 minutes by two incidents that left oil on the track.

        One of the drivers involved, Hmiel, still qualified in the 10th position. The other, Shayne Lockhart, was 43rd fastest out of 54 cars.

        Earnhardt, the Busch champion in 1998 and 1999, had no such trouble after coming to test the car here about a month ago. His fastest lap in practice came at a speed of 126.898, faster than his qualifying time.

        The team is mostly a developmental one, he said. He co-owns it with his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, and hopes to gain experience as an owner and decision-maker, and possibly develop future crew talent.

        “I'm not particularly concerned with performance as much as I am with how the team grows and nurtures itself over the next couple of years,” he said. “To see it do so well right out of the box is a good feeling.”

        The team will turn its attention toward next season after the race, with Earnhardt planning to drive it in all the Busch restrictor plates races next season, and find someone else to drive it when he doesn't.

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