The Associated Press

FONTANA, Calif. - Steve Park, the third driver in the DEI stable, outqualified his more famous teammates and everybody else Friday to win his first pole in more than two years.

Park, who came back from a serious concussion that cut short his 2001 season and kept him out of his race car until after the start of the next season, will start from the front in Sunday's Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.

He earned the third pole of his six-year career with a lap of 186.838 mph, considerably slower than the track record 187.432 turned in last April by Ryan Newman.

Bill Elliott was a close second at 186.824, followed by Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart at 186.732 and Newman at 186.649.

Park knocked Elliott off the top spot by three-thousandths of a second, and the top four were separated by less than a tenth of a second.

Park came away from a crash at Darlington in September 2001 with a serious head injury that left him with temporary blurred vision and slurred speech, hindering his comeback attempt.

The 35-year-old Park's ability has been questioned by some since then and he lashed out at his critics after winning the pole.

"Amid all the media rumors about me losing my job ... our contract's up at the end of the year," he said heatedly. "I guarantee you I plan on being in that car until the end of the year.

"I don't race for 20th. I race to win. If I don't have the confidence in my team and myself, I need to go somewhere else. We need to win races, and we're not going to quit this year until we have. That will quiet all the critics."

A year ago, there was nearly constant speculation that Dale Earnhardt Inc., which also fields cars for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip, was going to replace Park, possibly before the end of 2002, when he finished 33rd in the points.

The driver comes into this weekend 27th in the points with no finish better than 10th. But Park has persevered and says he's gaining more confidence each week.

"I'm resilient," he said. "I'm like an old pair of shoes. You can keep tossing me to the side, but I just fit good. We need to just get everything behind us and get back to the old ways, and that's winning poles and winning races."

Ty Norris, vice president of DEI, said, "If we give him what he needs, with the dedication he and his team have, they can do the job."

Elliott, who has 55 career poles, said he was happy for Park.

"Steve's been through a lot and I'm really proud of what he did here today," Elliott said.

BUSCH SERIES: Former series champion Kevin Harvick led a record qualifying session at Fontana, Calif., Friday, taking the pole for the CaliforniaSpeedway.Com 300.

Harvick, a regular on the Winston Cup circuit racing in only his fifth Busch event of the season, turned a lap of 183.941 mph on the 2-mile oval. That topped 18 drivers who surpassed the previous series qualifying record of 179.198, set in 2001 by Bobby Hamilton Jr.

Harvick credited improved Goodyear tires and a cool, overcast day for the jump in speeds.

"We just wanted to back up what we did in practice, and we were actually able to run a little faster," he said.

Harvick won his seventh Busch pole despite some discomfort from his feet, which were burned two weeks ago in the Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.

NEW SPONSOR? Negotiations are under way with several companies to succeed Winston as title sponsor of NASCAR's top series.

Names regularly mentioned in recent speculation include McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch and VISA.

Brian France, senior vice president of NASCAR and the grandson of the founder of the sanctioning body, confirmed Thursday to a group of Associated Press sports editors that the sanctioning body was in negotiations with several companies. France declined to identify them.

Michael Waltrip, another of the Cup regular, will start second Saturday. His lap of 181.745 was nearly a half-second slower than that of Harvick.

Ron Hornaday Jr. was the leading Busch regular, taking third at 181.479, followed by rookie David Reutimann at 181.077. Next came Stacy Compton at 181.046, followed by Brian Vickers at 180.995.

This weekend

NASCAR WINSTON CUP

Auto Club 500

Site: Fontana, Calif.

Schedule: Sunday, race (Channels 19, 45, 2:30 p.m.).

Track: California Speedway (d-shaped oval, 2 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns).

Race distance: 500 miles (250 laps).

Last year: Jimmie Johnson took the lead with 14 laps to go in the NAPA Auto Parts 500 and held off Ricky Rudd and Kurt Busch for his first Winston Cup victory.

Fast facts: Matt Kenseth owns a 51-point lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the standings entering this weekend. Kenseth has seven top-10 finishes this season and has held the top spot in the standings for five weeks. ... Johnson's win last year came in only his 13th career Winston Cup start. That was the fourth-fastest for a driver in the modern era, behind Kevin Harvick (third), Ron Bouchard (11) and Earnhardt Jr. (12). ... Jeff Gordon has finished among the top five in four of the six races at Fontana, including wins in the inaugural 1997 race and 1999.

Next race: Pontiac Excitement 400, May 3, Richmond, Va.

BUSCH SERIES

CaliforniaSpeedway.com 300

Site: Fontana, Calif.

Schedule: Today, race (Channels 19, 45, 4 p.m.).

Track: California Speedway (d-shaped oval, 2 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns).

Race distance: 300 miles (150 laps).

Last year: Scott Riggs started last and finished first in the Auto Club 300. Riggs was sent to the rear of the 43-car field after his team was forced to change the engine in his Ford.

Next race: Hardee's 250, May 2, Richmond, Va.

FORMULA ONE

Last race: Michael Schumacher won the San Marino Grand Prix for his first victory of the season. It was the first top-three finish of the year for the five-time Formula One champion, who won for the fifth time at San Marino.

Next race: Spanish Grand Prix, May 5, Barcelona.

CART

Last race: Paul Tracy became the first CART driver to begin a season with three victories after winning the Grand Prix of Long Beach by 4.544 seconds over second-place Adrian Fernandez April 13. The Canadian is also the first driver in American open-wheel racing to start with three wins since Al Unser did it in 1971.

Next race: Brands Hatch, May 5, Kent, England.

INDY RACING LEAGUE

Last race: American Scott Sharp won the crash-filled Indy Japan 300 on April 13 and moved into a tie for the lead in career victories in the series. Sharp finished under the yellow flag at Twin Ring Motegi for his eighth career IRL victory, matching Sam Hornish Jr. and Buddy Lazier for wins in the series.

Next race: Indianapolis 500, May 25.