On lap 139 of the race, a 13-car pileup started when Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon tapped the left rear of teammate Ken Schrader, sending Schrader airborne. Schrader proceeded to flip numerous times end over end. In the carnage, 12 other cars suffered damage. Schrader suffered a bruised right eye in the wreck.[3]
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, July 21, at 4:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, July 22, at 11:45 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-38 would be decided on time,[4] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points; which was usually four. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.
Sterling Marlin, driving for Morgan–McClure Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 49.307 and an average speed of 194.212 miles per hour (312.554km/h) in the first round.[5]
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