Compton does it again.

Stacy Compton made it two pole positions in two attempts at the fearsome 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway in 2001 as he snatched the Bud Pole away from Bobby Hamilton at the last minute in qualifying for Sunday's EA Sports 500.

Resplendent in a fine Levi Garrett livery that reminds one of days gone by, but more importantly serves as a precursor for next year, Stacy Compton (pictured in 2000) gave the No.92 Mark Melling owned squad their second Bud Pole Award of 2001 as he once again displayed the prowess of the Dodge Intrepid on Superspeedways by lapping the 2.66-mile tri-oval more than two tenths of a second faster than long-time pole sitter Bobby Hamilton.

Following his shock first career Winston Cup pole in April's Talladega 500, Compton continued his outstanding run of qualifying performances on Superspeedway's in 2001 by making it four top three starts in four races at Daytona and Talladega this season with a late flying lap of 51.695-seconds. Compton confirmed that in qualifying at least, the Dodge is a step ahead of the rest and his lap was backed up by the presence of four other Intrepid's in the top ten at the end of the session.

Given the impressive nature of Compton's performance it is therefore something of a shame that come Sunday afternoon it will be all but impossible for him to prove just how well sorted his car is owing to the fact that Sunday's 188 lap race will undoubtedly be a typically nerve-wracking Superspeedway affair. In fact, such is the certainty of the type of race expected, that only a small pocket of drivers were disappointed with their qualifying efforts and of those who were, many (read Pontiac teams) were upset more at the nature of NASCAR's rule break towards Dodge earlier this year that has left Ford, Chevrolet and especially the outnumbered Pontiac brigade, struggling to cope with the speed of the Intrepid.

More often than not, drivers begun their post qualifying media interviews by reiterating that it really doesn't mater where you start at Talladega as the aid of the draft will decide the winner of the race probably in the final few hundred yards.

Even so, Compton's pole lap, and the margin by which he achieved it, came as a surprise to many for the late afternoon cool had taken the edge off the track surface leaving seven drivers in the first 20 cars off pit road in the top ten at session's end. The second year NWC driver, who has had a better year than his rookie season but has still missed two races, annihilated the 51.920-second lap time set down by Hamilton much (much) earlier in the session on his second flying lap and denied the No.55 Square D Chevrolet driver his first pole of 2001. Compton ran 44th out of 45 cars while Hamilton ran 14th.

Hamilton, who won April's race at Talladega, had to settle for a place on the outside front row as the only other driver bar Compton to dip underneath 52 seconds in a session where many were left scratching their heads as to why they couldn't match their opening practice times.

Perennial Dodge torch holder in 2001 Sterling Marlin was forced to give best once again to Compton as he placed the leading Chip Ganassi owned Intrepid in third position with a best lap of 52.027 seconds while Johnny Benson was delighted with the performance of his Pontiac as he qualified fourth for his second straight top five start in a row. Benson however, may struggle to find a drafting partner in the opening stages of the races as of the four remaining Pontiac's on the grid following the disappearance of Eel River Racing and the defection of AJ Foyt to Chevrolet (to fit in with his IRL programme which should use Chevy engines in 20002), Benson's nearest stablemate is that of his teammate Ken Schrader who starts all the way back in 28th.

Bill Elliott, shrugging off claims that he was contemplating hanging up his helmet in the near future, set fifth fastest time in the leading Ray Evernham prepared Intrepid ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr and John Andretti in Dodge number four. Andretti's No.43 Petty Enterprises machine ensured that there will be four Dodge's starting in line on the outside row on Sunday and with Kyle Petty's heart-warming eighth place effort for the No.45 PE team, there is a chance that the Dodge runner could steal a march on the rest of the field if they work sensibly in the opening laps.

Joe Nemechek and Dale Jarrett rounded out the top ten with Jeff Gordon 11th, Martinsville winner Ricky Craven 12th, occasional NWC competitor Jeff Purvis making it four starts out of four on Superspeedway's this year with 13th and Mark Martin 14th.

Of the other major contenders, Ricky Rudd starts in the middle of the pack in 23rd with Rusty Wallace 32nd, Jeff Burton 33rd, Bobby Labonte 34th and Tony Stewart 37th. While both Labonte and Stewart continued to complain about the uncompetitiveness of their Pontiac's in Superspeedway trim, neither can be discounted from Sunday's race and several of the 'big names' could well be looking to run at the rear of the field for the majority of the race so as to minimise the threat of becoming involved in any major Talladega pile up.

With only 45 cars present, two drivers went home early, Dave Marcis and the returning Rick Mast being the unfortunate two while Mast's teammate for the weekend, Hut Stricklin, waited anxiously on his time that was slowest of all bar Ron Hornaday before clinching the 43rd and final place on the grid based on owner points. Others who were needed provisionals to make the field included Mike Wallace in the No.12 Penske Racing Ford, Robby Gordon in the No.31 RCR Chevrolet and Kevin Lepage in the No.7 Ultra Motorsports Ford. Hornaday meanwhile, whose AJ Foyt Racing team is still trying to get a handle on the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, claimed next to last spot with 42nd.