Inclement weather moves Pepsi qualifying to today

from staff reports

   DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Thursday's qualifying session for Saturday night's Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway was postponed following a four-hour rain delay.
   A sudden thunderstorm interrupted practice at 3:40 p.m. ET and race officials called off the session at 7:45 after 41 cars were able to get on the track.
   The qualifying was rescheduled for today at 10 a.m.
   The sun tried to break through shortly before 6 p.m., but the muggy conditions kept the track too damp for qualifying to be completed.
   Before practice was red-flagged, Michael Waltrip, last year's Daytona 500 winner and Pepsi 400 runner-up, posted the fastest time of the cars that got on the track.
   Waltrip toured the 21/2-mile superspeedway in 48.876 seconds, at 184.139 mph. Dale Jarrett was second on the speed charts, followed by Geoffrey Bodine, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.
   Ward Burton, winner of this year's Daytona 500, Kenny Wallace, Ed Berrier and Hut Stricklin did not even get on the track.
   A second one-hour practice was scheduled for Thursday at 7:45 p.m.