Although Dale Earnhardt Inc. might not be a championship contender, it showed yesterday it still can be a force at Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

DEI swept the front row in qualifying for the Coke Zero 400 tonight and ended up with three drivers in the top eight positions.

Paul Menard won the pole when he covered the 2 1/2-mile superspeedway with a fast lap of 185.916 mph, just ahead of teammate Mark Martin. Rookie Regan Smith was eighth.

DEI's other driver, Martin Truex Jr., was well back in 35th. He was driving a backup car after his primary car failed inspection Thursday.

Truex's setback -- he could be docked points for an illegal body modification -- combined with Martin's announcement that he was moving to Hendrick Motorsports gave DEI a rough start to the weekend. But the team rebounded with its strongest qualifying effort this season.

Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified third.

More NASCAR

Martin will make one final effort to win the NASCAR championship that has eluded him the past 26 years by driving for storied Hendrick Motorsports next season.

Martin, 49, has run a partial schedule the past two seasons, a move he said allowed him to "catch his breath" while rekindling his passion for racing. So, when Rick Hendrick offered him the seat in his No. 5 Chevrolet, Martin jumped at the chance to run a full schedule in 2009 in pursuit of the Sprint Cup title.

Martin will replace Casey Mears, who is being released at the end of the season. Martin will join two-time defending Cup champ Jimmie Johnson, four-time series champion Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the stoutest lineup in the series.

Nationwide

Denny Hamlin held off teammate Kyle Busch to win at Daytona and extend Joe Gibbs Racing's dominance in the series. Hamlin got a great jump on a late two-lap sprint and Busch couldn't challenge him as Hamlin drove to his third Nationwide win of the year.

Formula One

Points leader Felipe Massa of Brazil spun off the track and hit a wall in practice for the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, England, but only after setting the fastest time in his Ferrari. Massa climbed out of his car a few minutes after the crash and did not appear to be hurt. He already had posted the fastest time in the first practice of 1 minute, 19.575 seconds when he spun on some oil at the end of the fastest straight of the Silverstone circuit. With Massa unable to continue, his rivals resumed chasing his time. McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen was closest in his final lap just before the session ended, leading Massa's time at the first two intermediate timings but crossing the finish line 0.012 slower.