ROCKINGHAM, N.C. – Maine driver Ricky Craven is feeling momentum and sitting on the pole after qualifying Friday for the Subway 400 at North Carolina Speedway.

After a strong finish in 2001, Craven wobbled a little in the season-opening Daytona 500. He started last in a field of 43, but drove to a 17th-place finish.

“I’ve got a lot better perspective than I had five years ago,” Craven said after beating runner-up Ken Schrader by about 11/2 mph in qualifying for Sunday’s race at North Carolina Speedway. “Starting last was tough on the team, but finishing 17th, that was higher than we finished in the points last year, so we’re off to a good start.

“It’s all about being realistic.”

Craven’s fast lap of 156.008 mph in Cal Wells’ Ford was plenty quick enough to beat the 154.696 of Schrader’s Pontiac. It also was considerably faster than the speeds Craven turned earlier in the day in practice on the 1.017-mile oval.

“I was really loose off the truck and I couldn’t power down in the corners,” Craven explained. “I told my guys, ‘If you can tie this thing down, it’s a rocket.’ ”

He said crew chief Mike Beam and engineer Roy McCauley made the right decisions.

“This can be a difficult business, but when the car runs like that, it’s not very hard,” Craven said. “When we ran that lap, I said, ‘Guys, thank you!’ ”

It was the fifth pole of Craven’s career and his second since joining Wells’ team last season. After a slow start, Craven earned an emotional first victory in Martinsville, Va., and a runner-up finish in Michigan en route to 21st in the final Winston Cup standings.

That had everyone on the team looking forward to 2002.

“From the second half of 2001 to today, we have turned the corner,” Craven said. “We didn’t lose anybody from last year, and it’s like the season didn’t end. We just picked up where we left off.

“After Daytona, it’s nice to win the pole and pick up on the momentum, but we still have to finish the job on Sunday.”

Johnny Benson, Schrader’s teammate, was third in another Pontiac at 154.631, followed at 154.507 by the Ford of Dale Jarrett, who has eight top-fives and 12 top-10s in the last 12 races here.

Jerry Nadeau was fifth in a Chevrolet at 154.357, with sixth-place Sterling Marlin the top-qualifying Dodge driver at 154.292.

Rookie Jimmie Johnson, who won the pole in Daytona and finished 15th, qualified 11th at 153.683.

Ward Burton, who won last Sunday, was 18th in a Dodge at 153.394.

“That’s OK,” Burton said. “We don’t normally set the record qualifying, but we’ll run good come Sunday.”

Series champion Jeff Gordon, ninth in Daytona, qualified 33rd Friday at 152.671.

Among the drivers who didn’t make the 43-car field for Sunday’s race was Dick Trickle. He’s driving for the first event for car owner Dave Marcis, who ended his 33-year driving career following a 42nd-place finish in Daytona.

NOTEBOOK: Tony Eury, crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr., could hardly believe his driver was able to finish in the top 30 in last Sunday’s Daytona 500 after all they went through.

Little E wound up 29th despite having to deal with two blown tires that tore up the bodywork on his Chevrolet, failed brakes that sent him skimming across the infield grass at breakneck speed on one near-disastrous occasion, and an impact with the wall.

Despite the adversity, Eury and his Dale Earnhardt Inc., crew were able to get the car back onto the track after each problem.