Crew members perform a pit stop on the car of Matt Kenseth during qualifying for The Winston at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        CONCORD, N.C. — Matt Kenseth got a lot of help from his crew to continue his strong start to the season, earning the pole for NASCAR's all-star race in record fashion Friday night.

        Kenseth, the second-to-last car to attempt to qualify, capitalized on the fastest pit stop of the night to earn the front spot for The Winston and set an event-record average speed of 143.442 mph.

        Cars started their qualifying effort with a four-tire pit stop before running three laps around Lowe's Motor Speedway. The combined time it takes to do it all counts as the qualifying effort.

        Kenseth's Roush Racing crew, which won the annual pit crew challenge last season, changed all four tires on his Ford in 13.23 seconds, then pushed him out for his run. He completed everything in 112.938 seconds.

        They won $50,000 for taking the pole and will go after the $750,000 grand prize in tonight's race.

        “To win a pole in Winston Cup, I knew I couldn't do it alone,” said Kenseth, who is a surprising second in the points standings.

        Michael Waltrip starts second in the non-points event, completing his pit stop in 14.17 seconds and his entire run in 113.767. Kevin Harvick qualified third.

        The Winston will have a radically different format this year and is being called “Survival of the Fastest.” In a twist, drivers will be eliminated from the grid following both the first and second segments, leaving just the 10 fastest drivers to compete in the final 20-lap dash.

        The first segment will be 40 laps with a required four-tire pit stop and the field will be trimmed to the top-20 finishers. The second segment is 30 laps, with only the top 10 advancing to the final shootout.

        The final field will be inverted in the last segment anywhere from four cars to all 10 based on a fan vote.

        GORDON'S GOAT: Four-time Winston Cup champion Jeff showed up at Lowe's Motor Speedway sporting a dark black goatee, a radical change to the clean-cut image he's had presented over most of his career.

        “All I wanted to do was have a little fun,” Gordon said.

        Gordon, convinced by his crew to give up shaving.“We were testing at Kansas last week and one of the guys on my team has a goatee, so they told me I should grow one, too.”

        “I finally told them "What the heck, let's have a little bit of fun.' “I'm enjoying it and I know the folks in the media are enjoying it, so it's pretty cool.”

        Gordon hasn't won in 19 races — the longest drought of his career — so if he breaks the streak tonight, he said it will stay. If not, he'll shave Monday.

        For the first time, only 10 cars will run a third and final dash, and here's the kicker: They're likely to invert the starting order of the final 10 cars, as directed by fans in a NASCAR.com vote.

        “Since only so many will transfer from each round, no one will be able to lay back like they have in the past,” Bobby Labonte said. “Maybe somebody will forget about the new rules, hang around the back and take themselves out. One can dream, right? But seriously, “The fans are going to get their money's worth.”

        F1 COUP? Britain's leading Formula One teams have joined forces to form a company that could threaten Bernie Ecclestone's dominant position in the sport.

        Five teams — McLaren, Williams, Jordan, Arrows and BAR — have formed GPT Ltd, hoping to bring back lost sponsors and prevent millions of television viewers from turning away from the sport.

        The British teams have appointed Neil Johnson, 53, a former vice president of the FIA, Formula One's ruling body, to run the new company. Ecclestone has run F1 for nearly three decades.

        The Prost team went bankrupt with debts of $32 million, Jordan lost $14.5 million in sponsorship, and layoffs have occurred recently.

        Ecclestone's decision to sell 75 percent of Formula One's commercial interests last year to the collapsed Kirch Group in Germany angered the five big F1 manufacturers — Ferrari, Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW and Renault.

        GPT, however, wants a new deal quickly, which could mean buying back the commercial rights from the bankers managing Kirch's debts. Johnson wants to persuade the manufacturers and the six other teams to join GPT and exercise long-term control over Formula One.

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