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NASCAR: Jim Johnson Takes Datona 500 Pole Position VOA Sports 10 Feb 2002 18:49 UTC 
NASCAR racing rookie driver Jim Johnson has grabbed the pole position for next Sunday's season-opening Daytona 500 in Florida.
Johnson took his Chevrolet around the four-kilometer oval Saturday at an average speed of 299 kilometers-per-hour, edging out last year's rookie-of-the-year, Kevin Harvick, whose average speed was 298.90.
Neither of the 26-year-old drivers has raced at Daytona before, and are now in the front row of the biggest NASCAR race of the year. The rest of the field will be decided later this week.
Harvick, who also drives a Chevrolet, was a replacement for racing legend Dale Earnhardt after he died in last year's race on a last-lap crash.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
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