DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Although Dale Earnhardt Inc. might not be a championship contender, it showed Friday it still can be a force at Daytona International Speedway.

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

Paul Menard won the pole when he covered the 21⁄2-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 and was seized by NASCAR.

Truex’s setback — he could be docked points for an illegal body modification — combined with Martin’s Friday 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 of the season.

“We did our homework,” Menard said. “We’ve made horsepower gains.”

Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified third, followed by Joe Nemechek and Johnny Sauter. Series points leader Kyle Busch was ninth.

With 45 drivers trying to make the 43-car field, Scott Riggs and J.J. Yeley were the only two who failed to make the race. Yeley’s failure came a week after a season-best, third-place finish in New Hampshire.

Boris Said, meanwhile, may have gotten some redemption in making the field. Said was the provisional pole-sitter here during qualifying last July but missed the race when rain washed out part of time trials and the field was set based on points.

Hamlin edges Busch

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Denny Hamlin held off teammate Kyle Busch to win Friday night at Daytona International Speedway and extend Joe Gibbs Racing’s dominance in the Nationwide Series.

Hamlin had a comfortable lead over Busch as they headed toward the white flag, but rookie Colin Braun spun to bring out just the third caution of the race.

NASCAR reset the laps to create a two-lap sprint to the finish. Hamlin got a great jump on the restart and Busch couldn’t challenge him as Hamlin drove to his third Nationwide Series win of the year.

GOLF

Overton shares lead at tourney

BETHESDA, Md. — Jeff Overton doesn’t feel like a different player than the guy who could couldn’t make it to the weekend on the PGA Tour over the last two months. Funny how seeing the ball go in the hole changes everything.

Overton continued his one-week turnaround Friday with a 5-under 65, giving him a share of the lead with Tom Pernice Jr. in the AT&T National before storms rained on the Fourth of July atmosphere at Congressional and interrupted the second round.

Overton and Pernice, who matched the course record on a soft, still day at Congressional with a 63, were at 9-under 131.

Anthony Kim, living up to his billing as the next young threat in golf, appeared poised to catch the leaders until a 11⁄2-hour storm delay that slowed his momentum. A bogey on the par-5 ninth gave him a 67, three shots behind with Cliff Kresge (65).

NW Arkansas Championship

ROGERS, Ark. — South Korea’s Seon Hwa Lee birdied five of her final six holes for an 8-under 64 to take a two-shot lead at the LPGA Tour’s NW Arkansas Championship.

Lee, the Ginn Tribute winner last month, ended with a flourish, hitting a pitching wedge from 104 yards to about 3 feet on No. 18, setting up her last birdie.

The start was delayed about five hours, bringing back memories of last September, when the inaugural event was shortened from 54 to 18 holes because of heavy rain. It rained hard early Friday morning, and the fairway below the 18th green at Pinnacle Country Club was flooded after a water hazard overflowed.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Open

ENDICOTT, N.Y. — Joe Ozaki shot a 9-under 63, his best round in three years on the Champions Tour, to take a two-shot lead over Argentina’s Eduardo Romero in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open.

Joey Sindelar, Ronnie Black, and Fulton Allem were tied for third at 66, while John Harris, Des Smyth, Bobby Wadkins, and Morris Hatalsky were another shot back.

Bernhard Langer, second on the Champions Tour in earnings and playing the En-Joie Golf Club course for the first time, shot a 73.