Daytona Beach, Fla. ? Dale Earnhardt Jr. had planned to beat everybody this month. He hadn’t figured on Jeff Green.

The unheralded Green, driving for Richard Childress Racing, the team for which the late Dale Earnhardt won six of his seven Winston Cup championships, beat Earnhardt Jr. for the Daytona 500 pole Monday — though not by much.

In fact, the difference between Green’s lap of 186.606 mph and Earnhardt’s 186.382 was a mere 0.058 seconds.

As much of a shock as Green’s performance was to many people in the Winston Cup garage and Daytona International Speedway’s grandstand, it came as no surprise to the driver.

“I really expected it,” he said. “A lot of people, I think, looked at me like I had four eyes when I said that. But we didn’t practice a whole lot Saturday. We knew we had a great race car.”

That confidence made Sunday’s rainout of qualifying agonizing for Green.

“That was the longest day of my life,” he said. “I kept telling everybody what a great car we had. I kept telling Michelle, my wife, how great the car was and she was just shaking her head.

“Now we’ve proved it.”

The two drivers who came out on top Monday were more than halfway down the 51-car qualifying line and had to wait through a 75-minute rain delay and about 90 minutes of qualifying before getting their chance.

Earnhardt, who went into qualifying heavily favored to take his first Daytona pole after showing muscle by winning Saturday night’s Bud Shootout, went first and, as expected, vaulted right to the top.

Driver Jeff Green climbs out of his car after winning pole position for the Daytona 500. Green had the fastest qualifying lap Monday at Daytona Beach, Fla. The race is Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.

Green, the next in line, drove onto the 21¼2-mile oval and relegated Earnhardt to second.

“It was kind of bittersweet to lose the pole but, in a way, we have so much to be proud of because we’ve improved so much,” Earnhardt said. “It was a fantastic lap.”

The two fast Chevrolets are the only cars with guaranteed starting positions for NASCAR’s premier race.

While Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammates Michael Waltrip and Steve Park finished second, fourth and 17th, it was a good day for the Childress team, which had a miserable year in 2002.

Green’s teammates, Robby Gordon and Kevin Harvick, were third and sixth in qualifying.

That delighted Childress, who added Green as a third driver and had considerable turnover of personnel last year.

“We’ve got some long-range plans at RCR,” the car owner said. “Last year, we had some short-term sacrifices for long-term success.”

Green, who won the Busch Series title in 2000, is starting his second full season with Childress. The 40-year-old driver, one of three racing brothers from Owensboro, Ky., said there is a new feeling around the team.

“Last year, we were just getting to the racetrack, not jelling,” Green said. “There’s been a lot of work done in the last few months in our shop and the new Monte Carlo is a phenomenal car.”

Chevys took the top four positions and six of the top eight. Despite the qualifying results, Earnhardt and Waltrip remain the drivers to beat, having won six of the last eight races at Daytona and Talladega, NASCAR’s two biggest and fastest ovals.

“It’s going to be tough to beat those guys,” Green said. “But there are 40 other guys out there that you’ve got to beat, too — not just the DEI cars. My philosophy is to get in front of the (No.) 8 (Earnhardt car) and let me push you all the way to the end.”

With the front row decided on Monday — 24 hours after rain prevented qualifying — the rest of the 43-car field will be filled Thursday.

Positions three through 30 are determined in twin 125-mile qualifying races, with 14 coming out of each race. Positions 31-36 go to the fastest drivers Monday who haven’t already qualified. The rest of the lineup is filled by provisional starters, based on last year’s car-owner points.