KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. has some advice for NASCAR: rethink your penalty for drivers who curse on live broadcasts.

NASCAR had little choice in hitting Earnhardt with a fine of $10,000 and the loss of 25 points after he cursed during a live NBC television interview following his victory last Sunday at Talladega.

Even though that's the same penalty the sanctioning organization meted out earlier this year to Busch Series drivers Johnny Sauter and Ron Hornaday, Earnhardt hopes that will change in the future.

"I told NASCAR that in my opinion, if not this time but the next time for the next guy, change the penalty," he said. "Make it $100,000, $200,000. Taking points off the scoreboard, whether it's fair or not, is not something I believe in."

The penalty left Earnhardt 12 points behind new leader Kurt Busch entering Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Kansas Speedway.

While Joe Nemechek won the pole for the Banquet 400 - his second pole in a row and the eighth of his career - Earnhardt qualified eighth before speaking out for the first time since NASCAR levied the penalties on Tuesday.

"I understand that it was a mistake," Earnhardt said. "It wasn't anything that I intentionally planned to say. I just think the punishment was a little bit more severe than the crime."

Viewers in nearly 7 million homes were able to hear Earnhardt use a vulgarity when he was asked about the significance of his fifth victory at Talladega.

His team has appealed the points portion of the penalty, but Earnhardt, racing for his first championship, said it has taught him a lesson.

"I just learned to control myself better," he said. "It's kind of difficult in those situations. It's really hard, actually - especially when you win a race like that. But that's the rules and, unfortunately, we've got to play by every one of them, not just a few."

In reaction to Earnhardt's slip of the tongue and in light of the FCC cracking down on objectionable content on radio and TV, both NBC and the Motor Racing Network, which airs most of the Cup races on radio, will now use delays on their live broadcasts.

Nemechek, whose pole last week at Talladega was his first since October 2000, led Friday's qualifying with a lap of 180.156 mph.

"That's as close as you can be to out of control and still have control of the race car," he said.

It's the first time Nemechek has won two straight poles.

Evernham Motorsports teammates Kasey Kahne and Jeremy Mayfield were the closest to him Friday. Rookie Kahne, also second in Busch Series qualifying earlier in the day, turned a lap of 179.253. Mayfield, fastest of the 10 drivers racing for the Nextel Cup championship, ran 179.188.

Another title contender, Jimmie Johnson, was next at 179.045, followed by Bobby Labonte at 178.891, Greg Biffle at 178.453, and contenders Ryan Newman, the defending race winner, at 178.424, and Earnhardt at 178.389.

Busch, the only driver in the title chase to have finished among the top five in each of the first three races, was 22nd in qualifying. Third-place Gordon was a very disappointing 30th.

"The car looks great," said Gordon, who qualified in the top 10 for each of the first three races here. "We need to make it go as fast as it looks."

Among the other contenders, Elliott Sadler was 11th, defending series champion Matt Kenseth 15th, Mark Martin 18th and Tony Stewart 20th.