TALLADEGA, Ala. — For the first time since Dan Wheldon’s fatal accident, the focus was back on the racetrack.
Hendrick Motorsports proved Saturday it has the best superspeedway program in NASCAR with a sweep of the front row in qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway.
Batesville’s Mark Martin won the pole with a lap of 181.367 mph, just a tick faster than the 181.360 posted by five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson. Hendrick Motorsports now has won the pole at all four superspeedway races this season, and swept the front row in all but one.
“Our qualifying on [restrictor] plate tracks this season has just been amazing,” Johnson said.
Martin began his post-qualifying news conference on a somber note, encouraging fans to visit the web site dedicated to Wheldon. Today’s race at Talladega is the first major event since the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner was killed in the IndyCar season finale at Las Vegas last Sunday.
The first of two memorials for Wheldon was Saturday, and the second is scheduled for today in Indianapolis about the same time the NASCAR race will end. NASCAR is honoring Wheldon with decals on its cars that display the Lionheart Knight image that Wheldon affixed to the back of his helmets, as well as a moment of silence before the start of the race.
When the green flag drops, though, the drivers likely will have pushed Wheldon from their minds to focus on racing on NASCAR’s fastest and biggest track. There’s a title on the line, too, and Johnson has a huge hole to climb from if he’s to have any shot at winning a sixth consecutive title.
A nasty accident last Saturday at Charlotte dropped Johnson from third to eighth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship standings,and with five races remaining, he’s got to climb out of a 35-point deficit. But Johnson won here in April, when teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. pushed him to the victory.
As Johnson made his victory lap that afternoon, his crew chief thanked Earnhardt over the team radio.
“Dale, thank you man,” Chad Knaus radioed, “next one is on us, brother.”
But the stakes are too high right now for Johnson to simply agree to pay back the favor: Earnhardt is a distant ninth in the standings.
“I remember Chad saying it, and believe me, the Junior Nation has not forgotten,” Johnson said. “We worked yesterday and we’ll just have to see how things unfold in the race and where we feel we’re the fastest. If we can’t win the race, we certainly want him to.”
It’s going to be wide open, though, as drivers have spent the first two days at Talladega working on their strategy and picking drafting partners.
The Johnson-Earnhardt duo in April beat Richard Childress Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick in the push to the finish line. Bowyer, who settled for a very close second to Johnson,will start today’s race third.
Bowyer was followed in qualifying by Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne and Hendrick drivers Jeff Gordon and Earnhardt Jr.
Paul Menard qualified seventh and was followed by David Ragan, Sprint Cup Series points leader Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman.
Because of the two-car tandem style of racing that has developed this season at Daytona and Talladega, the two fastest tracks require the use of horsepower-sapping restrictor plates, its essential for everyone to find a drafting partner. Tony Stewart has worked well this season with David Gilliland, but with the championship at stake, that’s one of the alliances that’s been dissolved.
Stewart, winner of the first two Chase races and only 24 points behind leader Edwards, can’t get help again from Gilliland because Gilliland is a Ford driver with an allegiance to Edwards and Matt Kenseth, who is third in the standings.
“It is such a tight points battle right now and we are going to try to help the Ford guys out all we can,” Gilliland said. “We are going to go that route. We are One Ford. That is the goal for this weekend. I feel good about it.”
Stewart, who will start 12th today, heard rumblings of the Ford pact when he first got to the track.
“We thought we had a plan and then it sounded like it got dismantled,” he said.
CAMPING WORLD TRUCKS
Wallace fills in, wins
TALLADEGA, Ala. - Mike Wallace proved to be a suitable substitute for Elliott Sadler at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, racing to his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory since 2000.
Wallace, who was pushed to the victory by Ron Hornaday Jr., was making just his second start of the season. He was called by Kevin Harvick Inc. last week when Sadler pulled out of the race to stay with his wife as they await the birth of their second child.
James Buescher finished third and pulled within three points of leader Austin Dillon in the series standings.
Ricky Carmichael was fourth and followed by Jason White, Todd Bodine and Dillon. Brendan Gaughan, Kyle Busch and Max Papis rounded out the top 10.
TODAY’S RACING ON TV All times Central SPRINT CUP Talladega, 1:15 p.m. ESPN MOTO GP Malaysia, noon Speed REGIONAL CALENDAR OCTOBER 27-29 I-30 Speedway, Little Rock, 24th annual Comp Cams Short Track Nationals, Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series, $15,000 to win, $2,400 to start NOVEMBER 11-12 Riverside International Speedway, West Memphis, USCS sprints and modifiedsToday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup lineup Good Sam Club 500 After Saturday qualifying; race today At Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway Lap length: 2.66 miles (Car number in parentheses) 1. (5) Mark Martin, Chevy, 181.367 mph 2. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevy, 181.360 3. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevy, 181.243 4. (21) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 181.011 5. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevy, 180.918 6. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevy, 180.905 7. (27) Paul Menard, Chevy, 180.655 8. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 180.608 9. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 180.210 10. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevy, 180.203 11. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 180.196 12. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevy, 180.108 13. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevy, 180.04714. (22) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 179.970 15. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevy, 179.875 16. (2) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 179.831 17. (38) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 179.831 18. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 179.784 19. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 179.736 20. (97) Kevin Conway, Toyota, 179.693 21. (47) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 179.672 22. (78) Regan Smith, Chevy, 179.645 23. (15) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 179.629 24. (43) A.J. Allmendinger, Ford, 179.602 25. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevy, 179.602 26. (4) Kasey Kahne, Toyota, 179.575 27. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 179.420 28. (55) J.J. Yeley, Ford, 179.349 29. (66) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 179.346 30. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 179.054 31. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 178.94432. (32) Terry Labonte, Ford, 178.897 33. (71) Andy Lally, Ford, 178.884 34. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 178.780 35. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 178.773 36. (00) David Reutimann, Toyota, 178.673 37. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 178.670 38. (51) Landon Cassill, Chevy, 178.603 39. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevy, 178.520 40. (34) David Gilliland, Ford, 178.427 41. (36) Dave Blaney, Chevy, owner points 42. (13) Casey Mears, Toyota, owner points 43. (7) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 178.567 FAILED TO QUALIFY 44. (35) Geoffrey Bodine, Chevy, 178.533 45. (46) Scott Speed, Ford, 177.478 46. (77) T.J. Bell, Ford, 177.071 47. (37) Josh Wise, Ford, 177.055
Sports, Pages 27 on 10/23/2011