Waltrip on Cup pole, Villeneuve sixth
Michael Waltrip led a Toyota top-three sweep of Nextel Cup qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway, where drivers who needed to qualify on time took most of the top ten starting spots
The former Daytona 500 and Talladega race winner will make just his 14th start of the season from pole position by lapping at an average speed of 189.070 mph in the second of his two qualifying laps.
"I felt confident yesterday that we would make the race," said driver and team-owner Waltrip. "Our qualifying lap was faster than what we ran in practice. If I only had to worry about my car, I would've been happier.
"But, I had to worry about Dale (Jarrett) and David (Reutimann) making the race too. It is more important for me to have all three cars in. For me to be first is a bonus. To have all three cars in the race is very gratifying."
Brian Vickers took Team Red Bull's best qualifying result of the season by taking second in his No. 83 Toyota Camry. His team's success was not complete however as AJ Allmendinger was bumped out of the field by another Toyota in the last minute.
"I just had to hit my shifts and hold it wide open," Vickers said. "The team has been working so hard at it. The CoT program definitely helped us catch up everyone else. Toyota came back with more power and that always helps."
Joe Nemechek, yet another driver who needed to be quick enough to make the field, took fourth as the fastest Chevrolet driver, while rounding up the top-five and also a good day for Waltrip was his rookie driver David Reutimann taking fifth.
Waltrip's third car driven by another Talladega race-winner, 1998 Cup champion Dale Jarrett, also made the field qualifying eighth but starting 43rd due to the complex set of rules to make up the field following qualifying.
Jacques Villeneuve made Toyota's day all the more sweet after taking sixth on the grid for his Nextel Cup debut. He ran second fastest for a while but his lap held among the quickest despite the improving track conditions towards the end of the session.
"We knew yesterday that we had a pretty quick car," Villeneuve said. "We were a little bit faster yesterday in practice, and we were hoping that we could've had a faster time today. We missed some practice time early, but when we got out there, we showed some good speed."
"Qualifying is one thing, but racing is another thing. The car was running really strong after we started yesterday and I am feeling more and more comfortable in the draft. There are plenty of fast cars out there that we had to qualify against, but racing here will be completely different."
John Andretti was seventh, followed by fellow Dodge drivers Bobby Labonte, Kasey Kahne and Elliot Sadler who completed the top ten on the grid for Sunday's race.
While most of the drivers who needed to qualify on time focused more on single-lap performance, the rest of them including all the Chase contenders, completed qualifying as a mere formality knowing that once the green flag drops the order will start to change by the lap in the draft.
As they face the race hoping to avoid a potential big wreck, Tony Stewart was the best placed for the first few laps from the title contenders. He put his car 11th on the grid, Martin Truex Jr followed in 13th, while teammate Denny Hamlin was 18th one place ahead of Chase leader Jimmie Johnson.
Three of the Chase contenders were in fact among the slowest in qualifying, including Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, who will all start near the back of the field.
Two cars were found to be too low in the front following their qualifying runs. Chase contender Kurt Busch and also David Ragan, had their times disallowed as a consequence and will start from 41st and 42nd respectively.
AJ Allmendinger, Boris Said, Scott Riggs, Sam Hornish Jr, Jeremy Mayfield, Sterling Marlin, Ward Burton and Kevin Lepage did not make the field for Sunday's race at Talladega.
Pos Driver Make Speed Time 1. Michael Waltrip Toyota 189.070 50.648 2. Dave Blaney Toyota 188.839 50.710 + 0.062 3. Brian Vickers Toyota 188.779 50.726 + 0.078 4. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 188.471 50.809 + 0.161 5. David Reutimann Toyota 188.459 50.812 + 0.164 6. Jacques Villeneuve Toyota 188.215 50.878 + 0.230 7. John Andretti Dodge 187.798 50.991 + 0.343 8. Bobby Labonte Dodge 187.284 51.131 + 0.483 9. Kasey Kahne Dodge 187.258 51.138 + 0.490 10. Elliott Sadler Dodge 187.119 51.176 + 0.528 11. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 187.057 51.193 + 0.545 12. Kyle Petty Dodge 186.827 51.256 + 0.608 13. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 186.816 51.259 + 0.611 14. Tony Raines Chevrolet 186.761 51.274 + 0.626 15. Mike Wallace Ford 186.692 51.293 + 0.645 16. Ryan Newman Dodge 186.663 51.301 + 0.653 17. JJ Yeley Chevrolet 186.467 51.355 + 0.707 18. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 186.202 51.428 + 0.780 19. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 186.133 51.447 + 0.799 20. Greg Biffle Ford 186.014 51.480 + 0.832 21. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 185.956 51.496 + 0.848 22. Juan Montoya Dodge 185.938 51.501 + 0.853 23. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 185.826 51.532 + 0.884 24. Robby Gordon Ford 185.797 51.540 + 0.892 25. Matt Kenseth Ford 185.783 51.544 + 0.896 26. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 185.783 51.544 + 0.896 27. David Gilliland Ford 185.725 51.560 + 0.912 28. Reed Sorenson Dodge 185.625 51.588 + 0.940 29. Casey Mears Chevrolet 185.542 51.611 + 0.963 30. Paul Menard Chevrolet 185.463 51.633 + 0.985 31. Carl Edwards Ford 185.323 51.672 + 1.024 32. Jeff Green Chevrolet 185.212 51.703 + 1.055 33. David Stremme Dodge 185.061 51.745 + 1.097 34. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 185.051 51.748 + 1.100 35. Jamie McMurray Ford 184.918 51.785 + 1.137 36. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 184.890 51.793 + 1.145 37. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 184.726 51.839 + 1.191 38. Aric Almirola Chevrolet 184.626 51.867 + 1.219 39. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 184.580 51.880 + 1.232 40. Ken Schrader Ford 184.193 51.989 + 1.341 41. Kurt Busch Dodge 186.416 51.369 + 0.721 42. David Ragan Ford 185.255 51.691 + 1.043 43. Dale Jarrett Toyota 187.658 51.029 + 0.381
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