Darlington 400: Sadler earns first pole

Sadler, in his first year driving for the legendary Robert Yates group in the M&M's Ford Taurus, lapped the 1.366-mile oval in 28.902sec (170.147mph) ahead of Ryan Newman's Penske Racing Dodge and Jerry Nadeau's Pontiac third. Jimmy Spencer's Dodge was fourth ahead of Jeff Gordon, the first Chevrolet runner, in fifth.

"A lot of critics have been watching us a lot this first half of the season, some wanting us to fail and some wanting us to success," said Sadler. "To get a pole this early and get it off our shoulders, you don't understand how big a relief this is.

"I ran my first lap in practice on stickers [new tires], and [the team] wanted to go out again," he explained. "I said, 'Look, I've got this lap in my head being on stickers. I don't want to go out there and mess it up on scuffs,' so I said, 'Hey, just tape it up solid and let's put stickers on again.'"

Most teams ran 25 to 30 laps, alternating with race set-ups. There is a good chance all final practice Saturday will be lost to rain.