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Saturday, April 15
The key to finding success at tracks like Talladega is based more on car than driver. Although the car is an important piece to the puzzle, a driver's accuracy (and luck) in missing the big wreck can be end up being the biggest reason for success.
"The Big One" doesn't discriminate. It reaches out and gobbles up big names like
Martin, Gordon and Earnhardt -- just as often as those running in the back of the pack.
How can you explain the weird and wacky stuff that happens at Talladega? Maybe it's
the ancient indian burial grounds which the track is built on. Who knows? But if it can
happen here, it certainly will happen.
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TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Jeremy Mayfield might want to avoid looking in his rearview mirror when the green flag drops Sunday.
Mayfield, winner of just one NASCAR Winston Cup race in his life, starts from the pole in the Diehard 500, surrounded by three drivers who have accounted for 138 victories in their celebrated careers.
There's Bill Elliott, the sentimental favorite. And Dale Earnhardt, the master at Talladega Superspeedway. And Dale Jarrett, the defending Winston Cup champion.
But Mayfield, whose only victory came at Pocono in 1998, didn't
seem the least bit worried about being chased by such an impressive
cast.
"That's what I like," he said. "Those are fast cars and guys
with a lot of experience. We race with them every week and it would
be good to come here and show everybody that we can beat those
guys. They're the best here."
No one is better at Talladega than Earnhardt, who will start on
the outside of the second row. It's as if the seven-time Winston
Cup champion can see the Alabama air as it flows over the cars,
because he has the uncanny knack of using the draft better than
anyone in this restrictor-plate era.
Earnhardt has won 13 times at the 2.66-mile tri-oval, including
nine Cup races and a sweep of the DieHard and Winston 500 a year
ago.
While most drivers were tinkering with their setups Friday
morning, The Intimidator was hunting turkeys in neighboring
Georgia. Even when his car failed inspection, forcing the crew to
hurriedly rebuild the back end, it didn't matter. Earnhardt still
posted the third-fastest qualifying time.
"It was an OK qualifying deal," he said with a shrug. "But
we've got to draft and race. That's what's important."
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We race with (big-named drivers) every
week and it would be good to come here and show everybody that we can beat those
guys. They're the best here. ” |
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— Jeremy Mayfield |
Concerned that speeds were creeping a little too close to 200
mph, NASCAR altered the rules on restrictor plates once again.
Mayfield's Ford Taurus captured the pole at 186.969 mph _ the
slowest speed since 1974 and nearly 11 mph under Ken Schrader's
pole effort a year ago.
That should push everyone closer together for Sunday's 188-lap
event, which worries Jarrett.
"To make a pass here, you're going to have to have help and
you're going to have a split-second to make that decision," said
Jarrett, who starts just behind Mayfield in the second row.
"You're never going to get away from the pack or anything like
that. You're always going to be bunched up and that tends to make
you lose your patience."
Elliott might be a little impatient even without the restrictor
plates. After all, the man who ruled Talladega in the mid-1980s at
speeds of more than 200 mph will be going for his first Winston Cup
victory in six years from the outside of the first row.
Elliott, who won six straight poles and two races at Talladega
from 1985-87, will try to break his losing streak in the 600th
start of his career, an accomplishment noted on the back of his
Taurus.
"I don't think words could describe it," said Elliott,
pondering the best-case scenario. "We've gone through so many
emotions the last three or four years. It's been a struggle in one
way, but I think adversity makes you better in a lot of ways. I
think we've all taken a look at ourselves and said, 'Here's where
we need to be."'
Bobby Labonte isn't where he needs to be. The series leader blew
a cylinder in qualifying and had to use a provisional to start 37th
in the 43-car field.
"It's disappointing in one respect," said Labonte, who won
Saturday's International Race of Champions. "But if you're going
to start from the back anywhere, this is as good as any because
you're probably going to be at the back at some point during the
day. It doesn't make as much difference as it would at, say,
Martinsville."
Three-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon, still struggling in
the post-Ray Evernham era, starts 36th after a dismal qualifying
effort. There have been eight different winners in eight races this
year, but Wonder Boy has been shut out.
"That's not a good start for us," said Gordon, who qualified nearly 3 mph slower than Mayfield and has gone 13 races without a victory -- his longest drought in five years. "But I know we're going to race good."
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Mayfield wins pole at Talladega; Elliott to start second
Notebook: Labonte loses out on second chance
Yocum: First for these five could come at Talladega
Kernan: Talladega should be good show
Weber: Yates makes Jarrett, Rudd tough at Talladega
Furr: Talladega is no Martinsville
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