Elliott Sadler Takes Talladega Pole
Written by John Davison · April 30, 2006
Elliott Sadler, driving the No. 38 Ford out of the Robert Yates stable, beat out Tony Stewart by nearly a quarter second to take pole position for Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race. Sadler’s qualifying lap of 50.798 sec/188.511 mph beat out Tony Stewart’s lap by 0.237 sec. The quick time gave Sadler his third ‘dega pole in the last six races and his seventh career pole position. Sadler started on pole in last season’s second race at the 2.66 mile Alabama superspeedway but ended the race after only 20 laps when he got hit from behind, setting off one of Talladega’s dreaded “Big One” multiple car crashes.
“This is the day where the crews shine,” said Sadler. “Everybody in the engine shop and the fab shop — the driver can’t really make much of a difference today. I just think that these guys put a lot of effort in our restrictor plate program. We had a great week at Daytona. We need a good weekend here at Talladega, so to get a good top five starting position, I think we’re gonna be in the top five pretty easily. That will be good. I think that would be great for the team. We need this right now and it’s good to come in here and qualify good again.”
Four of the top ten qualifiers drive for Jack Roush’ teams, with third place Carl Edwards joined by Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray and Mark Martin in the front five rows on the grid. The fifth Roush car was only two positions out of the top ten, on the outside of row six with Matt Kenseth starting twelfth.
Tony Stewart put his Chevrolet on the outside of the front row, with Carl Edwards and Dale Jarrett on the seoncd row, both in Fords, followed by Kurt Busch in his Dodge, flanked by Joe Nemechek’s Chevrolet in row three. Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, Sterling Marlin and Mark Martin completed the top ten.
Aaron’s 499 Starting Line-Up
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed
1, Elliott Sadler, No. 38 M&M’s Ford, 50.798 sec, 188.511 mph
2, Tony Stewart, No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet, 51.029, 187.658
3, Carl Edwards, No. 99 Office Depot Ford, 51.121, 187.320
4, Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Ford, 51.145, 187.232
5, Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, 51.171, 187.137
6, Joe Nemechek, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, 51.173, 187.130
7, Greg Biffle, No. 16 National Guard/Subway Ford, 51.211, 186.991
8, Jamie McMurray, No. 26 IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford, 51.227, 186.933
9, Sterling Marlin, No. 14 Waste Management Chevrolet, 51.229, 186.925
10, Mark Martin, No. 6 AAA Ford, 51.248, 186.856
11, J.J. Yeley #, No. 18 GSK Asthamacontrol.com Chevrolet, 51.256, 186.827
12, Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DeWalt Ford, 51.295, 186.685
13, Kyle Busch, No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet, 51.304, 186.652
14, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet, 51.322, 186.587
15, Clint Bowyer #, No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet, 51.340, 186.521
16, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, 51.352, 186.478
17, David Stremme #, No. 40 Lonestar Steakhouse Dodge, 51.356, 186.463
18, Ryan Newman, No. 12 Alltel Dodge, 51.366, 186.427
19, Robby Gordon, No. 7 Menards Chevrolet, 51.424, 186.217
20, Martin Truex Jr. #, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet, 51.479, 186.018
21, Michael Waltrip, No. 55 NAPA Dodge, 51.492, 185.971
22, Kirk Shelmerdine, No. 27 TBA Chevrolet, 51.543, 185.787
23, Kevin Lepage, No. 61 State Water Heaters Ford, 51.550, 185.761
24, Hermie Sadler, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Ford, 51.551, 185.758
25, Casey Mears, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge, 51.570, 185.689
26, Travis Kvapil, No. 32 Tide/Downy Chevrolet, 51.586, 185.632
27, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 51.601, 185.578
28, Kyle Petty, No. 45 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge, 51.603, 185.571
29, Tony Raines, No. 96 DLP
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