Locals irked that ISC track still controversial

Locals irked that ISC track still controversial
Larry Richardson is everyday people, a non-union HVAC engineer in New York City. His hands have long been his lifeblood. And somewhere near the tips of those calloused
fingers rests a lifelong dream -- NASCAR racing on Staten Island.
An avid fan of more than a quarter-century, Richardson never fathomed that particular fantasy could become reality. It was a ridiculous notion five years ago. Laughable, even.

Stereotype said NASCAR's good ol' boys didn't belong in greater Manhattan; Taster's Choice in a Starbucks world.

But in 2004 Brian France got serious. He shared Richardson's fantasy, that of Nextel Cup cars roaring around Skyscraper Superspeedway at dusk, the world's most famous skyline twinkling in the background, the family business at the epicenter of the most influential media market on the planet.

Land was purchased in late December 2004, but to date nothing has been constructed. Many still consider it a pipe dream and are reserved to its impossibility.

Not Larry Richardson. Not his wife, Kathy. The Richardsons are ardent advocates for the Staten Island venue as members of SINCH (Staten Island NASCAR Hopefuls).

NASCAR, you see, is very dear to them, has been for quite a time. And last year one of the sport's greatest ambassadors elevated that appreciation.

"Last year, my son had leukemia and Kyle Petty came to visit him. That's NASCAR to us," said Larry Richardson, a 20-year resident of Staten Island. "NASCAR is just the best. The people against the track just don't know what they're going to get."

If you ask Kathy, it's much bigger entertainment or financial gain.

"You don't get that kind of media on Staten Island -- we're the forgotten borough," Kathy said. "This is big-time for us. This could bring New York City back to where it belongs, post 9/11. NASCAR could save New York City, and these people don't see it."

First and most obviously, the critics say, there's no room. A man can hardly pitch a tent, much less erect a structure that makes Madison Square Garden look like Daniel-san's bonsai tree.

And then there's the opposition. Some residents and local leaders are vehemently opposed to the project, and the coinciding potential for additional traffic and noise.

Some detractors made their disdain for the project known last week at International Speedway Corp.'s first public hearing on Staten Island. According to attendees the meeting was tense, and was eventually postponed for fear the crowd could turn riotous.

ISC president Lesa Kennedy was booed ardently during a brief speech.

ISC point man Michael Printup told NASCAR.COM last Friday that the Department of City Planning, which is led by Robert Dobruskin, did a poor job of controlling the meeting. There was no order, Printup admitted, but said reports of a "near riot" were overblown.

Some locals disagree. Lance Powell of South Hempstead submitted the following e-mail to NASCAR.COM in response to Printup's comments:

"For Printup to say the Staten Island public meeting wasn't a 'near riot' is like saying when Michael Waltrip won the Pepsi 400 a few years ago under caution and the fans threw debris on the track was a 'celebration' for his win.

"He has to play 'spin doctor' to make ISC look good for NASCAR, because nobody 'publicly' wants racing here. Land here in the metro NYC area is so limited you can't even get a Wal-Mart Super Center built here -- and the people WANT it!

"The most perfect place to build the track is the Meadowlands. And since the Meadowlands [State of New Jersey] has 'officially' said 'no,' ISC can pretty much 'kiss the baby' as far as a track being built up here.

"The only way ISC is going to get a track built in the NJ/NY metro area will be through some State & Federal Government 'finagling' of the use of the land -- the people be damned."

NASCAR made a run at the Meadowlands before, to no avail. There has long been talk of building a track in the New York market, from Long Island to South Jersey to Connecticut. And influential names, including Donald Trump, popped up throughout. But to date, nothing.

They shouldn't take it personally. NASCAR and ISC aren't the only folks facing roadblocks in the quest to bring big-time auto racing to greater New York City.

A New York Daily News report two weeks ago stated that acting legend and avid sports car racer Paul Newman met with city officials in hopes of bringing an open-wheel event to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

Newman's proposal, the Daily News reported, includes a plan to transform the decaying airfield into a 3.5-mile Grand Prix road course, and includes a weeklong string of charity events leading up to the race.

But according to the report, Floyd Bennett Field is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, which limits attendance to any one event to 10,000 people. Race organizers seek 65,000 fans.

And of course, traffic congestion is a primary concern.

Printup disagrees that ISC will fail this time.

"We'll still be ready to go racing in 2010," he said last week.

To ISC's credit, they've been hard at work laying the required infrastructure. Printup said Monday that ISC has collaborated with GameDay Management on an elaborate traffic plan, using an integrated software system that ties ticketing to traffic management.

In other words, each ticket purchase for the event will be tied to some form of transportation, Printup said in an e-mail.

GameDay Management has produced the traffic plans for the past six Super Bowls, presidential inaugurations and the past two Olympic Games held in the United States.

ISC has also secured 83 private ferries and the coinciding parking in New York and New Jersey.

And that's only the beginning. Like Printup, the Richardsons attended last Thursday's ISC hearing, but described a slightly different experience.

"There was a lot of obscenity, and as a NASCAR fan I was very disappointed about it," Kathy Richardson said. "It was nuts before we ever got in the auditorium. The SINCH people were very well behaved. We were just so happy to get the process going, then this crap with the union boys broke out."

Councilman Andrew Lanza was reportedly placed in a headlock by a union worker. Again Printup discounted the ferocity of the act. Larry Richardson, however, said it was more aggressive than simply an embrace for the cameras, as Printup suggested.

"I was in the auditorium and witnessed the whole thing," Larry Richardson said. "That wasn't someone putting their arm around you. That was strong arm. Not to rip his head off or anything, but leaning down on his shoulders.

"A NASCAR fan would never do that to anybody. If [the union worker] is for the track, he's in it for the money. That's another problem -- New York unions will milk that job. I know how they work. But when they come in there and destroy the integrity of the real NASCAR fans, those that give, we lose."

Kathy feels the hearing was a setback for track proponents, and gives its opponents ammunition.

"Now they can say, 'So this is how 2,000 people act at a meeting? Imagine how 80,000 would act at the race,'" she said. "It insults our intelligence, and what NASCAR fans really are."

"The councilmen see the union guys as NASCAR fans," Larry said. "That's not NASCAR fans. That's a guy looking for a job. The councilmen are under the impression that they'll have guys like that guy running around damn Staten Island when the race gets here -- 85,000 rednecks running around causing trouble."

"The anti-track folks left cocky, like, 'See, we told you they're nothing but a bunch of rednecks,'" Kathy added. "As a NASCAR fan I felt really s----- about that."

Source: Nascar.com

Virginia is for paybacks

Virginia is for paybacks
only Jeremy came back to the track on Monday. Considering you got out of that place alive and got a little breathing room in the owner points, how was the flight home?

Jeremy: It felt pretty good. That was probably the best flight I've had coming back from a racetrack in a long time.

Shana: Imagine that -- the day I don't go to the track, he gets his best finish of the season.

Jeremy: What's that tell you?

Shana: Maybe that it hasn't been that great a season -- but it's a start.

Jeremy: But it was cool, knowing that we had a decent day. We fought all day to keep the car running good because we did do some damage to it.

It seems like during all the wrecks we went through the grass or slid the tires or messed the fenders up -- whatever. But we were able to still salvage a good finish out of it.

It's pretty cool when the best that you ran all day was the last lap, and you beat [Jeff Gordon] and [Elliott Sadler] -- those guys that were up front all day.

To end up ahead of them at the end of the day was pretty neat and a pretty good feeling.

What were you thinking on about Lap 9, when you got to the end of the backstretch and you saw what was happening?

Jeremy: Well, you're thinking it's awful early to be racing this hard -- but we're at Talladega and this is what we do, you know?

Actually, you're thinking, "Buddy, it's awful early to close your eyes and drive in there like an idiot." That's exactly what you think.

Then all of a sudden you find yourself trying to dodge the wreck and stay out of trouble.

That was something I had to do the other day -- finish that thing -- and I didn't want to see that, that early in the race -- the big one already getting started.

But it did. I kind of knew it was coming, because a couple of laps earlier than that everybody was getting pretty wild right off the bat.

I kind of had the game plan to lie in the back and ride around there for a while and to see what was going to happen -- and then to race towards the end.

So I couldn't believe that, that early in the race something like that would happen, but it did, and we found ourselves going through the grass and messing our nose up.

I hated to see that.

Shana, I know there were unique circumstances that led to you staying at home, but what was it like watching the race via FOX Sports from North Carolina instead of atop the pit box?

Shana: I don't want to be mean, but I'm not a big fan of their coverage, to be honest with you.

Now I see what the fans are talking about when they write in complaining about not being happy with the coverage they're getting -- I can see why.

But it was hard to follow, because there were so many commercials. I had Buster, our coach driver on Nextel and we kept going back and forth but it was hard to keep up -- especially there.

I won't ever do it again because I don't like not knowing what's going on. I had Live Leaderboard up on NASCAR.COM but that can only tell you so much. There was a little bit of a delay with the TV, so it was hard watching it.

I felt like I needed to stay home and get caught up on things, but of course I was sitting in front of the TV the whole time, for four hours, so I didn't get anything accomplished.

It was definitely a different feeling watching it here, from being there. It's like two different races, because at the track I have a radio and I can see everything that's going on.

At home, when there was a commercial I had to wait to find out what was going on or get Buster on the walkie-talkie so it wasn't very much fun watching it on TV.

For sure, it was hard to keep up on Jeremy -- but I knew he was OK when I saw him come across the start/finish line so that was a good feeling.

We don't want to get Jeremy too fired up, but after your experience Monday do you feel like Buster might have a career option ahead of him as a pit reporter?

Shana: No.

Jeremy: I think he did a great job.

Shana: I'm saying "no" because I'd call him and I'd say, "Buster, what's wrong?"

And he'd say, "Shugah, I don't know. I think his car is pretty good now, but I think they're going to take four tires and make a track bar adjustment -- but I'm not real sure."

So I said, "OK, Buster -- just let me know."

Jeremy: Then all of a sudden I hear on my radio, "10-4 Shugah." He was talking to her and he pushed the wrong button and he was talking to me during the race.

At any rate, when you got home, did you feel like getting out and doing some doughnuts in your SRT10 pickup?

Jeremy: Oh yeah. I think I did a burnout up the driveway when I did get home.

Shana: Compared to how we've been, that was almost like a win.

Jeremy: We finished 13th, and that was our first top-15 finish in a long time, you know?

Shana: Our first top 15 of the year, and that's pretty bad.

Considering the way things have been going, did a 13th-place finish ever feel so good?

Jeremy: Oh, it never has. It never felt so good. I was just glad to come out of there unscathed from the wrecks. Knowing where we finished was an accomplishment in the points.

Shana: It's wild to think of, because I never thought that our best finish of the season, so far, would have come at Talladega.

Jeremy: But it was last year, when we were fourth in that race. Obviously, it wasn't our best finish of the season, but it was at the start of the year.

Shana: That's true. I didn't think of that.

Switching horses, you Evernham guys -- Jeremy and your teammate, Kasey Kahne -- have got some new TV ads going on that are kind of funny. I didn't notice, but was that car of Kasey's that a tire smashed an Intrepid or a Charger?

Jeremy: You know, I don't know. I haven't really paid attention to that part of it. That looked like his new paint scheme, so it probably was a Charger.

We don't have any issues with those Intrepids, anyway. But there's no telling what it would cost to get that thing fixed. It would take a while to get that thing straightened out, but I'm pretty sure they fixed it.

I think that's the one he's going to run at Loudon.

Shana: It might be the one you're going to be running.

Jeremy: I don't think the bars are high enough for me to get in it, any more.

Does that give a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Take 2?"

Shana: Yeah.

Jeremy: I'd hate to have to do a second take on that deal, you know?

Shana: I'm sure that was a one-shot deal.

Jeremy: I'll tell you what was pretty cool -- for them to roll a tire off the top of a building, or whatever they did, and to have it land right in the middle of a racecar.

They must've had their wind direction judged just right. Imagine if they missed just a little bit? The thing would have taken off, rolling.

I think it was a die-cast car and they just made it look like a real car when they crushed it. I bet that's what it was with some of that trick photography or computer work that they do.

Hollywood.

How did you and Tony Stewart get involved in that ongoing series of ads for Nextel's direct connect?

Jeremy: Well, it started with Tony, because he's a big jokester. He made that piñata of me and I guess he was going to use it as payback and beat the hell out of it, back at his hauler.

So to get him back, I just got me a bigger piñata -- his whole racecar.

You got piñatas available on your souvenir trailer?

Jeremy: We probably ought to. That would be a hot seller, to get some piñatas out there so people could have something to bust apart and beat up and stuff.

If not, I think they need 'em. But I don't even know if our souvenir trailer is out there or not. I'll check on that.

If it is, it's on sale.

Speaking of second takes, how many times did you have to do that thing where you folded up Tony's No. 20 behind a hauler? That didn't look like a die-cast to me?

Jeremy: We actually did two takes on that [laughing]. We killed two of his cars -- two of 'em.

But actually, the first one that we did crushed-up better than the other one, so that's what they used. It was pretty neat.

The second one didn't crush that far, it just kind of bogged the truck down and made the guy smoke the clutch trying to get it crushed -- and it wouldn't do it, so that was it.

How hard was it to keep a straight face?

Jeremy: Well that was payback for the piñata for his niece's party. So I thought that was a fair trade, to just crush his racecar if he wanted to get a piñata made of me.

Really, I thought the guy had plenty of room.

Shana: Oh my God.

Jeremy: I don't know how much funnier it would have been if Tony had come along right after we finished his car off. Who knows, there might be another episode or two coming out.

Shana: Like a soap opera -- a different one every week.

Jeremy: I was just trying to help the guy out and to get him turned around getting out of the garage at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Hmmm. Lowe's? I wonder if that had anything to do with crushing a Home Depot car?

Well, it was a good thing they kept the camera on the car, because I pretty much was laughing my a-- off. The whole crew was laughing because they thought it was so funny, the way it all went down.

I'm sure if you could get a copy of the bloopers from it; that would be even funnier than what the commercial was. But we had a good time doing it.

They just wanted me to keep a straight face and to keep telling the guy to come on back -- but all the while I thought it was gonna come apart and pieces were going to hit me.

I hate to see Tony's racecar get torn up like that, but it was an accident. Just like some of that stuff that happened at Talladega.

But you talk about payback, and there's a come around to everything. So you're going to Richmond this weekend and they've got that motorhome lot out behind the track, and you've got to get a cart ride to the infield every time. What do you think the catcalls might be like, this weekend?

Jeremy: I tell you what; I've gotten a lot of response over it. I think it's been funny and a lot of people like it.

But you never know. You might get one bad apple out of the bunch who might think that was Tony's Richmond car, or something, and they might want to retaliate.

Shana: Then I guess I would just have to come out and whip the p--- out of them, right?

Word Association: Richmond

Comeback

Jeremy: Richmond. This weekend.

Shana: Pull a Mayfield.

Payback

Jeremy: It's coming.

Shana: Nobody's on our list.

Outback

Jeremy: Kangaroos. Nick Hughes.

Shana: Richmond's Motorhome lot.

Source: Nascar.com

Brian Vickers Mailbag: Who are you, anyway?

Brian Vickers Mailbag: Who are you, anyway?Brian Vickers heads to Richmond with plenty of momentum. After a third-place run last weekend at Talladega,
Vickers jumped five spots to 14th in the Nextel Cup Series standings, 416 points behind leader -- and teammate -- Jimmie Johnson.

Q: Darrell Waltrip was talking about where drivers position their hands on the steering wheel. so just wondering, where do ya put your hands on the wheel and do it change from track to track?? -- Becca, N.D.

Vickers: My hands stay the same at most racetracks. I like to have my hands at 10 o'clock and 3, maybe 10 and 4. With the way the cars are set up, when you're going down the straightaway, the wheel is turned slightly to the right with my hands at 10 and 4. When I get into the corner and turn the wheel, my hands are then at about 8 and 2."

Q: I was just wondering, when was the first Cup race that you attended as a spectator? Where was it? How old were you? -- Lovinvickers25, Parts Unknown

Vickers: No, I don't remember my actual first race because I was so young. The first race I do remember going to was The Winston at Lowe's Motor Speedway back when Kyle Petty turned Dale [Earnhardt] coming off Turn 4 and then turned Davey Allison coming across the start/finish line. That's the night I became a Kyle Petty fan.

Q: My brother noticed your red hair and now he keeps calling you Irish. So my question is are you Irish? -- Natalie, Parts Unknown

Vickers: Not that I'm aware of. I'm pretty sure I'm not Irish. My family, the Vickers family, came from England. I even have the Vickers family crest at home. My mom's side and my grandfather, they're one-quarter Native American.

Q: Who is your favorite comedian if you have one? -- Jill, Parts Unknown

Vickers: Hmm ... that's a tough one. I can't pick just one, there's so many. Adam Sandler is definitely at the top of the list followed by Jim Carrey. Will Ferrell is way up there on the list along with his cast of characters from Old School and Wedding Crashers.

Q: If you could go back in the past and race with any driver (dead or alive) who would it be and why? -- Lisa, Maryland

Vickers: It's hard to compare drivers from different eras and from different series. Ayrton Senna [Formula One] because I'd like to see what he was about. Dale Earnhardt would be an awesome one to be able to go back and race for obvious reasons, but you can go anywhere in the world and people know Ayrton Senna. I've always heard amazing stories about Senna and have even read a book about him.

Source: Nascar.com

Local Look: Richmond

Local Look: Richmond
Events: Crown Royal 400, Circuit City 200
Local papers contributing: Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Tennessean
RIR at center of power play
The deal: Richmond International Raceway was at the middle of a power struggle between the France family and Bruton Smith, writes Bob Lipper of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

In 1999, Bill France Jr. and his International Speedway Corp. was able to do what Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. couldn't a year earlier -- buy Roger Penske's three tracks and his 90-percent holdings in a fourth, and the independently owned RIR.

Before 1999, Smith owned nine tracks to the Frances' eight. Once ISC took control of RIR, the Frances owned 10 tracks that held 16 of the 34 Cup races on the schedule.

Today, 19 of the 36 races are run on 12 tracks controlled by the France family.

Why we care: The Frances paid Paul Sawyer $215 million for RIR, which matches the price Smith paid for Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 1998 as the highest amount for a track purchase.

"I think when you look at just the selling price of $215 million, you can see the France family saw the value of this racetrack," RIR president Doug Fritz said. "The France family and ISC looked at this facility as a crown jewel of racing."

RIR generates more than $9 million in just ticket sales for each of its two Cup races.

"I can tell you [RIR] is one of our more successful facilities. It's a premium facility in our portfolio," said Lenny Santiago, manager of investments and corporate communications for ISC.

"If you look at the sheer number of tracks that were added, that shows you the magnitude of how important 1999 was," Fritz said. "That was a very pivotal year for the company."

RIR expansion coming in phases

The deal: Jill Erwin of the Richmond Times-Dispatch writes Richmond International Raceway is in no hurry to complete its county-approved expansion plans.

Since 2001, when RIR was given the OK to expand its seating capacity to 150,000, the track has added 5,000 seats in three phases.

He said the next phase of expansion could come in time before the spring race in 2007, but that estimation is the earliest completion date at best.

Why we care: No matter how tiring the week may be, the drivers will be fully energized come Saturday about 7:30 p.m. ET.

Of course, Richmond is the cutoff date for the Chase in September, so drivers will be eager to see how they perform there in May. Plus, they'll be doing it in front of the 29th consecutive sellout at RIR, which will be hosting its 100th Cup event, fourth all time.

"I think it has always been one of the best facilities that we've raced at, and that's because they never stop making improvements," Kyle Petty said. "It's a modern facility because it always kept growing with the changes of the sport. The [racing] surface, the stands, the suites, everything at Richmond is well done."

Sterling flew fast from Coo-Coo's nest

The deal: A shoulder injury paved the way for a 30-year career in Cup, writes Larry Woody of The Tennessean.

On May 8, 1976, an 18-year-old Sterling Marlin was summoned to replace his dad, Coo Coo, for a Grand National (now Nextel Cup) race in Nashville.

"Daddy had hurt his shoulder in an ARCA crash at Talladega the week before," Marlin said. "He told me I could take over the car at Nashville if I wanted to."

Marlin started 30th and finished 29th.

Why we care: This weekend at Richmond, Marlin will make career start 685 as he celebrates 30 years in NASCAR's top series.

"It's hard to believe the years have gone by like this," said Marlin, who has 10 victories, 83 top-fives, 215 top-10s and winnings of more than $38 million. "It seems like just yesterday when I was going to the Fairgrounds [now Music City Motorplex] with Daddy and getting ready to run my first race."

Marlin, in his first year driving for MB2 Motorsports, wants to drive at least through next year.

"Racing is my life and I'm having a blast," he said. "It never gets old."

Source: Nascar.com

Truex honors Earnhardt with Talladega victory

Truex honors Earnhardt with Talladega victory
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Martin Truex Jr. picked the perfect race to make his first Busch Series start of the season.
Truex, the two-time Busch champion who is now a Nextel Cup rookie, returned to his roots Saturday to win his third consecutive race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Driving a car owned by Dale Earnhardt Inc., Truex celebrated what would have been The Intimidator's 55th birthday by giving the company yet another restrictor-plate victory. Earnhardt, who won 10 races at Talladega, was killed in a 2001 accident at Daytona.

"This is up there at the top of my wins,'' Truex said. "It's just a special day. Everybody at DEI, we kind of had this weekend penciled in our calendars.''

The entire weekend has been a tribute to Earnhardt, who was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on Thursday night. DEI is celebrating his birthday with a celebration at their shop in Mooresville, N.C., and all of the company cars are sporting a black paint scheme that mimics Earnhardt's old No. 3 Chevrolet.

"It's just an honor to be associated with this whole thing,'' Truex said. "To be part of the company he started, and able to carry it on to more wins. All this stuff for me is like a bonus.

"He was my favorite driver before I ever raced a car.''

Kevin Harvick finished second in a failed bid to stretch his Busch Series winning streak to three. He can jokingly blame the defeat on the return of car owner Richard Childress, who missed the past two victories while on safari.

"The first thing Richard said was, 'I guess I should have stayed in Africa,''' Harvick said. "But it's OK because this is the first time we ever finished this race higher than 16th.''

Harvick extended his lead in the series standings to 299 points on Clint Bowyer.

Kyle Busch finished third, Brian Vickers was fourth and Bowyer was followed by Greg Biffle to give Nextel Cup regulars the top six positions. Cup drivers have won all 10 Busch races this season.

Mark McFarland, who drives for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s new team, was the highest finishing full-time Busch driver at seventh place.

But the day belonged to Truex, who scored his 13th career victory. Four of them have come at either Talladega or Daytona, and this latest one proved that DEI is still a top contender at restrictor-plate tracks.

"I guess they still have those good cars sitting in the shop, and a good driver sitting in them,'' Harvick said. "They have the cars that can win. They didn't forget how to do it, that's for sure.''
Truex starts 20th in Sunday's Cup race and Earnhardt Jr., who is looking for a sixth Talladega victory, starts 27th.

Tony Eury Sr., DEI's director of competition and Truex's crew chief, said his secret for building good plate-race cars was simple. But the competition has closed the gap and winning Sunday will be difficult.

"Restrictor-plate cars, you have to finesse 'em,'' he said. "I tell the guys they have to talk to them, you have to love on it when you walk on by them. But it's gotten harder. We're not the best.

"I don't think we were the best [Saturday], but we just beat 'em.''

The race was fairly uneventful for Talladega. Although there were four cautions, one was for debris and two were for single-car accidents.

The only big one involved Tony Stewart, who walked away unscathed after his car flipped onto its roof. Stewart, the defending Nextel Cup champion, was running in third when he drove into Kenny Wallace's path and the two cars touched. The hit wasn't hard, but enough to send Stewart's car airborne.

It took medical personnel several minutes to get Stewart out of the car because it was upside down and at an awkward angle. Once out, he went to the medical care facility to be examined.

Source: Nascar.com

Third time a charm? Sadler on pole at 'Dega'

Third time a charm? Sadler on pole at 'Dega'
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) -- Elliott Sadler has qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway all figured out. Now, if he can just keep all four tires on the ground in the race.
The Robert Yates Racing driver won his seventh NASCAR Nextel Cup pole Saturday. He has crashed in each of the past three fall races on the 2.66-mile Talladega oval, two of them spectacular airborne wrecks.
"I think I've had all the acrobatic movements that I need to do here in Talladega," he said after driving to his second consecutive Talladega pole and third in the last six tries.

This one topped the rest of the field for Sunday's Aaron's 499 by a wide margin. Sadler posted a lap of 188.511 mph in a Ford Fusion, easily beating runner-up Tony Stewart's 187.658 in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

With horsepower-sapping carburetor restrictor plates slowing the cars and bunching them, at least one multicar crash is almost inevitable during each 500-mile event at the big track.

When "The Big One" does happen at Talladega, it seems as if Sadler is often in the midst of it.

In 2003, he barrel-rolled down the frontstretch. The next year, Sadler slid backward through the infield grass and flipped through the air heading toward Turn 1. Last year, just 20 laps into the fall race, Jimmie Johnson slammed into the rear of Sadler's car, igniting a nasty eight-car accident.

But Sadler has done pretty well in the races he has completed, finishing sixth last spring and third in the April of 2003.

"Yes, Talladega has been feast or famine for me," Sadler said, grinning. "Hopefully, my Evel Knievel days are behind us. This car has a nice paint job and I really don't want to scuff it up too much tomorrow."

Sadler is off to a mediocre start in 2006. He started the season with a solid fourth-place finish in the Daytona 500, another plate race, but has only one other top 10 -- sixth at Martinsville -- in the seven races since the opener.

"I know it sounds funny to say this, since it's Talladega, but I'm excited to be here," Sadler said. "You know why? Because this is my best chance to date (this season) to win a race.

"Talladega is a good place to come if you drive for Robert Yates Racing. Every time we unload down here we're going to be fast. Our cars are going to drive good and our motors are going to be good. So, from a company standpoint, this is a good place to come race for us."

Sadler was referring to the fact that engines built by the combined Yates-Roush Racing engine program -- which builds motors for all the Ford Cup teams -- will occupy three of the top four spots and six of the top 10 heading into Sunday's race.

Roush Racing's Carl Edwards qualified third in a Ford at 187.320 and Dale Jarrett, Sadler's teammate, fourth at 187.232.

Kurt Busch was fifth in a Dodge at 187.137, followed by Joe Nemechek's 187.130 in a Chevrolet. The rest of the top 10 included Roush's Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray and Mark Martin, sandwiching the Chevy of Sterling Marlin.

Jeff Gordon, a four-time winner at Talladega and aiming for his third consecutive spring victory at this track, qualified 14th while Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson was 16th and five-time Talladega winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 27th.

"Restrictor-plate racing, to me, is just tough racing," Sadler said. "We're all up on top of each other for 500 miles. It's hard for us to race like that. It's hard to ask 43 human beings to be perfect for 3 1/2 hours."

Source: Nascar.com

Cool, calm Yeley strong in Talladega quals

Cool, calm Yeley strong in Talladega quals
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Making a qualifying run around the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway would give nearly anybody a severe case of the butterflies.

Except J.J. Yeley.
Knowing that he was guaranteed a spot in Sunday's Aaron's 499, and that track position isn't as critical when cars can easily run four-wide here, Yeley just slid into the seat, mashed the throttle and kept it straight.

"Qualifying is not a real huge thing," Yeley said. "Unless you have something that's capable of getting the pole, it really doesn't make that big of a difference.

"You just have to worry about the wind and keeping the car as straight as possible as far as turning the wheel."

Yeley's lap of 186.827 mph was good enough for 11th quickest, the fifth time this season that he's started 12th or better.

"Because we didn't make any kind of runs yesterday, I had no idea what the car was going to be capable of," Yeley said. "This is a different car than I ran at Daytona. This is the car that was the primary speedway car last year.

"This weekend is the first time that I've sat in the car and just really didn't know what to expect."

Yeley never made a practice qualifying run during Friday's two practices, instead concentrating on getting the No. 18 Chevrolet ready for 500 miles in close quarters.


"There weren't a whole lot of cars that made qualifying runs and there are certain cars that are always really, really fast in qualifying and there's cars that are going to run better," Yeley said. "We worked real hard on making our car draft good and we might have given up something for fast time for qualifying.

"Being locked in the field, we felt having a good racecar is more important than qualifying good."

With the exception of Phoenix, where he started 30th and finished 28th, Yeley has finished worse than he's started in every race this season. He'd like to reverse that trend Sunday.

Waltrip confident after anxious moments

Waltrip confident after anxious moments
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- For three solid minutes, Michael Waltrip kept his eyes drawn to the tachometer on his No. 55 Dodge. When he saw it move slightly to the right, he knew he would be racing on Sunday.
Waltrip, who sits 36th in owners points, faced the very real possibility of missing the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, but his team showed up with a car that was considerably better than the one it ran at Daytona in February.

"[The team] just did good job in making up ground since Daytona on this car," said Waltrip, who qualified 21st with a lap of 185.971 mph. "I believe I can win the race now that I am in it. I just have that much confidence about it."

Waltrip said he knew he would make the show when he felt his car sail down the backstretch on his second qualifying lap.

"On the backstretch on the second lap, I saw about 40 more RPMs than I had all weekend and I just stared at it," said Waltrip, who turns 43 on Sunday. "I felt pretty confident when I saw that.

"I saw an eighth of an inch more RPM on the gauge with relates to 30 or 40 RPM. That doesn't lie. If you use the same gear and the tach moves over there, then you're going faster."

Waltrip did not spend any time this weekend in race trim, instead using Friday's two practice sessions running by himself. That method hasn't changed much since Waltrip's restrictor-plate dominating days with Dale Earnhardt Inc.

"I generally like to practice by myself when I am at Daytona and Talladega," said Waltrip. "My philosophy that if you can make my car faster, I know how to draft.

"I know what I need to feel even when I am by myself to get out there and mix it up with them in race trim. I am not worried about the fact that I didn't practice any."


Waltrip, who will move to a self-owned team with Toyota next year, has been racing in back of the pack for much of this season with a team that uses resources from Bill Davis Racing. He had had trouble qualifying all season, with six starts of 30th or worse.

Waltrip hasn't been able to recover from his qualifying problems all season. His best finish is 18th (Daytona), but he unloaded at Talladega with a fresh shot of confidence.

Talladega has always been a best friend of Waltrip, who won here in 2003.

"We have had a rocky road until this point in the season and we need to get after them," said Waltrip. "We can do that at Talladega."

Source: Nascar.com