Darlington track record shattered repeatedly
By AL PEARCE
Greg Biffle starts on the pole for Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Darlington, South Carolina.
If the radio and TV commentators said it once, they said it oh, how about 42 times during Dodge Challenger Sprint Cup 500 qualifying on Friday afternoon at Darlington Raceway. That’s how many drivers–42 of the 45 who completed their qualifying runs–who broke the legendary track’s previous qualifying record.
That record belonged for 12 years to Ward Burton, who got around the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped track at 173.797 mph in March 1996. That seemed like a street-car lap on Friday, when Ford driver Greg Biffle took the pole at 179.442 mph for Roush Fenway Racing. The track was recently repaved, and everyone knew even before a recent Goodyear tire test that speeds would be dramatically faster.
Beside Biffle on the front row for the start of Saturday night’s race–Round 11 of the 36-race Sprint Cup season–is Chevrolet driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy driver Jimmie Johnson qualified third, Toyota driver Tony Stewart was fourth and Dodge driver Kurt Busch was fifth. The rest of the top 10: Kyle Busch (Toyota), Elliott Sadler (Dodge), Jeff Gordon and Scott Riggs (Chevys) and Bobby Labonte (Dodge).
The three drivers who didn’t break the old record: 39th-starting Reed Sorenson, 40th-starting Robby Gordon and 41st-starting Paul Menard. Kasey Kahne crashed and didn’t finish his first lap, but he was clearly on pace to break the previous record, too. Even track rookie Patrick Carpentier broke the record, but he’ll still start 43rd for being the slowest of the “go-or-go home” drivers. And pity poor Jeff Green and Johnny Sauter: they easily broke the previous record but didn’t even make the starting grid.
Four different drivers led each of the four practice sessions. The first session included Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Travis Kvapil and Stewart. The second session featured A.J. Allmendinger, Earnhardt Jr., Dave Blaney, Kyle Busch and Biffle. The top five in the third session was Casey Mears, Martin Truex Jr., Robby Gordon, Jeff Gordon and Johnson. Hamlin, Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon were fastest in the final (Happy Hour) session.
Seven drivers crashed or spun during the four sessions: Johnson, Menard, Sorenson, Robby Gordon, David Ragan, Kyle Petty and Clint Bowyer. The damage was so severe that Johnson, Menard and Sorenson went to backup cars. Kahne slammed the wall on his first qualifying lap and took a top-35 provisional spot to start 42nd.