Off to fast start
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Elliott Sadler thinks it's time to take his team up to championship-level caliber. Jeff Gordon wants to get back there.
Each made strides toward those goals Thursday by winning qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway. The races are a tuneup for the season-opening Daytona 500, the biggest race of the season.
Gordon, the defending race winner and a three-time Daytona 500 champion, is clearly the driver to beat. He was second in time trials and dominated his heat race.
"I think with our track record here at Daytona, with the performance that we've got going for us already this week, I'd like to think that we're one of the favorites," he said. "But whether we're the guy to beat or not, we'll find out in the closing laps of the 500."
A win would be a boost for Gordon, who is coming off a disappointing season that saw him miss the Chase for the championship. But he knows he'll have a lot of competition, particularly from Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.
"I don't know how you can just pick one guy, there's strong cars out here," Gordon said. "I felt like (Sadler) was really strong in that first race. I know that Tony and Junior and Jimmie and those guys who weren't in our race are going to be strong."
Sadler hopes he's one of the contenders, and will lean on past lessons learned to transfer the momentum from this win into Sunday's event. He won a qualifying race in 2004, only to fade to a seventh-place finish in the 500.
And teammate Dale Jarrett was in the same spot last season after winning a qualifier, and he wound up a disappointing 15th.
But Sadler believes his team is more prepared at the start of the season than ever before.
"From a mental standpoint, not from a nut-and-bolts thing with the race car, but from a mental standpoint I think this team is more focused and more ready to go," Sadler said. "I feel like I'm the quarterback of this race team. It's time for me to act like it."
The qualifying races are used to set the field for the Daytona 500, and 23 drivers went into Thursday vying for the four open spots on the starting grid.
Kevin LePage and Bill Elliott each raced their way in during the first event, then Mike Wallace and Kirk Shelmerdine grabbed the other two spots. A quirk in the way the field is determined pushed Robby Gordon into the 500 before he even began his qualifying event, rectifying the disappointment of last season when he was shut out of the biggest race of the year.
"To make it into the 500 will definitely get the ball rolling," Robby Gordon said. "You know, it's hard to keep guys' morale up when you miss the biggest race of the year.
"And we've got some momentum now, and hopefully we'll be able to maintain that momentum."
Among the drivers who failed to make the race was Scott Riggs, who moved into the strongest ride of his career this season when he was hired by Evernham Motorsports, and Scott Wimmer, who ran a full season last year.
"To be here and miss this race, it's bad and I hate it," Riggs said. "This is something we knew could happen coming in here with a new team. But this isn't the end of our season. It's just the beginning."
Also missing out was 1990 Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope, and Paul Menard in a car fielded by Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Things were rather uneventful in the first race until Chad Chaffin blew a tire with two laps to go.
NASCAR threw out a caution flag, and as the field worked its way around the track the lead drivers noticed a chunk of debris from Chaffin's car in the middle of the asphalt. They all slowed to avoid running over it, and Sterling Marlin was unable to avoid hitting anyone.
He swerved into the back of Jarrett's car, severely damaging his own vehicle while sending the unsuspecting Jarrett spinning into the grass. Marlin will have to go to a backup car for the 500.
NASCAR didn't have to scold anyone for bump drafting, an aggressive racing technique that has been under fire since last Saturday's exhibition race. Tony Stewart warned the problem was so bad that someone could be killed during the 500, so NASCAR warned the drivers during their pre-race meeting that it would be policed and penalized Thursday.
