Sadler wins pole
Elliott Sadler avoided the wiggles, wobbles and technical problems that plagued other drivers qualifying for The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis.
The changing track conditions didn’t slow him down, either.
Sadler used a clean run and perfectly-timed cloud cover to his advantage Saturday, posting a fast lap of 184.116 mph for his second pole of the NASCAR season.
“I didn’t think we’d qualify that good,” Sadler said. “I knew we were going to have a great car in race trim. I didn’t think it would be that good in qualifying trim.”
Sadler was one of the fortunate drivers on Indianapolis’ storied 2.5-mile oval.
Three drivers – last year’s pole-winner Casey Mears, Jimmy Spencer and Rusty Wallace – all crashed, while rookie Boris Said bounced off the wall and still qualified.
To Sadler’s surprise, nobody challenged him. Jeremy Mayfield was second with a lap of 183.053. Sadler won his first pole since Bristol on April 3 despite being significantly slower than Mears’ record lap of 186.293, set last year.
“It was very fast right off the truck,” Sadler said. “It’s very fun to drive and I think we definitely have the car to beat here tomorrow.”
Brian Vickers was fastest early in the session at 182.785 and, when the sun appeared and the track warmed, it seemed Vickers might stay on top.
Midway through qualifying, Sadler took advantage of the changing track conditions. He drove smoothly through the turns, getting close to the concrete walls – but not too close. When his run ended, Sadler figured somebody would go faster. Nobody did, and most conceded they couldn’t.
“I drove a little tentative at a couple of points because it was loose, and then I was mad at myself because I thought maybe I should have tried a little harder,” Michael Waltrip said after qualifying third at 182.975. “But then I saw Rusty crash and I thought maybe I did the right thing.”
Kasey Kahne qualified fourth just hours after announcing he’d signed a long-term contract to drive for Ray Evernham.
Vickers will start fifth, on the inside of Row 3, next to Indiana native Ryan Newman.
Defending race champion Jeff Gordon qualified seventh for what he hopes will be a history-making run.
Gordon is trying to become the first five-time race winner at Indianapolis.
Truex wins Busch race
Faster in the pits, faster on the track, Martin Truex Jr. held off Clint Bowyer on a final two-lap shootout to win the Kroger 200 in Clermont, Ind., his sixth NASCAR Busch Series victory of the season.
The rain-interrupted race was scheduled for 200 laps, but a late crash kept it going under yellow while the track was cleared.
The green finally came out after 202 laps and Truex pulled away to victory, padding his lead over Bowyer in the series standings. Pole-winner Reed Sorenson, a rookie who won in St. Louis a week earlier, finished third.
There was a flurry of cautions in the final 20 laps, starting with a three-car tangle involving Tony Stewart, Tim Sauter and Carl Edwards and ending with Tyler Walker’s crash into the wall with five laps to go.
Bowyer, who started eighth, had taken the lead after a 1-hour, 35-minute rain delay 59 laps into the race at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Most of the leaders took pit stops under caution just past the halfway point, and Truex came out ahead of Bowyer.
Both of them still trailed Ashton Lewis Jr. and Walker, who had not come into the pits, but three laps later, when the green came out, both Truex and Bowyer quickly passed the two slower cars in front of them and held their 1-2 positions the rest of the race.