NASCAR Cup Qualifying Quips

It's Bristol baby as the saying goes.  The "bull ring" of racing is one of the hottest tickets in NASCAR and the action usually lives up to the hype.

Qualifying held its excitement as well today.  NASCAR's own "Gold Medalist" in the black flip competition, Carl Edwards, ran the fast lap to earn the P1 position to bring the field to the green in the Saturday night event in Tennessee.

In the second position was David Reutimann, who was most definitely shocked by that great lap.  His father, a great racer in his own right, credits the advice he gave David before going out on the track for that stellar result.

Jeff Gordon, third in practice, had a fairly quick qualifying lap to come in......surprise, third position to start the race.  Gordon is known for his short tracking skills and has a solid record at Bristol.  And the 24 team desperately needs a good finish this weekend to keep them from the chase free fall the team is currently suffering.

There was another surprise qualifier in the fourth position.  Young Regan Smith in the 01 car amazed even himself with his quick lap around the track.

One of the best surprises, however, was veteran Bill Elliott, who was part of the "go or go home” crowd.  Of course, Elliott could have used his past champion provisional to get into the field.  But he raced his heart out, and as a result now rounds out the top five in that position for the race.

Other "quips" from qualifying included poor David Ragan, who said he needed his team to "break out a fresh one" for him, after sliding sideways into the wall on his qualifying lap.  Ragan, whose luck is not that good at Bristol, will indeed have to crack open the hauler for the back up car and will start in the rear of the field for the main event.

Ryan Newman wasn't exactly flyin' in qualifying, but he did recover to secure the ninth starting positing, having a pretty good pick up from his best practice laps.

Knock out qualifying was exciting as well as 46 teams competed for the 43 spots.  For the first time, Patrick Carpentier did not qualify in on time. 

A.J. Allmendinger admitted that "It's Bristol and one little mistake and you are out of the race".   Fortunately, A.J. had a good lap, albeit a little loose, and qualified his way into the show.

Qualifying was quick - hey, it's a short track after all - and most drivers opted only for one lap.  The other word of the day was loose, loose, loose.  Driver after driver skidded around the track. 

Even Cup champion Jimmie Johnson was sideways on both of his qualifying laps.  He definitely would have wrecked had it not been for his incredible car control.  Johnson will unbelievably start well in the back in the 34th position.

In the end, no one had anything for Carl Edwards and he secured his fourth career pole for the race.  And this is one of the sweetest poles ever, as it is Edwards' first in 2008 and first at Bristol.  And not only will Carl start in the first and coveted spot at Bristol, but the Bud Shootout now also awaits him in 2009.