Food City 500 Qualifying Update

Bristol Motor Speedway -- 03/16/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Sunday Mar 16 2008 3:21am

Rain, rain, go away, come back when it's not race day.

Yes, it's been another soggy weekend again for NASCAR (remember Fontana?) - this time in Bristol, Tennessee.

Friday's Cup practice session was shortened by rain and qualifying was rained out entirely. We did get two pretty good practice sessions in on Saturday, though rain and lightning starting up just as Happy Hour was ending -- leading into a rain-delayed, rain-shortened Nationwide series race, which was won by Clint Bowyer. With qualifying rained out, the drivers will line up by 2007 owner points. As this is the fifth race of the season, it is the last time that the 2007 points will be used for qualifying. Starting next race, the 2008 standings will apply.

If the race holds off Sunday, last year's most dominant drivers - Hendrick Motorsports champ Jimmie Johnson (+1285) and runner-up Jeff Gordon (+645), will lead the field to green in row one, followed by Clint Bowyer (+935) and Matt Kenseth (+1185) in row two.

Interestingly, Casey Mears (+5050), who inherited Kyle Busch's owner points from 2007, will start 5th, while Busch (+855), currently leading the Cup series points, starts 22nd using J.J. Yeley's owner points from last year. Tony Stewart (+1185) starts on the outside of Mears in row three.

Similarly, Sam Hornish Jr., using Kurt Busch's owner points from last season, will starting 7th, while Busch (+1485) starts 36th. Hornish struggled in the short Friday practice session, spinning out twice, and was 39th in Saturday's first practice, though he pulled it up to 24th in Happy Hour. His best finish of the season so far has been a 15th in the Daytona 500.

Jeff Burton (+2250), Carl Edwards (+985), and Kevin Harvick (+915) round out the top-10 starting grid. Those on the losing end of the qualifying rain-out include Jeff Green, John Andretti, and Patrick Carpentier, who failed to make the field based on car owner points from last season.

Drivers will face a number of challenges in Sunday's race, as they always do at Bristol. I like the way Matt Kenseth, who has won twice here in the Cup series, explains it: "You always look forward to coming to Bristol. It’s always exciting. It’s never boring. It’s not always good, but it’s never boring." Not good perhaps because of those challenges - the beating and banging, the confusing pit road entrances, the lapped traffic, the frayed nerves and the flared tempers among them.

Meanwhile, Saturday's two practice sessions, squeezed in between rain storms, had four drivers running in the top 5 in both sessions. In the morning practice, Denny Hamlin (+865) had the fastest lap at 120.945 miles per hour, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (+815), David Reutimann, Aric Almirola, and Kasey Kahne (+1165). In Happy Hour, Kasey Kahne was on top with a 121.198 mile per hour lap, followed by Reutimann, Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton, and Hamlin.

Almirola, driving the No. 8 DEI car, starts 17th on the basis of Earnhardt Jr.'s car owner points from last season. This is Aric's first start in 2008 and his first since Phoenix in November of '07.

David Ragan in the No. 6 Roush-Fenway Racing car had the fastest Ford in Saturday's first practice at 9th, while David Gilliland in the No. 38 Yates car was the fastest Ford in Happy Hour at 6th. Roush's Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth are both previous Bristol winners, and Greg Biffle (+1385) has six top 10s here in 10 starts.

Last year's race winner, Kyle Busch, who currently tops the Cup point standings, ran 22nd and 21st in Saturday's practices.