Under warm temperatures and unfamiliar track conditions, the Sprint Cup competitors took the track at Darlington Raceway today to determine the starting order for Saturday's Dodge Challenger 500. At the conclusion of the qualifying session, David Reutimann clinched the 30th starting spot in his #44 UPS Toyota after posting a fast lap time of 27.921 seconds.
"Just extremely loose," Reutimann said when asked about his qualifying run. "We were a little tight during our practice qualifying run and we must have adjusted a little too much the other way. Our UPS Toyota has been pretty good in race trim but Darlington has been a tough track for me. We're hoping to change all of that tomorrow and bring home a good finish for UPS and MWR."
Darlington Raceway is historically a track that is as tough on tires as it is on its competitor's tempers. The rough surface typically "chews" through tires and causes the driver's to fight a lack of grip. This year the story is a different one at the 1.366-mile egg-shaped track as it was repaved following the 2007 Sprint Cup event. This marks the first time that Darlington has been repaved since 1996, replacing the rough track with a smooth surface and a ton of grip.
In addition to the change in grip, and as a result of it, track speed records were shattered on Friday during the qualifying session as Greg Biffle captured the top starting spot with a speed of 179.442 mph. Biffle's qualifying speed is almost six miles per hour faster than the previous qualifying record holder, Ward Burton.
During Thursday and Friday practice sessions, Reutimann showed competitive speeds in his #44 UPS Toyota. Only one practice session out of the four was scheduled in the evening hours, providing similar weather conditions to those for Saturday's race. As a result, crew chief Ryan Pemberton limited Reutimann's on-track time during Friday's practices, which were held in the heat of the day. Instead the team gathered most of their set-up information from the second Thursday practice session held in the evening hours.
Reutimann's teammate and car owner Michael Waltrip will start the race from the 37th position with a fast lap speed of 174.23 mph. Michael McDowell, driver of the #00 Toyota for MWR, took top honors of the three teammates by qualifying in the 16th position during his first trip to Darlington in a Sprint Cup car. McDowell posted a fast lap time of 27.772 seconds at a speed of 177.070 mph.
Following Biffle, the pole sitter, is a pair of Hendrick Motorsports' teammates with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the second spot and Jimmie Johnson starting third. Rounding out the top-five starters for Saturday's race are Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch.
Television coverage of the Dodge Challenger 500 is scheduled to broadcast live on the FOX Television Network on Saturday, May 10. The green flag is scheduled to fall at 7:20 p.m. ET. Radio coverage will be provided by the Motor Racing Network (MRN).
