Gordon, Sadler Fast as Time Trials Loom
Written by: Ben Blake
Daytona Beach, Fla. – 2/12/2005 Jeff Gordon and Elliott Sadler set themselves as favorites for the pole position as teams worked through final practice before Sunday's time trials at Daytona International Speedway.
Gordon, who never has won a Daytona 500 pole, set the day's fast time, by a good measure, in the two-hour afternoon session. Gordon's lap in 47.406sec (189.849mph) was the fastest solo run so far this year, three-tenths faster than Sadler's best of 47.701 (188.675).
In the morning runs, Sadler, who started outside-front here last year, stopped the clock at 47.833 (188.155), with Gordon second at 47.906 (187.868).
Also consistent through both rounds were Kurt Busch, Jason Leffler, Jimmie Johnson and Joe Nemechek.
Sunday's trials officially set only the front row for the Daytona 500 Feb. 20. Yet, qualifying will be of great importance to several drivers in the field. The reason is in the altered qualifying format for the Daytona 500 this year.
Under the new rules, the top 35 in prior year points are guaranteed positions in the starting field. Those 36th and lower, including several glamorous new teams, will need to race in according to a) finishing positions in Thursday's qualifying heats, or b) fast times in Sunday's pole trials.
The heats still will set grid positions from third on back (the front row is locked in Sunday). However, the first heat will yield 18 of the top 35, plus the best two finishers not in the top 35. The second heat will provide the remaining 17 of the top 35 and two more non-top-35 runners. The heats thus grid a total of 37 cars.
The remaining four positions will be filled by drivers with best remaining qualifying speeds from Sunday.
The champion's provision is still available, but no eligible former champion is entered for the 500.
Drivers in need of a good finish in the heats or a good time on Sunday include Jason Leffler (Joe Gibbs's new No. 11
FedEx car), Boris Said (in MB2's No. 36), Mike Skinner (in Bill Davis's No. 23 car), Martin Truex (in DEI's No. 1), John Andretti (the No. 14 VB/APlus team), and Robby Gordon (in his newly-minted No. 7).
The tire problems evident in Friday night's Shootout practice obviously were not seen in Saurday's solo runs, wth teams making no more than one or two laps at a time.
Goodyear officials said they had discovered a manufacturing flaw in a very narrow range of serial numbers. Technicians hunted down the suspect numbers in the garage and exchanged them for new tires. They said they anticipate no further trouble.
Written by: Ben Blake
Daytona Beach, Fla. – 2/12/2005 Jeff Gordon and Elliott Sadler set themselves as favorites for the pole position as teams worked through final practice before Sunday's time trials at Daytona International Speedway.
Gordon, who never has won a Daytona 500 pole, set the day's fast time, by a good measure, in the two-hour afternoon session. Gordon's lap in 47.406sec (189.849mph) was the fastest solo run so far this year, three-tenths faster than Sadler's best of 47.701 (188.675).
In the morning runs, Sadler, who started outside-front here last year, stopped the clock at 47.833 (188.155), with Gordon second at 47.906 (187.868).
Also consistent through both rounds were Kurt Busch, Jason Leffler, Jimmie Johnson and Joe Nemechek.
Sunday's trials officially set only the front row for the Daytona 500 Feb. 20. Yet, qualifying will be of great importance to several drivers in the field. The reason is in the altered qualifying format for the Daytona 500 this year.
Under the new rules, the top 35 in prior year points are guaranteed positions in the starting field. Those 36th and lower, including several glamorous new teams, will need to race in according to a) finishing positions in Thursday's qualifying heats, or b) fast times in Sunday's pole trials.
The heats still will set grid positions from third on back (the front row is locked in Sunday). However, the first heat will yield 18 of the top 35, plus the best two finishers not in the top 35. The second heat will provide the remaining 17 of the top 35 and two more non-top-35 runners. The heats thus grid a total of 37 cars.
The remaining four positions will be filled by drivers with best remaining qualifying speeds from Sunday.
The champion's provision is still available, but no eligible former champion is entered for the 500.
Drivers in need of a good finish in the heats or a good time on Sunday include Jason Leffler (Joe Gibbs's new No. 11
FedEx car), Boris Said (in MB2's No. 36), Mike Skinner (in Bill Davis's No. 23 car), Martin Truex (in DEI's No. 1), John Andretti (the No. 14 VB/APlus team), and Robby Gordon (in his newly-minted No. 7).
The tire problems evident in Friday night's Shootout practice obviously were not seen in Saurday's solo runs, wth teams making no more than one or two laps at a time.
Goodyear officials said they had discovered a manufacturing flaw in a very narrow range of serial numbers. Technicians hunted down the suspect numbers in the garage and exchanged them for new tires. They said they anticipate no further trouble.