Sadler picks up speed in final practice at Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- Elliott Sadler qualified 11th for the UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400, then posted the 14th-best time in Saturday's first practice before rebounding dramatically to pace Happy Hour practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

	Elliott Sadler will start 11th in Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400. Credit: Autostock

Sadler, driver of the No. 38 Ford, rounded the 1.5-mile Vegas track in 31.840 seconds at 169.598 mph to edge Bud Pole winner Kasey Kahne by just five-hundredths of a second.

Sadler's quick lap came on the third lap of the 39 laps he ran in Happy Hour, and he wasn't alone. Interestingly, the top seven drivers, and 11 of the top-12, posted their quickest lap in Happy Hour on their third circuit.

Kahne continues to impress. He picked up from fifth in the morning to second in the weekend's final preparatory session for the third race of the 2004 Nextel Cup Series season.

Ryan Newman was third in Happy Hour, just six-hundredths of a second off Sadler's pace. Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett rounded out the top-five. Wallace posted Saturday's fastest lap, 170.369 mph, in the morning session, barely nipping Jimmie Johnson by two-hundredths of a second.

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Johnson dropped to seventh in Happy Hour. Mark Martin was sixth, Kevin Harvick eighth, Brian Vickers -- Friday's third-place qualifier -- ninth and Casey Mears 10th.

Jeff Gordon's dismal weekend only got worse Saturday. With 10 minutes remaining in the morning session, the motor blew in Gordon's Chevrolet. The 2001 Las Vegas winner was 39th in the first practice and 33rd in Happy Hour.

He will start Sunday's race at the rear of the field after changing engines.

Nextel Cup Series points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to struggle, as well. Junior was 36th fastest during the weekend's first practice Friday, then qualified 26th. Saturday, he was 29th in the morning and 30th in Happy Hour.

He finished second here a year ago, his only top-five finish at Vegas in four career starts.

Sadler, meanwhile, has never finished better than 20th and has two finishes of 41st worse. He finished 42nd a year ago after losing his engine just 37 laps into the event.