Carl Long wasn't planning on showing up to Darlington. Credit: Craig Jones/Getty Images

Short on cash, Long on speed at Darlington

Without big bucks or manufacturer support, Long qualifies 21st

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Carl Long thought it best to stay at home, hold off a week and show up at Richmond ready to get after it. Darlington, after all, was often too tough to tame for well-funded teams, much less a bunch of guys racing on a shoestring.

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	Lineup Dodge Charger 500 Pos. Driver Make 1. Kasey Kahne Dodge 2. Ryan Newman Dodge 3. Greg Biffle Ford 4. Elliott Sadler Ford 5. Brian Vickers Chevrolet Complete lineup, click here Bud Pole winnerKahne runs the fastest lap in Darllington Problem lapJunior has a tough qualifying run in Darlington Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

But his team coaxed him into attending, told him they'd gotten a few unexpected sponsorship dollars and needed their wheelman. So he obliged, and wound up out-qualifying Dale Jarrett.

And Kevin Harvick.

And Joe Nemechek.

And Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

"I think I had the pole on my second lap, but decided to back 'er down," joked the even-keel Long early Friday evening.

"Naw, to be honest with you, I tried to talk them out of coming. This is my first attempt of qualifying at Darlington, ever."

Not bad, rook. Especially considering that Long's car hadn't even been transformed into the new season's body style.

"We're not funded by Dodge, Chevy, Ford, anybody, so we just run what we have," Long said. "We've been going through all the body stuff -- how much different you mount your bodies on your chassis this year compared to last year.

"I don't know what it does in the wind tunnel. We don't have enough money to find out. But we just went out there and made it drive with what we had."

Long's No. 80 Dodge was uncooperative to start the day. But a shock change made it better, and a lap around the track behind Jeff Gordon was the final ingredient for the best qualifying lap of Long's Cup Series career.

"I got to thinking about it, like, 'OK, I'm not racing the rest of the field. I'm racing to get this thing in,'" Long said. "We hit the racetrack and it was wicked junk.

"The crew chief made a shock change and it started coming around where I could feel the car. I did my mock run behind Jeff Gordon, and I found out that I was not going into Turn 1 as deep as I should.

"And I liked to ran all over him going into Turn 3. So when I qualified, I got a little more out of Turn 1 and checked up a little bit in 3 and came through there a little smoother."

Spinning wheelCarl Long goes for a wild ride at The Rock last year Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Long has concerns that Saturday's Dodge Charger 500 may not prove so blissful.

"The only problem now is that we were in all out qualifying mode," Long said. "We didn't work on any race runs. I'm scared in 10, 15 laps that I'm going to be a weapon out there, sliding all over the racetrack, because I'm not set up for that. I'm set up for two laps."

At least those two laps were successful.

And to think, he didn't even want to come.

"We came here last year in the fall and it rained out, and I thought that we should just stay at home because we'd be aerodynamically challenged and not get it in," Long said with a grin. "These guys in the crew believe in me more than I believe in me.

"This is my all-time best qualifying effort -- at a track I didn't even want to come to. So I'm pretty happy right now."