Sauter leads hopefuls who make California

FONTANA, Calif. -- When Johnny Sauter woke up at California Speedway on Friday morning, his thoughts immediately shifted to his horrible crash here in 2002.

It is not a pleasant thought. Sauter was an up-and-coming Busch Series driver for Richard Childress Racing when he endured the hardest hit of his career, and even though he won later in the year, it remains in the back of his mind.

In short, this was the last place he wanted to be forced to qualify on speed.

Sauter ran a lap of 182.593 mph to earn a spot in the Nextel Cup field for the second consecutive week, joining Sterling Marlin, Joe Nemechek and David Reutimann as the only drivers to accomplish the difficult task of avoiding the dreaded DNQ.

"This is huge," Sauter said. "Out of all the races in the first five, this was the biggest question mark to me because California was never a great place for me. Once we get these first five out of the way, I will be a lot happier person."

NASCAR requires new teams -- like Sauter's -- and teams that didn't make the top 35 in owner points in 2006 to qualify on speed for the first five races of 2007. Further inhibiting the teams is the lack of practice time they are granted before qualifying.

Teams that are low in points typically miss a large chunk of pre-qualifying practice because they are forced to go through inspection after the teams that finished up the ladder in last year's owner points. Jimmie Johnson, who won the title in 2006, piled up 21 laps of practice on Friday.

Marlin, Sauter and Nemechek each only ran a handful of laps in practice.

"From a driver's standpoint, all you can do is sit on the truck and watch everyone else practice," Sauter said. "It is nerve-wrecking. It is hard to sit there and watch everyone else practice."

Little practice time or not, Marlin is happier than he has been in years. At 49, he is enjoying a mini career renaissance after barely missing the top 35 in owners standings last year.

Marlin enjoyed a solid Speedweeks, and he and Ginn Racing teammate Joe Nemechek easily made the Auto Club 500 field on Friday, qualifying 27th and 26th, respectively.

"There was a lot of work over the winter," Marlin said. "We just got three more to go. Try to stay in the top 15 in points. Racing them hard. A lot. Our cars really didn't drive good last year at all."

The early-season success for Marlin does come with a price. Because Marlin doesn't have a guaranteed spot in the first five races, his team has focused almost entirely on those races, and Marlin admitted that he won't be fully prepared for the first Car of Tomorrow race at Bristol.

"We didn't get to test as much as we needed to; we are going to be really behind on the Car of Tomorrow," Marlin said. "We hadn't [tested] it anywhere, and really don't have any cars done."

Paul Menard qualified for his first race of the year with a lap of 183.323 mph on Friday, good enough for 22nd on the grid. Menard missed the Daytona 500 after fading in the closing laps of his 150-mile qualifying race. The miss was especially frustrating because he had a car that drafted well, but as a rookie, he found himself with little help.

Menard, a mild-mannered 26-year-old Midwesterner, was uncharacteristically angry after failing to qualify. At Fontana, where handling is paramount, Menard only had to worry about one lap, not 60.

"Daytona is one of those deals where it is out of your control," Menard said. "If you're fast, it stays, and if it is slow you go home.

"It is that simple. No other hidden secrets. We were loose and it was a little bit loose the first lap. Just got one into the books. I pushed it to where I thought it was a safe, solid lap. The second lap, I didn't have anything to lose."

Menard knows he has a long way to go before he can stop worrying about qualifying every week. He tries to block it from his mind.

"I haven't looked at the points," Menard said. "I will start looking around Atlanta."