Schrader, Allmendinger overcome quals pressure

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- It was an absolutely balmy day at Martinsville Speedway on Friday, but after Bud Pole Qualifying for Sunday's Goody's Cool Orange 500, all Wood Brothers/JTG Racing co-owner Len Wood could talk about was getting out of the cold.

"That was big," Wood said of driver Ken Schrader's fourth-place qualifying run in the Wood Brothers/JTG No. 21 Ford. "At least we can bring the truck in and get us a garage stall."

Out with the boss

For the second time this season, David Reutimann qualified for the race while his boss, team owner Michael Waltrip, missed.

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He was laughing when he said it, but the alternate prospect, which began on a raw, rainy Thursday when Car of Tomorrow inspection was held, was probably a trip home for the Woods, who arrived at their hometown Martinsville Speedway this week as a non-guaranteed starter for maybe the first time, ever.

Most of the teams outside the top 35 in the Nextel Cup owner standings are crippled at Martinsville by having their transporters parked outside the .526-mile short track and their cars parked under canopies inside Turns 1 and 2.

After qualifying for the second Car of Tomorrow race in NASCAR history, Team Red Bull's No. 83 team and Morgan-McClure Motorsports' No. 4 had to vacate the garage and the Woods and former Cup champion Dale Jarrett moved in.

For the second consecutive week, Schrader rose to the occasion and qualified well, after he was 15th last weekend on the Bristol short track. He and Wood said a test last Tuesday at the Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., was a key.

"But this is a different car than at Bristol and a different track," Schrader said with a shrug. "I don't see the car being any [darned] different. It's still got two pedals you can use to control it, and a steering wheel."

While Schrader's performance was a high-water mark this season for a go or go-home team, Team Red Bull rookie A.J. Allmendinger was equally as enthused to qualify 40th -- a gain of nine spots from last place in practice that earned him his second consecutive start after four DNQs in a row.

"All the credit goes to the Team Red Bull guys, because plain and simple, we sucked during practice -- we were as bad as we could be," Allmendinger said. "I was pretty much as confused as you could be and we pretty much sucked together. (Continued)