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Joe Gibbs Racing driver navigates chaos to first win of season

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Elliott Sadler stormed to victory Saturday afternoon in the NASCAR Nationwide Series‘ Aaron’s 312, fending off his challengers after a late-race restart at Talladega Superspeedway.

The win was Sadler’s 10th in the series, first of the season and first on the 2.66-mile track. He led nine times for 40 laps in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota and was just 0.125 seconds ahead of runner-up Chris Buescher in a characteristically close-quarters finish that has become the track’s trademark.

"We just got on the inside line there and we just had to make some good moves," Sadler said. "The sea kind of opened up for us. This means a lot to me to be able to get these guys to Victory Lane. To do it at Talladega — everybody always asks me about flipping at Talladega. Now we won one at Talladega so it feels a lot better."

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Buescher, who crossed under the white flag in a near dead-heat alongside Sadler, was a career-best second place in just his 17th Nationwide start. Regan Smith, David Ragan and Sam Hornish Jr. completed the top five.

A late flurry of crashes whittled the field of contenders, including a wreck involving six cars at the front that triggered a red flag with 112 of the 117 laps complete. Ryan Blaney collided with leader Sadler and smacked the outside wall in Turn 3. Kasey Kahne and Jeremy Clements absorbed the most damage, with rookie Chase Elliott — the Nationwide Series points leader — and Ryan Sieg also involved.

That caution period forced a restart with three laps left, setting up the dramatic finish.

"It was wild, that’s for sure," Buescher said. "It was just a matter of holding on to what we had at that point. I didn’t want to do anything crazy. Regan Smith pushed me great right there at the end. That’s about all you can ask for because I’m still very new to this speedway racing, so to be able to pull off a second is really cool to me."

The first one-third of the race ran relatively cleanly until a four-car wreck brought out the second caution flag to slow the pace. James Buescher spun in Turn 3 off the front bumper of Blaney in the 42nd lap, collecting rookies Darrell Wallace Jr., Ryan Reed and Dylan Kwasniewski in the aftermath. Reed had led the first 29 laps before the first caution period — for debris — flew to jumble the field.

A 10-car wreck in the 60th lap knocked out more contending drivers, including Brian Scott, who led six times for 10 laps. Scott’s No. 2 Chevrolet was turned sideways after a bump from Trevor Bayne, and the ensuing melee snared all the Richard Childress Racing cars — Scott, Ty Dillon and Brendan Gaughan — plus Kyle Larson, Reed, Chad Boat, Robert Richardson Jr., Joey Gase and Mike Harmon.

"Anybody that’s done superspeedway racing knows you can’t do that," Scott said of Bayne’s contact with his car’s bumper entering the turn. "Stupid move halfway through the race. There’s no need for it. … It’s unfortunate when you’re a victim of stupidity."

Elliott finished 19th — the next-to-last driver on the lead lap — and retained the lead in Nationwide standings by just one point over Sadler.

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RCR and Childress-allied teams lead charge in hectic multicar session

RELATED: Lineup for Aaron’s 499 | Two cars to the back

Brian Scott landed his first Coors Light Pole Award in a frantic first group qualifying session for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway.

Scott, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet on a part-time basis for Circle Sport Racing, turned a fast lap of 198.290 mph to score the first pole position of his Sprint Cup career in his fifth start. He’ll start first in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 (1 p.m. ET, FOX), the second race of the season where cars use restrictor plates to limit horsepower.

"Who would’ve thought that, huh?" Scott said. "Wow."

Scott used a strong aerodynamic pull from Paul Menard at the tail of a long, six-car pack of Richard Childress Racing-affiliated cars as the final five-minute qualifying session came to a close to post a session-best lap of 198.290 mph.

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Accordingly, drivers for RCR or Childress-allied teams rounded out the top six spots. Menard, in the No. 27 Childress Chevrolet, claimed the second spot at 197.888 mph. AJ Allmendinger of the RCR-affiliated JTG Daugherty Racing team, Casey Mears from Germain Racing, Sprint Cup rookie Austin Dillon and RCR teammate Ryan Newman completed the top six, meaning they will occupy the first three rows in Sunday’s 499-miler.

Menard and Allmendinger, near the tail of the line, said that the more difficult task was Newman’s in deciding when to roll off pit road and make their team-effort qualifying attempt.

"They told me I was going to run with all the RCR cars, and I said ‘perfect, it just makes sense,’ " Allmendinger said. "I think it just shows the more cars around here, you get more cars in a line is going to be faster. The great thing about RCR and the ECR package is we are all even. So it’s not like we think their cars are faster. It just made sense to get us all lined up and get us all in a pack."

One RCR-allied team was not as fortunate — the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet for Martin Truex Jr. failed a post-qualifying tech inspection for failing to meet height requirements. Truex, fastest in opening Sprint Cup practice Friday, will start from the rear of the 43-car field with Kasey Kahne, whose qualifying time was also disallowed when his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy was found underweight in post-qualifying inspection.

The multiple-round, knockout-style group qualifying format — introduced before the 2014 season — did not debut at Daytona International Speedway in February, where series officials opted to stick with its traditional system of using time trials and midweek qualifying races to determine the Daytona 500 starting order. That meant Saturday’s three-session qualifying was the series’ first go-round in the tightly wound aerodynamic packs that prevail at restrictor-plate tracks.

The threat of peril in the new format led some drivers to consider playing it safe and avoiding damage at a track where drivers can storm to the front from the back of the pack with relative ease. But once the track was open for qualifying, most went for a fast lap in hopes of clinching a solid starting spot and an advantageous pit-stall position.

"Ego and pride," said Brad Keselowski, in explaining the motivation. Keselowski qualified 13th, the fastest driver to miss the final, 12-driver cut. "Yeah, it can (be expensive), but that’s what we’re here to do. Racing is expensive, so wrecking goes with it. That’s part of the risk versus reward proposition."

The format led to an intriguing cat-and-mouse game, where teammates locked together in attempts to gain an aero advantage or soft-pedaled on the 2.66-mile track to wait for the right opportunity to pounce and post a fast lap.

The top spot on the leaderboard changed hands three times in the first, 25-minute session. Marcos Ambrose was the first driver to clock a chart-topping lap at speed, but he yielded briefly to journeyman Reed Sorenson. Six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson took a turn atop the leaderboard, but Kyle Busch took the top spot to stay with a 200.574 mph lap. Joey Logano, last weekend’s winner at Richmond, was second-fastest in the first session as the only other driver to top the 200-mph mark.

Busch’s fast early lap was tempered by right-side damage to his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He was allowed to change his right-front tire before the following rounds of qualifying. Former Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, now a part-time competitor, also took damage to his No. 66 Toyota’s right-front fender; he failed to make the top-24 cut for the second round of qualifying.

The top spot changed hands three more times in the second, 10-minute round of qualifying, with Kasey Kahne, Newman, Keselowski and ultimately Scott leading the way. The session was essentially halted by a caution period for debris at the seven-minute mark. Danica Patrick was the final driver to make the 12-driver cut for the final, five-minute qualifying session to determine the pole winner.

In the final session, each of the 12 drivers backed out of their pit stalls and sat idling for the first two minutes, 40 seconds, allowing the field to make just two competitive laps in a bid for the pole. It was just enough time for the Childress-related cars to get aligned.

Eric McClure, J.J. Yeley, Dave Blaney and Joe Nemechek failed to qualify for the 43-car field.

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Drivers have a history; Paul Menard joined in with quick one-liner

RELATED: Allmendinger had choice words for Dillon at Darlington
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TALLADEGA, Ala. — It began as a joke about age. It quickly escalated into humorous back-and-forth banter vaguely addressing how certain drivers are viewed in their current situations.

When AJ Allmendinger was asked about being one of the more "seasoned" drivers that qualified up front for Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, the JTG Daugherty Racing driver couldn’t help but respond: "Does that mean I’m old?"

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"How long has it been already?," Allmendinger, who made his 200th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start last week in Richmond, Virginia, said Saturday. "Like fine wine, I get better with age." 

Allmendinger, 32, will start third, and his No. 47 team has a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing and purchases its engines from Earnhardt Childress Racing.

RCR drivers Paul Menard and Austin Dillon qualified second and fifth, respectively.

"Old is not bad," quipped Dillon, who is 24 and competing for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. "It is when you are the rich kid that (it) is bad, you know?" 

Dillon is the grandson of team owner Richard Childress and he has heard and no doubt read more than once how some fans believe his ride is more a result of his lineage rather than his talent behind the wheel. A champion in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series, Dillon is 12th in Cup points and won the Coors Light Pole for this year’s Daytona 500. 

"Dang! I’d rather take being the rich kid," Allmendinger said. "Back to the question."

But before the interview could continue, Menard, 33, chimed in.

"You should try being old AND rich," he joked. 

The winner of the 2011 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Menard has also heard his share of "daddy’s money" comments since joining the Cup Series. 

Menard is the son of John Menard, owner of the Menard’s home improvement chain. Forbes listed Jon Menard’s net worth at $7.7 billion this year.

The gentle back-and-forth, especially because it involved Allmendinger and Dillon, was ideal given that those two had had issues on the track at Darlington earlier this season. 

When the two got together during the Bojangles’ Southern 500, an upset Allmendinger radioed his crew, saying “Tell RCR that Austin Dillon is a (expletive) prick … (expletive) just runs into me. 

"I don’t care if we don’t have any more race cars after this, I’m wrecking that little rich, punk-ass …"

The comments didn’t go unnoticed as Mike Dillon, Austin’s father and general manager for RCR, reported the comments to the No. 3 team. 

To which Childress calmly replied: "Go over there and tell his owner their engines will be gone."

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No. 5 didn’t meet minimum weight, No. 78 too low

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TALLADEGA, Ala. — The cars of Kasey Kahne and Martin Truex Jr. failed post-qualifying technical inspection Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. As a result the two drivers will start at the back of the field in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race (1 p.m. ET, FOX).

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The No. 5 of Kahne, fielded by Hendrick Motorsports, failed the minimum weight requirement while the No. 78 of Truex and Furniture Row Racing failed to meet the minimum height requirement. Both teams field Chevrolets.

The infractions resulted in NASCAR officials disallowing the qualifying times of both teams. Kahne will be listed as starting 42nd while Truex Jr. will be 43rd.

Prior to the penalties, Kahne had qualified 17th, while Truex Jr. was 38th.

"Basically we had a malfunction with a ballast container," Kahne’s crew chief Kenny Francis said in a manufacturer release. The cap that holds the ballast in came out. It could be mechanical or human error we are not really sure what happened. At the end of the day 25 pounds of ballast came out and we were 25 pounds light at the scales. The time was disallowed and we will have to start at the back."

NASCAR’s new rules package for 2014 included the elimination of a ride-height minimum, but that package is not in play for races on restrictor-plate tracks.

The loss of starting positions is the only penalty resulting from the infractions. Officials will take no other actions.

"After posting the fastest practice speed yesterday, today’s result and infraction were disappointing to say the least," Truex said in a team release. "That’s the bad news. The good news is that we have a fast car for tomorrow’s race, and as we have said many times, qualifying really doesn’t mean that much here." 

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Gordon on Talladega qualifying: ‘It’s wild, it’s crazy, it’s intense, it’s entertaining’

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TALLADEGA, Ala. – There seemed to be almost no disagreement among drivers when describing the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series knockout qualifying experience at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday.
 
How the individual drivers actually felt about the first use of the format at the 2.66-mile track was another matter.
 
It was the first time NASCAR’s new qualifying format had been used on a restrictor-plate track for its Cup series. The format, which consists of three rounds with only the fastest advancing, was not used at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year.
 
"It’s wild, it’s crazy, it’s intense, it’s entertaining," Jeff Gordon, a four-time Sprint Cup champ and six-time Talladega winner said. "It’s what it needs to be.
 
"You’re going off of speed, which is what I think qualifying should be."

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Gordon, who advanced into the final round, wound up 11th overall.
 
Qualifying races are "fine for the (Daytona) 500," he said, "But there’s more risk involved to me in that than this."
 
Not that Saturday’s three-round effort wasn’t without its catch-your-breath moments. The differences in speed as packs of cars came up to speed only to run up on a slower pack, or a group already slowing down to head to pit road, made it difficult at times to get a clean run in on the 2.66-mile track. And it resulted in several close calls.
 
By the end of the session, one thing seemed clear — the bigger the pack, the higher the speed.
 
"It was way more fun than our normal qualifying session for sure," Kevin Harvick, who will start eighth on Sunday, said. "For us, it just didn’t time out exactly right there at the end. I thought we were in the right spot, (there was) just a little bigger group ahead of us."
 
Brad Keselowski, the series’ 2012 champ, said the experience was "about what we expected.
 
"It wasn’t too crazy, but it was crazy enough to be fun and fun to watch," he said. "So that was good."
 
Joey Logano, Keselowski’s teammate with Team Penske and the only driver to advance to the final round during each of this year’s qualifying sessions, saw his streak come to an end at Talladega. Second fastest in the first round, Logano’s No. 22 Ford failed to advance beyond round No. 2. (Richmond qualifying was rained outand Logano started 17th there.)
 
"It’s kind of a bummer," Logano said. "I would have like to keep that streak going, but I knew this was going to be the wild-card event. It’s just like the race, anyone can win this race; anyone can put it on the pole today.
 
"It’s such a crazy day and I wish we did a little better, that’s all."
 
Logano, one of two drivers with multiple wins this year, will start 16th.
 
Brian Vickers, 18th in Sunday’s lineup, said "It’s all about catching the right draft at the right time and being with the right group of guys.
 
"It’s a tough situation and it’s interesting," the Michael Waltrip Racing driver said. "I think it’s by far better qualifying than we’ve ever seen at superspeedways … in the history of the sport. It didn’t work out for us this time, but it could just as easily work out for us next time."
 
A late-session push by Brian Scott, Paul Menard and AJ Allmendinger put those drivers 1-2-3 on the starting grid. Casey Mears and Austin Dillon will start fourth and fifth.
 
Dave Blaney, Joe Nemechek, Eric McClure and JJ Yeley failed to qualify for Sunday’s race.
 
Dale Earnhardt Jr., winner of the season-opening Daytona 500, qualified a surprisingly low 30th.
 
"We just didn’t run a fast enough lap with the people we were around," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said. "It wasn’t a whole lot of fun to be honest with you. But, I’d like to do some heat races or something maybe. That would be a little bit more fun that this."
 
Matt Kenseth called the qualifying session "a little bit of a goat rope," but said the effort was much better than the old format — which consisted of single-car runs.
 
"I hate using the word boring because I think all racing is interesting," Kenseth said, "but there wasn’t anything more boring than watching single-car qualifying at Talladega.
 
"So from that aspect, I think having group qualifying is something to watch, something interesting, something for people to pay attention to … a great idea.
 
"Single-car qualifying is 100 percent about the car, but at least here you’ve got some strategies and you can mess around a little bit and try to hold back and do stuff like that."

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See the full lineup for the Aaron’s 499

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Pos Car Driver Team
1 33 Brian Scott(i) Shore Lodge Chevrolet
2 27 Paul Menard Richmond/Menards Chevrolet
3 47 AJ Allmendinger Bush’s Beans Chevrolet
4 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet
5 3 Austin Dillon # Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
6 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet
7 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet
8 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s Chevrolet
9 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet
10 99 Carl Edwards Fastenal Ford
11 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet
12 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
13 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford
14 95 Michael McDowell Jordan Truck Sales Ford
15 43 Aric Almirola Logan’s Roadhouse/Gwaltney Ford
16 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford
17 7 Michael Annett # Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet
18 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
19 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Pretzel Toyota
20 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Valspar Reserve Chevrolet
21 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota
22 36 Reed Sorenson Golden Corral Chevrolet
23 21 Trevor Bayne(i) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford
24 83 Ryan Truex # VooDoo BBQ & Grill Toyota
25 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Zest Ford
26 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford
27 15 Clint Bowyer PEAK Antifreeze/Motor Oil Toyota
28 66 Michael Waltrip Blue/DEF Toyota
29 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet
30 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr National Guard Chevrolet
31 26 Cole Whitt # Scorpyd Crossbows Toyota
32 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald’s Chevrolet
33 23 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota
34 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota
35 16 Greg Biffle 3M Window Film Ford
36 98 Josh Wise Dogecoin/Reddit.com Ford
37 32 Terry Labonte C&J Energy Services Ford
38 51 Justin Allgaier # Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
39 34 David Ragan KFC Go Cup Ford
40 38 David Gilliland Love’s Travel Stop Ford
41 40 Landon Cassill(i) Hillman Racing Chevrolet
42 5 Kasey Kahne FrmrsInsrnce/Thankamillionteachers.com Chevrolet
43 78 Martin Truex Jr Furniture Row Chevrolet

Did Not Qualify: # 77 Dave Blaney; # 87 Joe Nemechek(i); # 35 Eric McClure(i); # 44 JJ Yeley(i).
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

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Once an informal ride, event now sweeps through NASCAR

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Photo credit: Kevin Kane Photography

In the beginning, they called it the Hey Buddy Tour.

It was about as informal as it sounded — just a bunch of friends in the NASCAR industry looking for an excuse to ride their motorcycles, usually from one event weekend to the next. Kyle Petty and a few others biked from Dover to a test in New Hampshire, stopping in New York City and Maine along the way. They rode to Pocono, where Petty won the race. By that fall, their numbers had swelled to include driver Harry Gant, crew chiefs Waddell Wilson and Robin Pemberton, track promoter Eddie Gossage and others trekking from Rockingham to Phoenix for the penultimate event of the year.

Soon they were planning another ride for the next season, that one from California to North Carolina. Maybe they’d try to raise some money for charity in the process. "We decided we’d do it like a Bike-A-Thon, get people to give us a penny a mile or a nickel a mile or something like that," Petty remembered. "We raised about $35,000, but that’s all we wanted to do. We wanted to do it that one time, just to say that you had ridden cross-country."

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But it was only beginning. Two decades later, Petty and his band of motorcyclists are still riding across America every year, and still doing it for charity. The 20th annual Kyle Petty Charity Ride begins Saturday in Carlsbad, California, kicking off a week-long trek that concludes seven days later in Daytona Beach, Florida. What started as an informal ride among friends quickly grew into one of the signature charitable events of the NASCAR season, one that since its official inception in 1995 has raised over $14 million and primarily benefits the Victory Junction Gang Camp for chronically ill children in Petty’s hometown of Randleman, North Carolina.

"It’s crazy," Petty said. "I never thought it would go this far. Never."

When the ride first started, it would benefit children’s hospitals — the caravan would stop at hospitals along the route and leave donations to help families with bills or other expenses. But the mission of the ride changed after Petty’s son Adam was killed in a crash while practicing for a NASCAR Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire in 2000. Three years later, the Victory Junction Gang Camp — a respite for chronically ill children founded by the Petty family in Adam’s memory — became the event’s primary beneficiary, and has been ever since.

The Charity Ride, which raises money through rider’s fees and sponsorships, is the biggest fundraiser the camp has. The relationships Petty built with children’s hospitals during the early years of the ride helped bring kids to the camp once the facility opened. Over the past decade, more than 7,700 children with health issues have attended Victory Junction at no cost to their families, thanks to the Kyle Petty Charity Ride.

"It’s funny how that laid the groundwork, because after Adam’s accident and we started camp, we already had connections with hospitals," Petty said. "They already knew who we were and knew what was going on, so when we called them up and said, ‘Hey, will you send some kids to camp?’ they were more than willing to do that. So it’s funny how life works out. But it helped build camp, it helps maintain camp, the waterpark is from the Kyle Petty Charity Ride, it maintains that. Every year, we send a week’s worth, or a couple of week’s worth, of kids to camp through the ride, and the rest of the money goes to improve camp and continue to grow camp. I don’t think any of us ever envisioned that this would become such a huge part of camp and what it means to camp at this time."

For those who take part, though, the ride is about much more than charity — it’s a rolling community of automotive dealers and banking executives and industrialists and NASCAR industry members, among others, many of them decked out in bandanas and leather chaps. Due to the anniversary, Petty said this year’s event will attract more than 120 riders, the highest number in years. But many are mainstays — former football star Herschel Walker and retired drivers Gant and Geoffrey Bodine are among the regulars, and Petty said there is a core group of about 10 people who have been on every ride.

Among the originals are Dave and Renee Bartels, who own a moving company and helped Petty transport the motorcycles to the starting point in Santa Clara, California, for the inaugural ride in 1995. They decided to tag along for the first leg to Newport Beach, California, with no intention of going beyond that. But then they ended up making the second leg to Las Vegas. Then the third leg to Phoenix. They went all the way to North Carolina, and have been on the ride ever since.

"It’s a real good group of people, a really caring group of people, a really giving group of people," Petty said. "Through 20 years, obviously, we have families that are a part of it that have had kids graduate, that have had family members get married. And we’ve had deaths. We’ve had people who were riders pass away.

"That’s what the ride is. It brings in family — you have fathers and sons and wives and daughters and uncles and brothers who all ride together. But in the end, they meet the people and it becomes that type of community. It’s so funny, because a conversation will go on all week, and it will stop on that Saturday. And people pick it up a year later in the same place the conversation died, and they go from there. It’s like it never missed a beat. It has become a huge family, but it’s really become a part of my family."

The ride has not been without challenges. Petty said he was "just going through the motions" after Adam’s accident, and thought the event would simply fade away, but it didn’t. It was also originally built around off-weekends, which allowed more drivers to take part. But as the off-weekends in the NASCAR schedule dwindled, so did many of the drivers — even Petty himself had to skip days when he was still competing behind the wheel. Matt Kenseth is scheduled to be among those taking part in this year’s event, but the 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion will be able to ride only a few days in the middle of the week because of races at Talladega and Kansas on either end.

Over time, though, it became evident that the riders weren’t turning out just to mingle with NASCAR personalities — they were there to ride with one another. As the friendships among those taking part strengthened, the event became more and more entrenched. "Everybody just kept saying, ‘We’re going to do it again.’ We got to 10 years, we got to 15, and here we are," Petty said. "Even with the economy, the way the economy dipped, people kept coming back."

And they’re still coming back. Two decades later, what started as the Hey Buddy Tour is still going strong.

"Twenty freaking years," Petty said. "I can’t believe that. I swear, I can’t."

NASCAR.com will have daily updates during the journey from Carlsbad, California to Daytona Beach, Florida.

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Tabloid speculated driver had $2 million plan in the works

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TALLADEGA, Ala. — Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a good laugh at a recent tabloid report of an impending "$2 million wedding extravaganza" at Daytona International Speedway that would include 2,000 invited guests and be led "by a procession around the track including racing-themed cars and ending with a checkered flag at the finish line."

Earnhardt, 39, admitted Friday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway that he read "The National Enquirer" story and that the details were certainly news to him. And a source of amusement.

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"So we just skipped the engagement I guess, went right to the wedding," said Earnhardt, who was just named the winner of the first quarter Driver of the Year Award for 2014 by the DOTY Foundation.

The notoriously frugal driver shook his head at the reported cost of his imaginary nuptials to longtime girlfriend Amy Reimann and smiled.

"I definitely would have a hard time writing that check," he added.

According to the article, Earnhardt whispered his marriage intentions in Reimann’s ear in the immediate celebration of his second Daytona 500 victory in February. The story gives robust details of the day — although no date — including a menu of lobster, steak, shrimp, brisket and ribs "washed down with champagne and top-shelf liquor."

The venue, "the luxurious Daytona 500 Club" with additional partying scheduled for the parking lots, also didn’t jibe with anything he had imagined for his big day.

"I would not force everybody to go down to Daytona for my wedding," Earnhardt said. "I probably would just have it right there in the back yard, but whatever is easiest.

"That was funny. I read that and it was a roller coaster of an article. Pretty good."

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First Sprint Cup group qualifying session on restrictor-plate track will play out on Saturday

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TALLADEGA, Ala. — The only thing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers seem to know for sure about Saturday’s first group qualifying session at Talladega Superspeedway is that nothing is for sure.

Expectations are for high drama on the high banks — where just as in the races here, a little luck will be as important as a solid strategy.

"I don’t think anyone knows what to expect, and I think there’s potential for it to be the best qualifying session you’ve seen in a long, long time," said six-time Talladega winner and current Cup points leader Jeff Gordon.

"There’s some risk involved here to get the pole."

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Typically single-car qualifying at the 2.66-mile track has been more of a tedious necessity to set the starting field. But NASCAR’s new knock-out group qualifying format has been so eagerly anticipated that FOX is airing it live on network television Saturday (coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET).

The procedure allows for all 47 cars entered to be on track together for 25 minutes. After a five-minute break, the fastest 24 cars will move on to the next 10-minute round.

After another five-minute break, the fastest 12 cars from that group then move on to a high-frenzy session to determine the pole winner and first six rows.

The starting strategy is multi-fold and untested at a restrictor-plate track.

Because of the unique nature of the draft here, during the race a car can be running near the back of the field one lap and leading the race two laps later, so starting position matters less here than at a smaller venue.

The problem is that the tight draft-style racing here also inevitably helps produce at least one "Big One" — multicar crash — and driving up through the field puts a driver in a more precarious position. These factors play a big role in contemplating the risk a team is willing to take in qualifying.

"The thing I’m trying to come to grips with is where do I take a large risk?," six-time Cup champ Jimmie Johnson explained Friday. "Trying to qualify well or trying to work my way through the pack to get to the front? And we’re just not sure right now what to expect. We wanted to come here with a plan in place of how we were going to qualify, but our opinion seems to change every 15 minutes."

That risk also seemed to apply to practice on Friday. Daytona 500 outside pole-winner Martin Truex Jr. was fastest in opening practice, followed by Justin Allgaier and defending Aaron’s 499 winner David Ragan. Five cars turned in a lap in excess of 200 mph thanks to the draft.

Happy with their cars and afraid to chance an accident during practice, 20 cars did not participate in the 55-minute second session — including the three Michael Waltrip Racing cars and Denny Hamlin. Truex and rookie Kyle Larson, who were among those with a 200-mph lap in the first practice, parked their cars for the later session as well.

"We would like to be in the same position as we were (Friday)," Truex said. "At the start of practice we got in front of a line of cars and were able to make a run up there. The difference (Saturday) is that we don’t know what everyone else’s plan is going to be. Everyone will be trying to do what we did in practice and that’s to be in the right position to get the fastest speed.

"And at the same time it’s going to be a risky session. Our No. 1 goal right now is to make sure this Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet races on Sunday. If we feel like we’re in a danger zone, we’ll abort. It really doesn’t matter where you start here."

Truex is also among a small group of small teams that present a wild card within the wild card. Several drivers from larger teams noted that in this case, being a single-car team may be a benefit because you don’t have a teammate you’re forced to depend on, or be accountable to.

"There are a few cars open to who they can draft with and get a tow with and get lucky," Gordon said. "I think (the pole) is going to come from a smaller group. I don’t know if being the lead guy is the fastest place to be."

Elliott Sadler, who will start on the front row for Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 Nationwide Series race said he fully expected a single car team to have a shot at the Sprint Cup pole.

"We saw today, just going out with teammates isn’t enough," Sadler said after qualifying. "I think what you’ll see [in Cup qualifying], in my humble opinion, is a lot of cat and mouse leaving pit road. … You want to be the back group, never the lead group running.

"I think you’re going to see a single car have a good shot at the pole tomorrow."

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Matt Kenseth is among a handful of Cup drivers that got a little practice with this style of qualifying for the season-opening NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona in February. However, the experience apparently didn’t give him any more sense of comfort or wisdom.

"We did the first round at Daytona in Nationwide and it was a little crazy, but the field is obviously better in Cup," Kenseth said. "I don’t know what’s going to happen. 

"It should be interesting especially having three rounds. I think obviously the first round is where you’re going to have your fast lap times and that one you’re going to have to probably make more calculations or more aggressive moves or however you want to put it to get that lap once they start thinning this field out and you get down to 12 or even 25 or 24 or whatever it’s going to change a little bit. 

"There’s always a potential for a wreck when you put 43 cars out there."

Team Penske’s Joey Logano is convinced it’s more than just potential.

"I think there will be a point that there are gonna be a lot of cars out there," Logano explained. "I think you have to put your lap up very quick because I think after the first five minutes the top 18 cars or so are probably gonna pit, and not be out there. So the less cars that are on the race track, the harder it is to run that fast lap. 

"I’ve been working with my teammate Brad [Keselowski], and also [Michael] McDowell some … to kind of figure out what we’ve got to do to put together a good package for us to run a fast lap and have the right strategy, and also stay out of the crash because I think it’s gonna happen.

"I think there will be a wreck within this qualifying session just because the closing rate you’re gonna be catching some of these guys. For guys in the middle of the race track and then you’re going to the bottom, he decided he wants to get out of the way and goes to the bottom, oh, shoot, you’re gonna get in a crash. So you’ve got to be on your toes throughout the whole session. I think as each session goes it’s gonna get a little bit calmer because obviously there are gonna be less cars out there."

The blissful bottom line: "I don’t think anyone knows for sure what’s gonna happen," Logano said grinning.

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MWR driver teaches Birmingham, Alabama teens about science, engineering

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The science of speed.

It’s a concept that NASCAR drivers are more than well-versed in, especially this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, where track speeds routinely top 200 mph.

With the Sprint Cup Series in town for "Aaron’s Dream Weekend" at Talladega, Michael Waltrip Racing’s Brian Vickers — who drives the No. 55 Aarons’s Dream Machine Toyota — visited the A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club of Birmingham, Alabama on Thursday to host "The Science of Speed," an event designed to give teenagers an exciting and educational look at how a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education can pave the way to a future in NASCAR. Vickers, crew chief Billy Scott and some of the Michael Waltrip Racing crew members developed an instructive program to give teenagers a hands-on experience, demonstrating how a STEM education is applied in the motorsports industry.

The group taught students about the technology of the No. 55 Toyota and how Vickers applies STEM while racing at blinding speeds around the track, as well as the science and engineering aspects of the sport, from tire pressure and tread depth to building a shock and the technology that keeps drivers safe at the track.

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"Science, technology engineering and math were really the core focus, but it was really all around just encouraging to continue education," said Vickers, currently in his first full-time Sprint Cup season with MWR. "It’s so hard for kids to understand this sometimes, how important a good education is to the rest of their life. I think, for my part, just to explain what I do, what I like, I’m very blessed to have this ferocious curiosity to continue to learn and I’ve always had that. It’s just helped me in my career; it’s helped me in my life in so many ways."

The program was designed with an emphasis on encouraging continued education in these areas, focusing on showing how they could eventually lead to a career in motorsports. But there was plenty to take away from the event, even if the participants had other interests in mind.

Brian Vickers (left), driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine in the Sprint Cup Series, and his crew chief Billy Scott spoke with teens at the A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club in Birmingham, Alabama on Thursday. (Photos courtesy of Michael Waltrip Racing)

"All the kids, I was really impressed, they all had their passions, which obviously you want to encourage," Vickers said. "Some of them want to go to art school, some to design school, some wanted to do engineering. Some of them were really into racing and like ‘Wow, this is so amazing, I’ve always found racing so fascinating. I’d love to pursue my engineering degree and get into motorsports. How can I start?’

"I think the more that kids hear it from someone besides their parents, you know they tend to get to that age where anything their parents say is wrong, so it’s good to hear it from someone else and hear it from people they see on TV and engineers making cars go fast. Fast cars are always kind of sexy, right? For them to spend time with all of the guys on the team and the mechanics and the engineers and stuff, I think it was good and I hope we made a difference in all of them, but even if we made a difference in one of them it was worth every minute.

Vickers will look to take some of that speed he shared with the teenagers of Birmingham and apply it 45 minutes east at the 2.66-mile Talladega. It’s a track where he’s had plenty of success in the past — picking up the first Cup Series win of his career in 2006 back when he was driving a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet — but hasn’t raced at in a Cup ride since his last full-time season, three years and one car generation ago.

"Anytime you haven’t been to a track in that long, you want to get your feet wet and get settled in, but I think if I hadn’t been in the sport so long I’d be more concerned about it. I’ve been in NASCAR now, including the Nationwide Series, for 12 years on and off. Taking time off and being away from some race tracks we’re going to is not good, but I think if you’ve done something for over a decade it’s not devastating either. We should be able to get back in the saddle pretty quick this weekend.

If Vickers is able to scrape together a successful weekend at Talladega, it’ll continue an unprecedented start to 2014 that already sees him 10th in points, with a top-five finish at Texas Motor Speedway and another two top-10s (Bristol, Fontana).

It’s a continuation of a successful 2013 campaign that saw him pick up his third career win at New Hampshire driving part-time for MWR. He’s even led more laps than teammate Clint Bowyer thus far this season, and feels he and his No. 55 team are close to picking up a win soon and notching a provisional Chase spot.

Friday’s early practice didn’t go extraordinarily well for the 55 team, seeing Vickers place 23rd on the charts with a best speed of 197.990 mph, but that’s something he isn’t worried about.

"We haven’t always unloaded with a fast car; some weekends we’ve been way off when we unload. But Billy and the guys have just done a phenomenal job just taking a car that we weren’t happy with on Friday and by the end of the race, we’re one of the fastest cars, if not the fastest car on the race track the last two runs of the race.

"I think what’s working is this ‘never give up’ attitude of the Aaron’s Dream Machine team. They’ve just done such a good job. We’ve had some really fast cars this year, we’ve had some bad luck, blown some tires a couple times, got caught up in The Big One at Daytona, but no one ever gave up. Even when we’ve had bad races and blown tires or gotten in wrecks,  the team got the car fixed and salvaged a decent finish. I’m really proud of where we are as a company and as a team. We’re not a dynasty yet; we’ve got a long way to go but we’re on the right trajectory and I’m proud of it."

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