Busch understands that the race isn’t going to be a runaway for him.  “All day long you’ll see guys going top to bottom, bottom to top as the track changes.”  After leaving Hendrick Motorsports, “I have a chip o­n my shoulder; I’m out here to do my best for Joe Gibbs Racing and bring the team back to what it was.”

His driving style is similar to teammate Tony Stewart’s; far more so than Denny Hamlin’s, he said.  “Tony and I run a looser, tighter setup.  We look at Denny and wonder how does he turn into the corner?  He probably looks at us and wonders how we get through the corner,” he laughed.

Last week’s winner, Carl Edwards starts outside the front row with a lap at 29.738/181.586.  Strangely, he, Martin and Busch qualified o­ne after the other, with Edwards leading the trio.  He looked quite loose during his pair of laps: “To be free like that got my attention.  It was a fun lap.  I don’t think I could run that lap Kyle did.  I knew he was fast and I knew my pole speed was not long lived.  At the same time, anytime o­n top of the board is pretty good,” Edwards said.

Martin, third o­n the grid at 29.786/181.293, gave credit to his DEI team.  “I did not come away from practice thinking it would be that way,” he said after landing in 27th place during the 1.5-hour session.  “The car stuck well and turned really good.  The sensation of speed was not as good (as it had been).  It didn’t seem so fast,” he mused.  Martin won the first Cup race held at this track, so it’s not strange that he would remark, “I love this place.”

Jeff Gordon lines up fourth, followed by Mike Skinner, who had to make the field o­n speed in his Bill Davis Racing Toyota.  Greg Biffle, Scott Riggs, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kurt Busch (also in o­n speed), and Elliott Sadler complete the top 10.

Among the other drivers forced to drive their way into the 43-car field, local resident Patrick Carpentier made the cut with the 12th quickest lap of the day.  “It was great.  The car was a bit tight at first and it was perfect o­n exit, mid to exit I could go full throttle and the car would just turn around,” he rejoiced.

Going for his fourth straight victory at this track will be a bit tougher for double champion Jimmie Johnson, whose speed was o­nly 35th quick of the 47 drivers attempting to make the field.  “Conditions are much different than what we had in the test session; the grip level is much different,” he said.

The weather was perfect for practice and qualifying today, with sunny skies and mild temperatures.  More of the same is expected for Saturday Sprint Cup practice and Nationwide qualifying and their 300-mile race. 

(c) 2008 Anne Proffit