DARLINGTON, S.C. --- The 59-year-old Darlington Raceway got new pavement in time for tonight's Dodge Challenger 500. But nobody is saying the track is new and improved.
Despite winning the pole for tonight's race (7:20, Fox-Ch. 54), Greg Biffle is worried. Several cars bounced off the wall during Friday's practice and qualifying sessions, leading most to believe the 367-lap race will be a typical Darlington demolition derby.
"Darlington has always been right on the fence," Biffle said after his Ford Fusion was clocked at 197.422 mph. "That margin for error hasn't gone anywhere other than we're so much faster that it bites you so much quicker and easier now. It's almost tougher now with the speeds we're running."
Jimmie Johnson crashed two cars Friday. So did Reed Sorenson. Paul Menard, Juan Pablo Montoya and Robby Gordon also earned "Darlington stripes" after caroming off the walls. At least five other cars bounced off the walls, too.
The damage was so widespread that David Stremme said the walls needed to be painted before Friday night's Nationwide Series race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start second tonight after qualifying at 179.357 mph, and like Biffle, he's concerned about tonight's race.
"It's going to be a tough race," he said. "We're going to have to run really hard all night, and the track's going to get faster as it cools down."
Johnson still qualified third in a backup car at 179.206 mph.
"I'm just glad I didn't hit anything on that last outing," Johnson said. "In some ways it's been a tough day, but in other ways we've had a great race car and have been very competitive. The car has felt very good."
Biffle was one of three drivers who tested tires for Goodyear two months ago at Darlington. That helped him approach practice Thursday and Friday with an unusual amount of respect for the track.
"I'm going to try to run a smart race," he said. "All through this testing we've played it really smart and have worked on our car and got our car driving really good. It certainly was helpful getting up to speed (after the test). We recognized that in the first and second practice session when we were near the top of the sheet."
Reach Don Coble at don.coble@morris.com.
AFTER FRIDAY'S QUALIFYING; RACE TONIGHT
AT DARLINGTON (S.C.) RACEWAY
1. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 179.442 mph.
2. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 179.357.
3. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 179.206.
4. (20) Tony Stewart, Toyota, 179.076.
5. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 178.965.
6. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 178.809.
7. (19) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 178.129.
8. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 178.071.
9. (66) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 178.064.
10. (43) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 177.775.
11. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 177.736.
12. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 177.659.
13. (22) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 177.307.
14. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 177.134.
15. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 177.109.
16. (01) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 177.109.
17. (78) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 177.077.
18. (00) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 177.070.
19. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dodge, 176.822.
20. (21) Bill Elliott, Ford, 176.778.
21. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 176.638.
22. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 176.606.
23. (77) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 176.581.
24. (28) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 176.568.
25. (26) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 176.498.
26. (84) AJ Allmendinger, Toyota, 176.473.
27. (8) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 176.359.
28. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 176.283.
29. (5) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 176.170.
30. (44) David Reutimann, Toyota, 176.126.
31. (96) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 175.848.
32. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 175.666.
33. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 175.578.
34. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 175.528.
35. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 175.172.
36. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 174.494.
37. (55) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 174.253.
38. (07) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 174.241.
39. (41) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 173.644.
40. (7) Robby Gordon, Dodge, owner points.
41. (15) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, owner points.
42. (9) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, owner points.
43. (10) Patrick Carpentier, Dodge, 175.166.
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