|
 "I feel really good about what it's evolved into," said Sprint Cup
points leader Kevin Harvick, the 2010 winner of this race. "I think
all the competitors feel that way; the guys in the garage feel that
way."
The single-attempt qualifier at Talladega's 2.66-mile distance was
not fan-friendly and the "knockout" qualifying established in 2014
led to some problems.
Saturday's qualifying, set for 1 p.m. ET, will have two rounds, with
the order of the first round determined by a random draw. The first
round will determine the starting spots from 13th through 43rd. The
top 12 cars will move on to the second round.
The new wrinkle is that each driver will receive one timed lap per
round and there will be more than one car on the track at the same
time.
"Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) and I looked at each other this morning and
we go, 'I'm so glad the qualifying has changed,'" Danica Patrick
said. "It just was, I feel, like a very unnecessary stress for
everybody. The amount of conversations and meeting with drivers and
I felt like I was on 'Survivor' and trying to make alliances and
finding out the best thing to do was to not have any."
The GEICO 500 will be raced at 1 p.m. Sunday.
KESELOWSKI CONFIDENT
Brad Keselowski was the winner in Talladega's most recent race, with
a victory in a "two-overtime" green-white-checkered finish that
propelled him into the Eliminator Round of the 2014 Chase for the
Sprint Cup Championship.
"Coming back here this weekend after we won last October when we
were here, that was such a key win for us," Keselowski said. "It's
always a lot of fun entering a racetrack you won at the last time
you were there, so we're carrying a lot of momentum in that sense
and look forward to hopefully getting another win at Talladega."
He called it "probably the most emotional (victory) I ever got
besides my first win in NASCAR."
Keselowski will become a father for the first time this spring, but
making any contingency plans for a backup driver for the No. 2 Team
Penske Ford has not been considered.
"We haven't really made any because we're very, very fortunate that
everything at this time looks to fall directly in line with the race
weeks of Charlotte, which is where we live, and hopefully we can
accommodate in that sense," Keselowski said. "Fingers crossed. We'll
see how it all plays out, but I'm looking forward to it very much."
SHAKY RUN FOR JUNIOR
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s second practice session was cut short Friday
afternoon when the No. 88 Chevrolet had vibration problems. "There
was a little bloop or something," he said on his radio.
His shifter broke during last month's race at Martinsville because
of vibration and a promising run at Charlotte last fall was spoiled
by the same malady.
Earnhardt owned the fastest time in the practice session (192.204
mph) up until his problems.
Greg Biffle hit 197.929 mph to top all drivers in the final session.
He was followed by Tony Stewart (197.859), Aric Almirola (197.686),
Jimmie Johnson (197.175) and Austin Dillon (197.122).
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Biffle's fellow Roush Fenway Racing driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was
one of three drivers to eclipse the 200-mph mark in the day's
initial practice session. Stenhouse (200.780), Michael Waltrip
(200.742) and Chris Buescher (200.268) all topped 200 mph while
David Ragan had the best 10-consecutive lap average, at 196.969.
The afternoon speeds tended to be slower as fewer drivers risked
close-quarter drafting. Because cars were impounded immediately
after practice, teams couldn't afford situations where significant
repair work might be needed. Just 38 of the 45 entered drivers
ventured out for the final practice.
PATRICK WANTS TO STAY AT SHR
Danica Patrick was brimming with optimism about her chances at
Talladega Superspeedway and her future with Stewart-Haas Racing
under new sponsorship.
Patrick's long-time sponsor, GoDaddy.com, announced earlier in the
week it would not sponsor her No. 10 Chevrolet next season. She was
thankful the decision was made early enough to begin pursuit of
sponsorship for 2016.
"It's a little bit bittersweet," Patrick said. "I look at pictures
of me in the suit and the pictures of the car and I can't believe it
won't be the green GoDaddy car anymore."
This is the final year of Patrick's contract with SHR, but she said
she has no plans to be elsewhere.
"I really am happy at Stewart-Haas and they're working hard already
to find someone for the new primary (sponsorship) position," she
said. "I think at this point in time, we're moving forward with all
those intentions. But I guess it is on some level open season in a
lot of areas. So, I don't think you can ever say never, of course.
But I am happy where I'm at right now."
Patrick has finished 19th and 22nd in her past two Talladega starts
and there is a perception that her best tracks are here and Daytona.
"They were in the beginning, especially my opportunities to have
really good finishes," she said. "But I don't think that's the case
anymore. So now they feel very similar (to other tracks). I'm
thinking more about the luck side of it than probably the potential
to have my really good races because I feel like we're able to do
that here and there on lots of other tracks now."
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