All News Bill Elliott Carl Edwards Dale Jarrett Elliott Sadler Hermie Sadler Kirk Shelmerdine Kurt Busch Tony Stewart

Talladega Qualifying Notes:

April 29, 2006 at 12:00 AM

• Elliott Sadler won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Bud Pole for the Aaron’s 499, lapping Talladega Superspeedway in 50.798 seconds at 188.511 mph. Bill Elliott holds the track-qualifying record of 44.998 seconds, 212.809 mph, set April 30, 1987 – prior to the advent of restrictor-plate racing. Elliott also holds the Talladega restrictor-plate record of 48.128 seconds, 199.388 mph, set May 4, 1990.
• This is Sadler’s seventh career Bud Pole in 258 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races.
• This is his first Bud Pole and third top-10 start in 2006. He became the seventh different Bud Pole winner this season.
• This is Sadler’s third Bud Pole and sixth top-10 start in 14 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, all in the past seven races here.
• Tony Stewart posted the second-quickest qualifying lap of 51.029 seconds, 187.658 mph – and will join Sadler on the front row for the Aaron’s 499. It is his fifth top-10 start in 2006, all third or better. Stewart’s career-best Talladega start is his seventh top-10 start in 15 races here.
• This is the second Bud Pole for Ford in 2006. Chevrolet and Dodge each have three Bud Poles this season. Qualifying was canceled at Bristol.
• Carl Edwards (third) posted his fourth top-10 start in 2006 – all top-fives. He has qualified in the top-10 in two of his four Talladega races.
• Dale Jarrett (fourth) posted his first start better than 15th this season. Jarrett scored his 17th top-10 start in 39 races at Talladega, including five of the past six.
• Kurt Busch (fifth) posted his eighth straight top-10 start of 2006. His only non-top 10 start came in the Daytona 500, when he started 13th. Busch posted his third top- 10 start in 11 races at Talladega.
• Kirk Shelmerdine (22nd), who posted his career-best finish in the Daytona 500 this past February, posted his career-best start. His best start in his previous 24 races was 32nd in his career-first start set at Texas World Speedway in June 1981.
• Hermie Sadler (24th) posted his best start since he started 21st in the 2005 Pepsi 500 at Daytona. This will be his 55th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race.(NASCAR Statisical Services)(4-29-2006)