Personnel changes this week on the #44 UPS Team could not help improve the team's recent lackluster performances. Dale Jarrett had exhausted all of his previous past champion's provisionals and would have to make this week's Richmond race on his qualifying time. Unfortunately, Jarrett missed qualifying for Saturday's starting grid by only 0.139 seconds.
Friday consisted of only one practice at 11:15 a.m., lasting nearly two hours, but the practice did not come without headaches. The #44 UPS Team worked hard to improve their car's handling through a few spring and shock adjustments. A few more changes were made when all of a sudden they thought they may have found an the right setup. The speed chart showed the #44 UPS Toyota as the third fastest car of the day. However, the joy would be short-lived.
At the end of practice it was determined that NASCAR had a glitch in their scoring-and-timing system and that the speed of the #44 was inaccurate. They were slower than they had thought. With Richmond being an impound race and with no additional practice time, the team was left with almost no chance to improve the car's handling. They were stuck with what they had and it would prove to be not quite enough. Jarrett's qualifying time of 21.911 seconds and speed of 123.266 mph placed him 12th among the cars that were outside the top 35 in points, failing to qualify for Saturday's Crown Royal 400. This is the first race that Jarrett has failed to qualify for since October 1994 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
"Today was a tough day," Jarrett said after his qualifying attempt. "This isn't a situation I've had to experience in a very long time. We're obviously disappointed because we work hard for ourselves and for UPS. They've done so much to support us all year, and we'll just have to continue to prepare each week as best we can."
Jarrett's teammates experienced mixed results on Friday. David Reutimann in the #00 Toyota Camry qualified 14th with a lap time of 21.617 seconds and a speed of 124.902 mph, while team owner and driver Michael Waltrip failed to qualify with a lap time of 21.799 seconds and a speed of 123.859.
The starting grid for the Crown Royal 400 will be lead by the points leader, Jeff Gordon. Gordon captured his second pole in a row with a lap time of 21.386 seconds. He will be joined on the front row by Carl Edwards. The remainder of the top five will consist of Scott Riggs, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne.
The Crown Royal Presents The Jim Stewart 400 is scheduled to start Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. EDT, with FOX providing live television coverage and MRN providing live radio coverage.
