Driving the specially painted #44 UPS/The Kentucky Derby Toyota, David Reutimman was the first driver to participate in Aaron's 499 qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday. Reutimann turned in a qualifying time of 51.937 seconds and 184.377 mph to pick up the 30th starting spot for Sunday's race.
Cloudy skies surrounded the 2.66-mile superspeedway on Saturday morning. The Aaron's 499 is the first impound race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. As a result, teams qualified for the event on Saturday afternoon and will not touch the cars again until it is time to race on Sunday.
Being the first driver to qualify for Sunday's race, Reutimann went into the qualifying session knowing he was already locked into the starting lineup after racing his way into the top 35 in owner point standings during the race at Phoenix International Raceway two weeks ago. Reutimann enjoyed the top spot only for a turn before finally settling for the 30th starting spot. A lack of power has seemingly plagued the #44 UPS/The Kentucky Derby Toyota throughout the race weekend.
"That certainly isn't where we wanted to be," Reutimann said. "We've struggled to find speed all weekend. It just feels like we don't have the power we need to run a single lap by ourselves. We're thinking we'll be better in the race."
"The good thing about this place is that anything can and does happen," Reutimann continued. "We have a special paint scheme with the Kentucky Derby and want to put on a good show for them and for UPS this weekend."
Reutimann's teammates Michael Waltrip and Michael McDowell enjoyed only slightly better qualifying sessions as McDowell picked up the 24th starting spot with his lap time of 51.830 seconds and 184.758 mph. Waltrip will start 27th as the result of his qualifying lap time of 51.869 seconds and 184.619 mph.
Joe Nemechek will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday with his qualifying time of 51.103 seconds and 187.386 mph. He is joined on the front row by Toyota driver Tony Stewart who turned in a qualifying lap time of 51.237 seconds and 186.896 mph. Rounding out the top-five starters are Ken Schrader, A.J. Allmendinger, and Kyle Busch, respectively.
The Aaron's 499 is scheduled for a 1 p.m. CDT start this Sunday. FOX will provide live television coverage of the event beginning at 12:30 p.m. CDT with the FOX pre-race show.
