DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) – Elliott Sadler put up a fast lap early, then waited nervously as driver after driver came up short in qualifying for the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.

The result Friday was Sadler’s first pole in 146 Winston Cup races.

“It was pretty exciting to wait through all those cars,” said Sadler, the 16th of 43 drivers qualifying at Darlington Raceway’s demanding 1.366-mile oval.

Sadler, in only his fifth race with Robert Yates Racing, was the man to beat all day, leading practice in his No. 38 Ford despite running only five laps. He then backed it up with a lap of 170.147 mph in qualifying.

The 27-year-old Sadler, one of NASCAR’s vaunted “Young Guns,” said a goal his new team set before the season was to win a pole.

“I was just a little surprised it came so soon,” he said.

Sadler said he and crew chief Raymond Fox, who also got his first pole, “were a nervous wreck. We were sitting up in the truck and had the door slam locked and were nervous together.”

Once Sadler reached the top, though, nobody was able to beat him.

Ryan Newman, who won the pole a week earlier in Atlanta, came the closest at 169.374. The time difference between Sadler’s Taurus and Newman’s Dodge was 0.132 seconds.

It was Newman, 26th in the qualifying line, who made Sadler the most nervous.

“I didn’t even want to hear his lap time,” Sadler said, laughing. “I just waited for the crowd reaction to find out how he did.”

One reason for Sadler’s nerves was a history of coming close and being knocked off the pole numerous times. He said one time in particular stood out.

“I got bit so bad by the bug at Texas,” Sadler said. “I was on the pole so long, and then Bill Elliott took it away from me. I never recovered from that instance.”

All those near-misses came while Sadler drove the past four years for the Wood Brothers. He said former car owner Eddie Wood was the first person to congratulate him Friday.

“There’s a lot of good young guys on this race team, and I’m just glad I could get this pole for them,” Sadler said.

Jerry Nadeau was third in a Pontiac at 169.170, followed by the Dodge of Jimmy Spencer at 169.088 and the Chevrolet of six-time Darlington winner and four-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon at 169.071.

Rounding out the top 10 were Kurt Busch at 168.984 in a Ford, the Dodges of Ward Burton and defending race winner Sterling Marlin at 168.926 and 168.816, the Chevy of Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip at 168.769 and the Ford of Todd Bodine – the last driver of the day to qualify – at 168.764.

Current series leader Matt Kenseth was 12th.

at 168.665, while Atlanta winner Bobby Labonte was 20th at 168.043. Labonte’s teammate, Tony Stewart, who’s second in the season points and is the defending series champion, was 28th at 167.619.

Three-time Darlington winner Dale Jarrett and two-time winner Jeff Burton had disappointing runs. Jarrett was 36th, while Burton was 38th and had to settle for a provisional starting position.

Rain, which washed away Busch Series and NASCAR Truck Series qualifying on Thursday, threatened to fall Friday but did not interrupt the Cup time trials.

“After (Newman) didn’t beat us, the wind came up and it was getting cooler, and I was just wishing everybody would just take one qualifying lap and get it done with,” Sadler said. “But we made it.”

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