BY TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT

Kansas City — Kansas Speedway qualifying didn’t result in a lot of Blue for the top-10, but the drivers didn’t seemed worried as time trials don’t pay points or money. No, the points and payday come Sunday, and that’s when the Ford teams will have the wick turned up.

Best in class for The Oval was turned in by Greg Biffle, who drove his National Guard Taurus to a sixth place starting spot.

"We had a really, really good car and I just hadn't put down a lap that I thought the car was capable of and the guys did a great job on the National Guard car,” relayed Biffle after his run. “I told them I was gonna get the pole, but I just couldn't squeeze the throttle down on that lap. I was just a little bit too loose. It hadn't been loose all day. We were on the last run and we tightened it up just a little bit and I just couldn't put the gas down.

“The pole was staring me in the face, but I just couldn't push the throttle down."

The only other Ford to crack the top-10 was the UPS Ford, driven by Dale Jarrett. "It was a good run and that was a pick up for us,” noted Jarrett after qualifying ninth. “I think the track has probably slowed down a little bit [after practice] and we picked up almost two-tenths, so I'm pretty happy with that.

“This is our best car so far this year,” D.J. added. “We made a few adjustments on our qualifying procedures and things. We know it races good, so, hopefully, it's gonna translate into a good weekend for us."

The award for hardest work just prior to qualifying goes to Carl Edwards’ crew, who tossed a setup under the backup car, with moments to spare. Edwards needed the backup after an incident during practice ruined his primary ride.

"We were trying some really aggressive stuff with the setup and it was so tight in that when I got into the center I had a little bit too much left wheel into it,” said Edwards. “I thought I could just drive through it and I put a lot throttle into it and when the front end finally caught, it wiggled just enough that I couldn't save it before I hit the wall."

Edwards added of the effort that brought him a 16th place starting spot, "[Having good teammates] is the most valuable thing in the world. This is a huge change for me and my career to drive here in the Cup Series. After I wrecked that thing in practice earlier, Mark Martin came over and gave me a little advice and that's just invaluable to be able to lean on those guys and all their experiences."

TESTING FOR ‘05
A pair of cars tested at Lowe’s Motor Speedway this week as Goodyear continues finding a tire package for the new inch-shorter spoiler that will be run in NEXTEL Cup in 2005. The drivers who accepted the challenge were Joe Nemechek and Bobby Labonte.

The test took place Tuesday evening at LMS and began with cars set to '04 specification. Once Goodyear engineers were comfortable with the '04 spec car the files came out, chewing an inch off the rear spoilers of both cars.

With the car in '05 trim the drivers took turns making runs, under Goodyear’s leadership. One driver worked construction variant tires will the other handled various compound tires.

According to the Goodyear men the drivers found comfort in similar tires that brought peace to Greg Biffle and the rest that tested at Las Vegas several weeks ago. After further adjustments on the cars both drivers seemed to like what they had under them.

Mark Martin was scheduled to do the Goodyear tests at Charlotte but as one of the Chase for the Championship drivers he was precluded from the session. When Goodyear picked Martin for the test he was 14th in the points.

One Goodyear engineer joked of Martin’s scrubbed involvement, “Geez, He gave up the opportunity to test for us for a shot for the 2004 Cup championship and the riches that come with it? I don’t know about that guy anymore.”