[media-credit id=100 align=”alignright” width=”186″][/media-credit]Ty Dillon came to Talladega Superspeedway with just a one point advantage over James Buescher in the series standings. If the twenty year old rookie driver is under any pressure, he isn’t showing it. Dillon took the top starting spot for Saturday’s Fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola with a lap of 177.291 mph. It was his third career pole in just twenty one starts in the series.

Dillon is following in the footsteps of his older brother and making a name for himself in the series with an eye locked on one day piloting a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car for his grandfather, team owner Richard Childress (RCR).

Jason White, driver of the No.23 Gunbroker.com Ford will start second, Buescher third, Aric Almirola fourth and Cale Gale starts fifth.

Kurt Busch had to settle for the sixth starting spot after leading the final practice session.

“I’m more of a rookie than all of the rest of these guys when it comes to the draft, because they’ve been doing it the last few years. The last time I did a restrictor plate truck race was back in 2000. It’s been a while.” Busch said.

Other notables: Championship contender Timothy Peters and recent series winner Nelson Piquet Jr. will start eighth and fourteenth respectively.

“It is handling good. We unloaded our Tundra and it was really good. We drafted just a little bit to save our equipment and that will give us a good solid starting position and as long as we can complete 94 laps we’ll be alright.” Peters said.

The green flag will drop on the Fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola at 3:00pm Saturday.

Starting Lineup
fred’s 250, Talladega Superspeedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/qual.php?race=18
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	3	Ty Dillon*	Chevrolet	177.291	54.013
2	23	Jason White	Ford	176.617	54.219
3	31	James Buescher	Chevrolet	176.598	54.225
4	5	Aric Almirola	Ford	176.246	54.333
5	33	Cale Gale*	Chevrolet	176.165	54.358
6	18	Kurt Busch	Toyota	175.684	54.507
7	11	Todd Bodine	Toyota	175.404	54.594
8	17	Timothy Peters	Toyota	175.394	54.597
9	7	Parker Kligerman	Toyota	175.343	54.613
10	9	Ron Hornaday	Chevrolet	175.211	54.654
11	22	Joey Coulter	Chevrolet	175.199	54.658
12	84	Chris Fontaine	Chevrolet	175	54.72
13	6	Justin Lofton	Chevrolet	174.971	54.729
14	30	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Chevrolet	174.955	54.734
15	99	Bryan Silas*	Ford	174.831	54.773
16	2	Tim George Jr.	Chevrolet	174.751	54.798
17	81	David Starr	Toyota	174.592	54.848
18	9	John Wes Townley*	Toyota	174.576	54.853
19	29	Ryan Blaney	Ram	174.277	54.947
20	220	Rick Crawford	Toyota	174.16	54.984
21	32	Miguel Paludo	Chevrolet	174.134	54.992
22	168	Clay Greenfield	Ram	173.765	55.109
23	151	German Quiroga	Toyota	173.743	55.116
24	1	Donnie Neuenberger	Chevrolet	173.412	55.221
25	88	Matt Crafton	Toyota	172.737	55.437
26	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	172.64	55.468
27	27	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	172.351	55.561
28	225	Brandon Knupp	Chevrolet	172.274	55.586
29	13	Johnny Sauter	Toyota	172.004	55.673
30	176	Ryan Hackett	Ford	171.97	55.684
31	57	Norm Benning	Chevrolet	171.217	55.929
32	39	Ryan Sieg	Chevrolet	171.162	55.947
33	8	Ross Chastain*	Toyota	170.616	56.126
34	7	Johnny Chapman+	Toyota	168.684	56.769
35	93	Chris Jones+	Chevrolet	164.063	58.368
36	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Ram	171.407	55.867

After a solid regular season, Biffle just hoping for top 5

By

SM Staff

-

October 5, 2012

[media-credit name=”Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]No DNF’s, 99.9% laps completed (only missed five laps of 8,231), 2 wins, 10 top fives, 15 top tens, 14 weeks atop the points standings. These numbers indicate a spectacular season, and one that many Sprint Cup drivers would love to have. However, even with all this success, Greg Biffle, who has struggled in the Chase, with finishes of 13th, 18th, 16th, is now focusing on trying finish in the top 5 in the season standings.

“I feel we’re racing for a top-five finish in the points. We really want to get in the top five in points.” Biffle said.

Biffle, who is known for being a hard charging driver, recently had his radio communications with his team become news when he expressed displeasure with his crew after they left a wheel loose last week at Dover. Many are saying this could be the result of pressure to perform.

In fairness to Biffle, his Roush-Fenway teammates aren’t performing very well either. Only he and teammate Matt Kenseth made in into the Chase, and Kenseth is the only driver behind Biffle in the standings. Biffle’s intense personality and seeing what appeared to be “his year” slipping away, may be the undoing of the No.16 team’s season. If he and the team can stay focused, their goal of a top five points finish may be attainable. But as Biffle says, “We’ve got a big hill to climb”

“Can we win the title? Sure. I mean, obviously we can, but the deck is kind of stacked against us. We’ve got a big hill to climb, but nobody here is saying that we’re not gonna try or we’re not gonna do it. We’re gonna have to try all we can to get in the top five. Look at the guys from 13th and back that aren’t in the Chase, they’re trying to win too.” Biffle said.

In the final two practices on Friday at Talladega, Biffle wound up 14th and 15th respectively, but with only four top tens in his career at Talladega, Biffle may have to hope to play a “wildcard” at NASCAR’s “wildcard” race.