Car violation moves Earnhardt way down in starting position

He'll start at the rear, but Earnhardt is still the man to beat at Talladega.
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s right foot was still hurting, but that wasn't the problem Friday. An illegal car ruined his qualifying run at Talladega Superspeedway.
Earnhardt, who has won a record four straight Winston Cup races at the high-banked Alabama trioval, was set to start 10th in Sunday's EA Sports 500. Then his No. 8 Chevrolet didn't get by the inspectors, who discovered the right quarter-panel was too low.
"A clear violation," NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said.
Earnhardt's time was disallowed and he had to take a provisional spot in the 43-car field. He'll start among the back-markers in 38th.
It was another setback for Junior, who hobbled into Talladega still feeling the effects of a rather benign-looking crash near the end of last weekend's race at Dover. He severely sprained his right foot, lapsed into unconsciousness with a mild concussion and wound up dropping from second to fourth in the Winston Cup standings.
Not to worry.
"I'm good to go," Earnhardt said. "Sharp as a tack."
Pole winner
Elliott Sadler won his second career pole with a speed of 189.943 mph, but qualifying is a rather meaningless pursuit at Talladega. In restrictor-plate racing, mastery of the draft is more important than speed. A car can jump up -- or fall back -- dozens of places in the matter of a few laps.
Jamie McMurray (189.395) will start beside Sadler on the front row. The rest of the top five was Jimmie Johnson (189.189), Sterling Marlin (189.137) and Jeff Gordon (189.085).
Earnhardt wasn't the only big name to take a provisional.
Matt Kenseth, who has a huge lead in the point standings, will start alongside Junior in 37th after a plodding run of 185.913 mph, which placed him 43rd out of the 49 cars that attempted to qualify.
Taking the blame
Tony Eury, Earnhardt's crew chief, took the blame for sending out his driver in an illegal car.
"This is restrictor-plate racing, and you have to get everything you can get," Eury said. "We were just a little too low."
Like his father before him, Earnhardt is the undisputed king of this style of racing. No matter where he starts, everyone expects him to quickly make his way up front.
"I'm sure he's the guy we have to beat," Sadler said. "He may have to take his time the first few laps. I know he doesn't like where he's starting. But we all know he'll be up there at the end of the race. He'll be the guy pulling the train. We just have to figure out how to get around him."
Earnhardt has experience starting from the back at Talladega. In the April race, he had to drop to the rear of the field after putting in a new engine, but still came back to win his fourth in a row.
Now he's to got to overcome a poor starting position -- and the remnants of his Dover crash.
Earnhardt said his head has cleared, and his crew made some changes in the car to make his foot more comfortable. There's extra padding around the shoulders and in the seat. The pedal has been adjusted. Junior also is trying out a new helmet.