NASCAR Slip-sliding may lead to colliding

Drivers are complaining about the aging Darlington Raceway track.
DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) -- "Loose" was the operative word, with cars sliding all over the track at Darlington Raceway during preparations for the Dodge Charger 500.
"We've been fighting loose since we got here," said Greg Biffle, who started third in the Nextel Cup race Saturday night on the egg-shaped oval. "I didn't make a run over 15 laps.
"That's about how long I can hang on and hold my breath. It's going to be tough racing."
Between the shorter rear spoilers required at most tracks this year, the tire-eating racing surface and the narrowing of this 1.366-mile oval with the addition last year of energy-absorbing barriers, NASCAR's original paved superspeedway is harder than ever to drive.
"We're more out of control this year than I've ever been at Darlington," Elliott Sadler said Friday after practice. "The track is just getting old and gray.
"You have a lot less room to slide around because of the SAFER barriers."
Six-time Darlington winner Jeff Gordon echoed Sadler.
"You're taking spoiler away. You're taking race track away," said Gordon, who qualified 14th. "The track continues to age, and it just gets more and more difficult and the bumps get worse. The grip gets less and it just makes you have to really fight that much harder to stay off the walls.
"I know what it was like for me in practice. To run all night, it's going to be tough to stay off the walls."
Crash
One car that didn't stay off the walls Friday was the No. 0 Chevrolet of Mike Bliss, which crashed hard during practice. He will use a backup car and be forced to start the race from the rear of the 43-car field.
Kasey Kahne started from the pole for the second time in three Cup races at Darlington, with qualifying ace Ryan Newman making it an all-Dodge front row.
Kahne, a second-year Cup driver, won the pole here last spring and finished 13th in the race. He started 13th last fall on the 1.366-mile oval and ran fifth in the final Southern 500.
"We've had some success here, but it's a pretty tough track and it can bite you," Kahne said. "I've run into the wall a couple of times, but not too hard, yet."
Kahne's Evernham Motorsports Dodge took the fifth pole of his career with a lap of 170.024 mph. Newman, who has qualified on the pole three times and been second twice in 10 races this year, turned a lap of 169.555.
"It was on the edge and I didn't expect it to get loose where it did," Newman said. "Kasey laid down a great lap. He was nice and smooth, and we weren't quite as smooth or fast."
In the hunt
Kahne and Newman were followed by the Fords of Biffle at 169.222 and Sadler at 168.665 and the Chevrolets of Brian Vickers at 168.607 and rookie Kyle Busch at 168.089.
Series points leader Jimmie Johnson, who swept both races at Darlington in 2004 and had the pole for Friday night's Busch Series race but finished 23rd, qualified ninth at 167.676. Defending series champion Kurt Busch -- Kyle's older brother and the current series runner-up -- was 11th at 167.550.
Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a disappointing 39th.
"The car was real, real loose," said Earnhardt, who has fought his way back from a poor start to the season and came here ninth in the points. "I just couldn't get the power down."