Vickers takes disputed pole

NASCAR’s new qualifying format put Brian Vickers on the pole at Talladega (Alabama) Superspeedway and left many drivers angry and confused, and three full-time teams failed to make today’s race.

Kevin Harvick called the format “the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” and Kyle Busch suggested heat races should be used to set the field at super- speedways.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. called for a return to single-car qualifying at Daytona and Talladega instead of the group formats, and Jeff Gordon tweeted, “Wow never been so frustrated & confused trying to qualify for a race. Not the way we intended to start the weekend.”

Drivers admitted when they arrived at Talladega that they didn’t understand the qualifying format, and it showed as there were no clear strategies throughout the field.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Justin Allgaier, two full-time Sprint Cup Series drivers, failed to make the field.

“I have no idea if I made the race or not,” Stenhouse said as the second round of qualifying began. “I asked if we made it, and nobody knew.”

Stenhouse drives for well-funded Roush-Fenway Racing, one of the top teams in NASCAR.

Reed Sorenson initially didn’t qualify, but got into the race when Joe Nemechek was disqualified for failing inspection.

Not making the field was met with outrage on Twitter from some of Stenhouse’s fellow drivers, who felt it was an injustice to a regular competitor.

A.J. Allmendinger and Jimmie Johnson had a more pragmatic outlook.

“Racing is not really fair most of the time,” Allmendinger said.

“If I was them, I would be upset, but we all knew what the rules were coming into it and what could happen,” said Johnson.

Truck Series

Timothy Peters picked up his first NASCAR Truck Series victory of the season by holding off the field on a two-lap sprint to the finish at Talladega Superspeedway.

Peters ended a 22-race winless drought with the win for Red Horse Racing.

Tayler Malsam finished a career-best second and Spencer Gallagher was a career-best third.

Tyler Reddick was fourth and Ryan Blaney was fifth.

Matt Crafton remained the points leader with four races left. He has a 16-point lead over Blaney.