Indianapolis ? Elliott Sadler avoided the wiggles, wobbles and technical problems that plagued other drivers qualifying for The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

The changing track conditions didn’t slow him down, either.

Sadler used a clean run and perfectly-timed cloud cover to his advantage Saturday, posting a fast lap of 184.116 mph for his second pole of the NASCAR season.

“I didn’t think we’d qualify that good,” Sadler said. “I knew we were going to have a great car in race trim. I didn’t think it would be that good in qualifying trim.”

Sadler was one of the fortunate drivers on Indianapolis’ storied 2.5-mile oval.

Three drivers – last year’s pole-winner Casey Mears, Jimmy Spencer and Rusty Wallace – all crashed, while rookie Boris Said bounced off the wall and still qualified.

Points leader Jimmie Johnson didn’t even get that chance. His car failed inspection twice because of a dangling chain in the rear and then ran out of time when he couldn’t beat the five-minute limit to get back in line.

Jeremy Mayfield was second with a lap of 183.053. Sadler won his first pole since Bristol on April 3 despite being slower than Mears’ record lap of 186.293, set last year.

“It was very fast right off the truck,” Sadler said. “It’s very fun to drive, and I think we definitely have the car to beat here tomorrow.”

Brian Vickers was fastest early in the session at 182.785, and, when the sun appeared and the track warmed, it seemed Vickers might stay on top. Michael Waltrip wound up qualifying third at 182.975.