DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Bill Elliott knows Darlington Raceway like the back of his hand. Besides, he threaded through this hairpin-shaped racetrack more times than he can remember.

Fifty-one times, to be exact.

The veteran Sprint Cup driver bears the craggy scars on his aging body, remnants of past battles with a racetrack dubbed too tough to tame. Elliott painfully marked his territory here long ago with jaw-jarring crashes into a wall that is perfectly interwoven into the fabric of this historic racetrack.

Elliott, a five-time winner at Darlington, sees this storied NASCAR venue through a rose-colored visor. He remains fascinated with its old-fashion allure and its unique characteristics -- elevated banks and slick, unforgiving corners in turns 1 and 4.

Elliott has watched this 1.366-mile racetrack evolve since he first challenged it in 1977. There have been aesthetically pleasing changing, but nothing has altered its character as much as a repaving that created a faster surface, making vulnerable the long-standing track record (173.797 mph) established by South Boston native Ward Burton in 1996.

"It's not the same Darlington," Elliott said.

Perhaps not. But the racetrack showed some bite yesterday.

Just ask two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. Or Denny Hamlin. Or Robby Gordon. Or Paul Menard.

All four painted the wall yesterday, and left a long trail of black scuff marks. It was an especially bad day for Johnson, who wrecked both his primary and back-up cars. Yet he pulled himself together to qualify third for tonight's Dodge Challenger 500.

"I'm just glad I didn't hit anything on that last outing," said Johnson, who swept both races here in 2004. "I made two mistakes just charging hard. I tried to get all I could out of the car. When something goes wrong [on the racetrack], it's hard to save it. I think starting out front will be important.

"I'm still trying to understand why we lost it. I lost it early on the straightaway before the corner [in Turn 1], so something happened up on the straightaway."

It happened again early during his final practice run. The No. 48 Chevrolet wiggled some on the back straightaway before getting away from Johnson in Turn 4.

Only minutes later, Gordon brushed the wall in Turn 1. He then slammed his No. 7 Dodge into the wall in Turn 4.

"You're on the edge every lap around this track," said Gordon, who posted the third-fastest speed in practice but qualified 43rd. "It's a completely different racetrack from what we are used to. Look at how many cars are banged up here. It's tough."

Hamlin, who failed to qualify for last night's Nationwide race after hitting the wall, echoed the sentiments of Elliott and Gordon.

"It's not Darlington," said Hamlin, who last Saturday led 381 laps before a flat tire dashed his hopes at Richmond International Raceway. "The characteristics somewhat are the same, but I'll tell you, it's just a whole new beast out there. It's a lot different and harder to drive, really, than what I expected."

The racetrack is faster and even more unforgiving than most drivers expected.

"The new car has probably made that a lot more apparent," said Elliott, who qualified 20th. "But the cars aren't gonna give up as much and the times are not gonna slow down as much."

"When you run that fast that close to the wall, even before they repaved it, it's not very forgiving," said Greg Biffle, who won the pole with a record 179.442 mph. "And now we're running three seconds a lap faster -- or whatever we are -- and it's less forgiving."

The entire field, except Gordon and Reed Sorenson, posted qualifying speeds better than Burton's previous qualifying record. Still, few drivers are convinced that Dale Earnhardt's record average speed of 139.958 mph (in 1993) will be challenged tonight.