Driving a stock car does not require much handling ability, at least not as compared to Grand Prix racing, because the tracks are simple banked ovals and there is almost no shifting of gears. So, qualifying becomes a test of raw nerve - of how fast a man is willing to take a curve.
Tom Wolfe (2009). “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby”, p.147, Macmillan