Tag: Coors Light Pole Award

Logano Captures SpongeBob SquarePants 400 Pole

Joey Logano took the pole for the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway. Logano set the pole with a lap at 192.397 mph and in 28.067 seconds in his Team Penske Ford.

“Definitely cool to get another pole,” Logano said. “Last year it took us pretty much the whole year to get one pole,” he said. “We won a lot of first and second sessions, but we’d fall on our face in the third session. So it’s pretty special to be able to figure out these third sessions and still have a lot of speed in our car when we get to those rounds. You don’t get anything for winning the first and second rounds is what I figured out last year.”

Coming close with a very late run was Kasey Kahne. Kahne turned a lap of 191.911 mph/28.138 seconds to take the second spot.

“Our final run was our best run of the day. So, I’m happy with the car and the speed of the car and the engine and the guys for making it better throughout the entire day. I look forward to tomorrow night. It’s going to be an interesting race. I always enjoy racing here at Kansas and we’ll see what we’ve got.”

Keselowski will start third in Saturday night’s race. Failing to make the third round were such notables as six-time champion Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and former champions Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart. The only driver who missed the race was Brendan Gaughan.

Starting Grid for SpongeBob SquarePants 400:

POS.	CAR #	DRIVER	SPONSOR	BEST SPEED	BEST TIME	BEHIND
1	22	Joey Logano	AAA Insurance	192.4	28.067	Leader
2	5	Kasey Kahne	Great Clips	191.91	28.138	0.071
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Avaya	191.86	28.146	0.079
4	78	Martin Truex Jr	Furniture Row/Visser Precision	191.78	28.157	0.09
5	19	Carl Edwards	Stanley	191.58	28.187	0.12
6	4	Kevin Harvick	Jimmy John’s/ Budweiser	191.3	28.228	0.161
7	16	Greg Biffle	Cheez-It/Sponge Bob Square Pants Ford Fusion	191.02	28.27	0.203
8	41	Kurt Busch	Haas Automation	190.85	28.294	0.227
9	1	Jamie McMurray	McDonald’s	190.23	28.387	0.32
10	42	Kyle Larson	Target	190.15	28.398	0.331
11	24	Jeff Gordon	American Red Cross	189.9	28.436	0.369
12	18	Erik Jones	M&M’s Red Nose Day	189.54	28.49	0.423
13	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Freight	190.71	28.315	0.248
14	43	Aric Almirola	Farmland	190.69	28.318	0.251
15	31	Ryan Newman	Quicken Loans	190.56	28.338	0.271
16	14	Tony Stewart	Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1	190.51	28.345	0.278
17	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Nationwide	190.5	28.347	0.28
18	20	Matt Kenseth	Dollar General	190.48	28.35	0.283
19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe’s	190.28	28.379	0.312
20	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Zest Ford Fusion	190.23	28.387	0.32
21	15	Clint Bowyer	5-Hour Energy	190.19	28.393	0.326
22	27	Paul Menard	Pittsburgh Paints / Menards	190.05	28.414	0.347
23	55	David Ragan	SpongeBob Square Pants Aaron’s Dream Machine	189.76	28.457	0.39
24	13	Casey Mears	Squidward Tentacles Chevrolet SS	189.18	28.545	0.478
25	51	Justin Allgaier	Fraternal Order of Eagles	189.61	28.48	0.413
26	9	Sam Hornish Jr	Medallion Bank	189.43	28.506	0.439
27	10	Danica Patrick	GoDaddy	189.35	28.519	0.452
28	3	Austin Dillon	Dow	189.16	28.547	0.48
29	47	AJ Allmendinger	Dillon’s/SCOTT Products	188.92	28.584	0.517
30	6	Trevor Bayne	Advocare Ford Fusion	188.9	28.586	0.519
31	95	Michael McDowell	WRL / Larry the Lobster	188.9	28.586	0.519
32	33	Ty Dillon	No. 33 Plankton Chevrolet SS	188.82	28.599	0.532
33	26	Jeb Burton	Maxim Fantasy Sports	188.61	28.63	0.563
34	35	Cole Whitt	TBD	187.75	28.762	0.695
35	83	Matt DiBenedetto	Dustless Blasting	187.67	28.774	0.707
36	7	Alex Bowman	Accell Construction	187.56	28.791	0.724
37	23	J.J. Yeley	Dr. Pepper “I’m a Pepper”	186.45	28.962	0.895
38	38	David Gilliland	MDS	186.39	28.971	0.904
39	34	Brett Moffitt	Dockside Logistics	186.36	28.976	0.909
40	98	Josh Wise	Phil Parsons Racing	186.25	28.994	0.927
41	40	Landon Cassill	Carsforsale.com	185.14	29.167	1.1
42	32	Joey Gase	TBA	185.05	29.181	1.114
43	46	Michael Annett	Allstate Peterbilt Group	183.77	29.384	1.317

May 8, 2015

Matt Kenseth Wins Coors Light Pole at Bristol

April 17, 2015, Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

BRISTOL, Tenn.—If history repeats itself on Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway, Matt Kenseth won’t have a problem with it.

The last time Kenseth won a pole at the high-banked .533-mile short track—back in 2005—he followed with a victory in the race.

In Friday’s time trials at Thunder Valley, with a lap at 128.632 mph (14.917 seconds) Kenseth earned the 14th Coors Light Pole Award of his career, his second at Bristol and his first of the season.

And that’s a good omen for a driver who hasn’t won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race since his seven-victory debut season with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013.

Kenseth edged two-time Bristol winner Brad Keselowski (128.442 mph) for the top starting spot by .022 seconds. Carl Edwards (128.322 mph) qualified third, his best effort of the season so far, and reigning series champion Kevin Harvick (128.211 mph) will start fourth in Sunday’s Food City 500to Support Steve Byrnes (1 p.m. on FOX).

Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano (who was fastest in each of the first two rounds of knockout qualifying), Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne earned the fifth through eighth spots on the grid, as all of the top eight qualifiers are former Bristol winners.

“We need to be able to go out and win races,” Kenseth said. “Last year and so far this year haven’t been particularly great for JGR. I think we’ve had two wins that weren’t plate races in the last year and a half as a company.

“So, obviously, as a company, we’ve got to get running better. … We’ve just got to keep working on it, and I’ve certainly got to be better. I need to do a better job, and I know that. I work at getting better every week, and I have, I think, since the first day I came into this sport.”

If Kenseth is to capitalize on his pole position, his team will have to improve the handling of the No. 20 Toyota in race trim.

“You have to be able to stay on your tires for a long time,” the 2003 series champion said. “You have to have good balance at the end of the run. You have to be pretty fast at the beginning of the run so you don’t give up spots on restarts—it is hard to pass later the run.

“I wasn’t really thrilled with the way my car drove in race trim (in practice) today, but in qualifying trim it would run a fast lap. So I certainly think we’ve got some work to do (in Saturday’s practice).”

So does Jimmie Johnson. Last week’s Texas winner didn’t survive the first elimination in qualifying and will start 28th in Sunday’s race. In fact, Kahne was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to advance to the final round in Friday’s time trials.

David Ragan continued his solid effort in relief of injured Kyle Busch, qualifying 11th in the No. 18 JGR Camry.

Note: Brendan Gaughan and Ron Hornaday Jr. failed to make the 43-car field.

Complete Starting Lineup:

POS.	CAR #	DRIVER	SPONSOR	BEST SPEED	BEST TIME	BEHIND
1	20	Matt Kenseth	Dollar General	128.63	14.917	Leader
2	2	Brad Keselowski	Miller Lite	128.44	14.939	0.022
3	19	Carl Edwards	COMCAST BUSINESS	128.32	14.953	0.036
4	4	Kevin Harvick	Jimmy John’s/ Budweiser	128.21	14.966	0.049
5	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Freight	127.42	15.059	0.142
6	22	Joey Logano	AutoTrader	127.32	15.071	0.154
7	41	Kurt Busch	Haas Automation	126.87	15.124	0.207
8	5	Kasey Kahne	Great Clips	126.83	15.129	0.212
9	27	Paul Menard	Sylvania / Menards	126.83	15.129	0.212
10	1	Jamie McMurray	McDonald’s	126.61	15.155	0.238
11	18	David Ragan	Snickers Extreme	126.44	15.176	0.259
12	3	Austin Dillon	Dow	126.26	15.197	0.28
13	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	MOUNTAIN DEW DEWSHINE	127.08	15.099	0.182
14	42	Kyle Larson	Target	127.07	15.1	0.183
15	51	Justin Allgaier	Auto Owners Insurance	126.56	15.161	0.244
16	78	Martin Truex Jr	Furniture Row/Visser Precision	126.5	15.168	0.251
17	40	Landon Cassill	TBA	126.43	15.177	0.26
18	31	Ryan Newman	WIX	126.09	15.218	0.301
19	95	Michael McDowell	Thrivent Financial	125.95	15.235	0.318
20	47	AJ Allmendinger	Bush’s Beans	125.94	15.236	0.319
21	14	Tony Stewart	Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1	125.83	15.249	0.332
22	83	Matt DiBenedetto	Dustless Blasting	125.8	15.253	0.336
23	24	Jeff Gordon	3M	125.61	15.276	0.359
24	55	Brett Moffitt	Aaron’s Dream Machine	125.2	15.326	0.409
25	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Zest Ford Fusion	126.38	15.183	0.266
26	10	Danica Patrick	GoDaddy	126.33	15.189	0.272
27	13	Casey Mears	No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS	126.3	15.192	0.275
28	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe’s	126.15	15.211	0.294
29	23	J.J. Yeley	Dr. Pepper “I’m a Pepper”	126.05	15.223	0.306
30	43	Aric Almirola	Smithfield	125.82	15.25	0.333
31	6	Trevor Bayne	Advocare Ford Fusion	125.8	15.253	0.336
32	38	David Gilliland	MDS Transport	125.63	15.274	0.357
33	16	Greg Biffle	Ortho Ford Fusion	125.55	15.283	0.366
34	26	Jeb Burton	MaximFantasySports.com	125.51	15.288	0.371
35	98	Josh Wise	Phil Parsons Racing	125.45	15.295	0.378
36	46	Michael Annett	Pilot Flying J	125.16	15.331	0.414
37	15	Clint Bowyer	5-Hour Energy	125.02	15.348	0.431
38	34	Chris Buescher	CSX / Play It Safe	125.02	15.348	0.431
39	9	Sam Hornish Jr	Nature Blast	124.94	15.358	0.441
40	7	Alex Bowman	TBA	124.56	15.405	0.488
41	32	Mike Bliss	KEEN PARTS/VISONE RV	124.13	15.458	0.541
42	35	Cole Whitt	Tweaker Energy Shots	124.05	15.468	0.551
43	33	Alex Kennedy	Media Cast	123.61	15.523	0.606

April 17, 2015

Harvick Takes Pole for the Hollywood Casino 400

Kevin Harvick took the Coors Light Pole Award for the Hollywood Casino 400 with a speed of 197.621 mph or 27.325 seconds It is his third pole in a row at Kansas Speedway. The pole was Harvick’s eighth of the season and his 21st top-10 start in 2014.

Harvick also set a new track qualifing record of 197.773 mph in the second round. It broke the previoius track record of 194.252 mph which was his own track record. It was the ninth track qualifying record for Chevrolet in 2014.

“I’m just really proud of everybody on our Budweiser team. We’ve been dealt some bad luck throughout the year, but it hasn’t fazed them in continuing to work on the cars and the speed. The first three weeks we have led a bunch of laps and qualified well. Last week had them covered and a valve stem got knocked off by a lugnut. Keep doing the things that you are doing and that luck will all come full circle and as long as the cars continue to be fast that stuff all comes back to you. Hopefully it peaks at the right time,” stated Harvick.

The outside front row starting spot belongs to Brian Vickers. It is his ninth top-10 start of 2014 and his fourth in 11 races at Kansas Speedway.

“It’s fast — wow. A 27.50 second lap around here, that was a fun lap. All the guys on this team did an awesome job with the car. That was probably the best setup race car on the race track. You’re not going to get through the corners any faster than that. I was really proud of the guys. Hopefully we can take that and take it into the race,” Vickers said post qualifying.

Aric Almirola will start on the second row in third position after being eliminated from the Chase last week at Dover.

“That was really important for us,” he noted. “Even though we are out of it we still want to compete like we are in the Chase; prove we are capable of doing it and prove it to ourselves and everyone else out there. This is exactly how we need to do that. We need a good run Sunday. We still have a lot to race for. We can get as high as fifth in points and that should be our goal, to get as high in points as we can.”

Joey Logano, who will start in fourth, was happy with his qualifying effort.

“That was faster than we were in practice, so that is good,” he explained. “Overall it is a good starting spot. Fourth is good. The outside lane is good to be in. We will try to move up from there and make sure we make good use of that good starting spot. That is important. Track position is important here and qualifying is one of the most important things of the weekend here and I am glad we were able to capitalize and get a good starting spot.”

The Hollywood Casino 400 will be televised on ESPN Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.

The final starting order is as follows:

1) Kevin Harvick

2) Brian Vickers

3) Aric Almirola

4) Joey Logano

5) Jeff Gordon

6) Brad Keselowski

7_ Kyle Busch

8) Dale Earnhardt Jr.

9) Tony Sewart

10) Kasey Kahne

11) Greg Biffle

12) Carl Edwards

13) Paul Menard

14) Jamie McMurray

15) Martin Truex Jr.

16) Austin Dillion

17) Ryan Newman

18) Kyle Larson

19) Clint Bowyer

20) AJ Allmendinger

21) Justin Allgaier

22) Marcos Ambrose

23) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24) Kurt Busch

25) Denny Hamlin

26) Casey Mears

27) Matt Kenseth

28) Michael McDowell

29) Danica Patrick

30) Reed Sorenson

31) David Gilliland

32) Jimmie Johnson

33) Alex Bowman

34) Josh Wise

35) Landon Cassill

36) Michael Annett

37) David Tagan

38) JJ Yeley

39) Cole Whitt

40) Timmy Hill

41) Mike Bliss

42) Joey Gase

43) Mike Wallace

October 3, 2014
Keselowski Wins Sprint Cup Coors Light Pole Award at Richmond

September 5, 2014

Kevin Harvick Wins Sprint Cup Coors Light Pole Award at Bristol

Kevin Harvick captured his fifth pole of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway with a record speed of 131.362 mph, setting a new track record. It is his 11th career pole in the series.

“My guys have done a great job bringing fast cars every week,” he said. “I knew we had a good car in practice and were able to get it pretty good in race trim.” He summed it up saying, “Any time you can beat the 24 (Jeff Gordon) right now, things are going okay.”

Jeff Gordon was quickest in the first round and was looking for a third straight pole but he was unable to carry the top speed over to the final round and will begin on the outside pole in the IRWIN Tools Night Race.

“I was really, really happy with the balance and how the car was getting through the corners,” Gordon explained. “I thought we did it, I really did. I thought we had enough. That was a good lap so it just tells you how good of a lap Kevin had.”

Carl Edwards duplicated his run in the first round and will start in third place for the Saturday night race. Edwards won the Food City 500 this past spring at Bristol. Kyle Busch will start beside Edwards in the fourth position. Busch has five previous wins at the track, along with Gordon and his brother, Kurt. Joey Logano qualified fifth followed by Jimmie Johnson, who has one win at Bristol, in sixth place.

Qualifying was intense as drivers tried to beat the rain which was threatening to interfere with qualifying. Kyle Larson, Aric Almirola, Casey Mears and Cole Whitt fell victim to the high speeds and made contact with the wall during qualifying. Larson was fastest in the first practice but did not advance to the final round of qualifying and will have to begin from 40th place.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who was fastest in the final practice missed a little over half of the first round because his car was still in inspection when qualifying began. He did not make the cut-off for the final round and will start from the 21st position.

Drivers who did not make it to the final round include notables Dale Earnhardt Jr. who will start 20th, Matt Kenseth (16), Clint Bowyer (14) and Denny Hamlin (13).

Tune in to the Irwin Tools Night Race Saturday evening on ABC with television coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Lineup for the IRWIN Tools Night Race
Position	Car No.	Driver
1	4	Kevin Harvick
2	24	Jeff Gordon
3	99	Carl Edwards
4	18	Kyle Busch
5	22	Joey Logano
6	48	Jimmie Johnson
7	41	Kurt Busch
8	16	Greg Biffle
9	2	Brad Keselowski
10	9	Marcos Ambrose
11	31	Ryan Newman
12	5	Kasey Kahne
13	11	Denny Hamlin
14	15	Clint Bowyer
15	55	Brian Vickers
16	20	Matt Kenseth
17	27	Paul Menard
18	1	Jamie McMurray
19	51	Justin Allgaier
20	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
21	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
22	47	AJ Allmendinger
23	78	Martin Truex Jr.
24	10	Danica Patrick
25	14	Jeff Burton
26	3	Austin Dillon
27	23	Alex Bowman
28	95	Michael McDowell
29	34	David Ragan
30	98	Josh Wise
31	66	Brett Moffitt
32	38	David Gilliland
33	83	Ryan Truex
34	26	Cole Whitt
35	37	Dave Blaney
36	36	Reed Sorenson
37	32	J.J. Yeley
38	7	Michael Annett
39	40	Landon Cassill
40	42	Kyle Larson
41	33	David Stremme
42	43	Aric Almirola
43	13	Casey Mears

August 22, 2014

Kyle Busch Wins 15th Career Pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Kyle Busch won the Coors Light Pole Award Friday afternoon at New Hampshire with a new track record qualifying speed of 138.130 mph. This is the 13th track qualifying record set this season. It was Busch’s second pole of the season, his second at the Loudon track and his 15th career Cup pole.

There have been 12 different winners in the last 12 races at New Hampshire and if Busch’s fast lap is any indication, it could be 13 for 13. He had two second place finishes here in 2013.

“This has been a good place for us here,” Kyle noted. “Last year we qualified on the pole in the same race and finished second and followed that up with another second in the fall race here. So we’d love to be able to continue that on and see if we can’t make it one spot better here this weekend.”

Jimmie Johnson, who has three previous wins at the track, will line up second.

“I was very optimistic coming into qualifying today,” he said. “I thought I had enough to get it there. Then I saw Kyle’s lap. He definitely put one down.”

Busch’s teammate, Denny Hamlin will start from the third position. Tony Stewart, who also has three wins at the track, and Jamie McMurray, who has one top-five in his last six starts, rounded out the top five starting positions.

Notable drivers who did not make it into the second and final round of qualifying include Carl Edwards (14th), Matt Kenseth (15th), Kurt Busch (18th), Ryan Newman (24th) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. who will start 28th.

Kyle Busch will lead the field to green Sunday for the Sprint Cup Series Camping World RV Sales 301. Race coverage will begin at 1 p.m. ET on TNT and the green flag is set to drop at 1:15 p.m. The race will be Turner Sports’ final NASCAR broadcast.

Complete Starting Lineup for the Camping World RV Sales 301:

1. Kyle Busch
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Tony Stewart
5. Jamie McMurray
6. Joey Logano
7. Brad Keselowski
8. Clint Bowyer.
9. Martin Truex Jr.
10. Kasey Kahne
11. Jeff Gordon
12. Kevin Harvick
13. Kyle Larson
14. Carl Edwards
15. Matt Kenseth
16. Paul Menard
17. Brian Vickers
18. Kurt Busch
19. Aric Almirola
20. AJ Allmendinger
21. Marcos Ambrose
22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
23. Austin Dillon
24. Ryan Newman
25. Justin Allgaier
26. David Ragan
27. Greg Biffle
28. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
29. Danica Patrick
30. Jeff Burton
31. Casey Mears
32. Josh Wise
33. David Gilliland
34. Landon Cassill
35. Cole Whitt
36. Alex Bowman
37. Reed Sorenson
38. Ryan Truex
39. Michael Annett
40. Eddie MacDonald
41. Mike Bliss
42. Timmy Hill
43. Morgan Shepherd

July 11, 2014

McMurray Wins Coors Light Pole Award for Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway

Jamie McMurray won his second consecutive pole at Sonoma Raceway after a final run in the closing minutes of Knockout Qualifying with a track record qualifying speed of 96.350 mph. This is his third pole at Sonoma and his tenth series career pole.

McMurray is the eleventh different pole winner this season and his qualifying speed set the eleventh track record this year.

He spoke about the challenges of the new qualifying procedure, saying, “This Knockout Qualifying is just an emotional roller coaster, from not making it into the top twelve and then having to go out and bump your way in, to then being on the pole. There’s a lot of highs and lows that go into it.”

McMurray hopes to translate this pole into a better finish than his previous two poles that resulted in disappointing finishes of 37th and 25th.

“This race is about having good strategy and having a little bit of luck,” he explained. “It’s about not getting run into in Turn 4 or Turn 7 on a restart. I’ve run enough races here that I’ve had every issue you could have.”

He concluded by stating, “You have to put it all together. You have to have good strategy, you have to have a good car and you have to make good decisions as a driver.”

AJ Allmendinger will start on the outside pole in second place. “

I felt like I put in two good laps out there. You can nitpick and say I lost a little bit here and there but Jamie put in a hell of a lap, congrats to him,” Allmendinger said.

McMurray’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, rookie Kyle Larson, qualified third. Larson was happy with his starting position but realizes that the race will provide an opportunity to improve and gain valuable experience.

“I’ve still got a lot more to learn, especially when I get a few laps on the tires,’’ Larson said. “I struggle with that. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot throughout the race. I’ve just got to try to stay out of trouble.’’

Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch round out the top five for Sunday’s starting lineup. Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Brian Vickers, Paul Menard and Joey Logano complete the top ten starting positions. Danica Patrick and Casey Mears will start in eleventh and twelfth, respectively.

The teams were unsure what to expect with the new qualifying format at Sonoma but the two sessions ran smoothly with no on-track incidents. Surprisingly, no Hendrick Motorsports Cars advanced to the final round of top twelve drivers.

Other notables who did not advance to the last session include Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle and Brad Keselowski.

Television pre-race coverage for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race will begin at 2 p.m. ET on TNT. The green flag start is scheduled for approximately 3:19 ET.

Complete Starting Lineup for Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway

1	1	Jamie McMurray	96.350	74.354
2	47	AJ Allmendinger	96.088	74.557
3	42	Kyle Larson #	95.942	74.670
4	99	Carl Edwards	95.857	74.736
5	41	Kurt Busch	95.704	74.856
6	4	Kevin Harvick	95.655	74.894
7	31	Ryan Newman	95.616	74.925
8	55	Brian Vickers	95.574	74.958
9	27	Paul Menard	95.528	74.994
10	22	Joey Logano	95.417	75.081
11	10	Danica Patrick	95.414	75.083
12	13	Casey Mears	95.327	75.152
13	2	Brad Keselowski	95.617	74.924
14	20	Matt Kenseth	95.605	74.933
15	24	Jeff Gordon	95.552	74.975
16	11	Denny Hamlin	95.479	75.032
17	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	95.461	75.046
18	78	Martin Truex Jr.	95.451	75.054
19	16	Greg Biffle	95.432	75.069
20	18	Kyle Busch	95.378	75.112
21	14	Tony Stewart	95.308	75.167
22	48	Jimmie Johnson	95.296	75.176
23	9	Marcos Ambrose	95.247	75.215
24	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	95.136	75.303
25	15	Clint Bowyer	95.044	75.376
26	3	Austin Dillon #	95.028	75.388
27	38	David Gilliland	94.992	75.417
28	95	Michael McDowell	94.972	75.433
29	43	Aric Almirola	94.897	75.492
30	5	Kasey Kahne	94.865	75.518
31	34	David Ragan	94.793	75.575
32	26	Cole Whitt #	94.734	75.622
33	98	Josh Wise	94.568	75.755
34	83	Ryan Truex #	94.562	75.760
35	51	Justin Allgaier #	94.491	75.817
36	33	Alex Kennedy	94.147	76.094
37	40	Timmy Hill – DC1	94.012	76.203
38	23	Alex Bowman #	93.867	76.321
39	44	David Mayhew – DC2	93.741	76.423
40	36	Reed Sorenson	93.498	76.622
41	32	Boris Said	93.377	76.721
42	7	Michael Annett #	92.282	77.632
43	66	Tomy Drissi	91.115	78.626

June 21, 2014

Kyle Busch wins the Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Award at Darlington Raceway

After posting fast speeds in all three rounds, Kyle Busch went to the top of the leaderboard in Round 3 of Knockout Qualifying to score his 37^th pole in 277 NASCAR Nationwide Series races. He posted a lap speed of 173.681 mph. It is his third pole in ten races at Darlington Raceway.

Chase Elliott will start on the outside pole position in his debut at “The Track Too Tough To Tame” and scores his fourth top-10 start this season. He also has the distinction of being the fastest qualifying rookie.

Matt Kenseth will begin third, marking his seventh top-10 in seven races this season. Kevin Harvick will start fourth followed by Ty Dillon in fifth. Chris Buescher, Brian Scott, Regan Smith, Elliott Sadler and Trevor Bayne qualified in positions six through 10, respectively.

Of special note, all three JR Motorsports cars qualified in the top-10. Kyle Larson spun out during qualifying, hitting the wall and will most likely have to go to a backup car for the race.

Busch will lead the field to green in the 32nd annual VFW Sports Clips Help a Hero 200 Friday evening. The race coverage will be broadcast on ESPN2 beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Complete NASCAR Nationwide Series Starting Lineup – Darlington Raceway

1. Kyle Busch

2. Chase Elliott

3. Matt Kenseth

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Ty Dillon

6. Chris Buescher

7. Brian Scott

8. Regan Smith

9. Elliott Sadler

10. Trevor Bayne

11. Cale Conley

12. Kyle Larson

13. Bendan Gaughan

14. Ryan Sieg

15. Joey Logano

16. Landon Cassill

17. Dylan Kwasniewski

18. Ryan Reed

19. Josh Wise

20. Mike Bliss

21. Jeremy Clements

22. James Buescher

23. JJ Yeley

24. David Starr

25. Dakoda Armstrong

26. Jeffrey Earnhardt

27. Mike Wallace

28. Tanner Berryhill

29. Todd Bodine

30. Eric McClure

31. Kevin LePage

32. Joey Gase

33. Matt Dibenedetto

34. Tommy Joe Martins

35. Derrike Cope

36. Carlos Contreras

37. Matt Carter

38. Jeff Green

39. Mike Harmon

40. Blake Koch

April 11, 2014

Tony Stewart Wins Pole at Texas!

Tony Stewart won the Coors Light Pole award at the Texas Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon with a qualifying time 27.628 seconds or 195.454 miles per hour. He beat Brad Keselowski’s time of 27.636 at the last second as the third qualifying had expired. Stewart said, “I wasn’t sure I could on” the car was so fast. “This Chevy was fast today.” The pole was Stewart’s 15^th of his career and second at Texas.

Stewart-Haas Racing was fast as Kevin Harvick shattered the track record with a qualifying speed of 198.28 mph, the fastest average speed ever recorded at a 1.5 mile track for a NSCAR qualifying session. He was followed by Trevor Bayne, Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman in the first session. Toyota Racing and Joe Gibbs seemed to struggle for time as only Brian Vickers and Denny Hamlin had enough speed to move to that second round. Notable drivers that did not move on to the second round of qualifying (top 24 qualifiers only) were Kasey Kahne (32^nd), last year’s pole winner Kyle Busch (29^th) and Matt Kenseth (26^th). Kenseth said after that first session, “We missed the set-up and the track must have picked up speed after that rain shower earlier.”

The second session, which would only qualify the top twelve for the final session, was lead by the Ford of Greg Biffle who topped the charts at 196.235 mph. He was followed closely by the eventual pole winner Stewart, Harvick, Keselowski and his Penske team mate Joey Logano.

In the last session, which only lasts 5 minutes, Keselowski was quite fast until he was nipped by Stewart.

Line Up (per Nascar):

POS	Car No	Driver	Best Speed	Best Time	Behind

1	14	Tony Stewart	195.454	27.628
2	2	Brad Keselowski	195.419	27.633	–0.005
3	4	Kevin Harvick	195.298	27.65	–0.022
4	16	Greg Biffle	194.7	27.735	–0.107
5	99	Carl Edwards	194.637	27.744	–0.116
6	11	Denny Hamlin	194.623	27.746	–0.118
7	21	Trevor Bayne	194.503	27.763	–0.135
8	31	Ryan Newman	194.14	27.815	–0.187
9	9	M.Ambrose	194.056	27.827	–0.199
10	22	Joey Logano	193.743	27.872	–0.244
11	41	Kurt Busch	193.126	27.961	–0.333
12	24	Jeff Gordon	192.089	28.112	–0.484
13	27	Paul Menard	194.259	27.798	–0.170
14	42	Kyle Larson	194.084	27.823	–0.195
15	1	J. McMurray	194.021	27.832	–0.204
16	48	Jimmie Johnson	194.007	27.834	–0.206
17	43	Aric Almirola	193.59	27.894	–0.266
18	78	Martin Truex Jr	193.493	27.908	–0.280
19	88	Dale Earnhardt J	193.354	27.928	–0.300
20	3	Austin Dillon	193.154	27.957	–0.329
21	13	Casey Mears	193.154	27.957	–0.329
22	51	Justin Allgaier	192.981	27.982	–0.354
23	55	Brian Vickers	192.768	28.013	–0.385
24	10	Danica Patrick	192.761	28.014	–0.386
25	15	Clint Bowyer	194.988	27.694	–0.066
26	20	Matt Kenseth	194.637	27.744	–0.116
27	7	M. Annett	194.602	27.749	–0.121
28	95	M. McDowell	194.581	27.752	–0.124
29	18	Kyle Busch	194.539	27.758	–0.130
30	23	Alex Bowman	194.454	27.77	–0.142
31	17	R. Stenhouse Jr	194.44	27.772	–0.144
32	5	Kasey Kahne	194.028	27.831	–0.203
33	47	AJ Allmendinger	193.611	27.891	–0.263
34	35	D. Reutimann	192.954	27.986	–0.358
35	77	Dave Blaney	192.52	28.049	–0.421
36	30	P. Kligerman	192.219	28.093	–0.465
37	32	Travis Kvapil	192.171	28.1	–0.472
38	36	Reed Sorenson	191.748	28.162	–0.534
39	38	David Gilliland	191.625	28.18	–0.552
40	40	Landon Cassill	191.408	28.212	–0.584
41	98	Josh Wise	191.232	28.238	–0.610
42	26	Cole Whitt	189.036	28.566	–0.938
43	34	David Ragan	187.839	28.748	–1.120

David Ragan

Ford

To Bellac

187.839

28.748

–1.120

April 5, 2014

Matt Kenseth Wins the Pole for the Auto Club 400 at Fontana

Kenseth conquered Knockout Qualifying and drove his No. 20 Dollar General Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to first place at Auto Club Speedway, earning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Coors Light Pole Award with a speed of 187.315 mph. It was his 12^th career pole and his first pole at this track.

When asked the importance of track position, Kenseth responded by saying, “Track position is important everywhere. This is probably one of the best tracks we go to though, as far as passing.” He continued saying, “There’s a lot of options here, this place is really wide. It’s very challenging as a driver but very fun as well.”

His car was consistently fast all day in practice and qualifying. Kenseth was scored fourth quickest in the first elimination round, second in the next round and captured the top qualifying spot in the final round.

Notable drivers that did not advance to the second round include McMurray, Kahne and Danica Patrick who qualified 25^th, 26^th and 27th. Those not advancing to the final round include Denny Hamlin (13), Kyle Busch (14), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (15), Ryan Newman (16) and Kurt Busch (17).

Brad Keselowski will start on the outside pole for the Auto Club 400, his fourth consecutive start on the front row.

“We’ve got a lot of great momentum going,” he said, “so we’ve got to keep it up. Obviously qualifying up front is always fun and always a great start to the weekend. But there’s more to be done in the race.”

Jimmie Johnson, Harvick, Bowyer, Gordon and Logano will begin in positions three through seven respectively. Rounding out the top twelve are Marcos Ambrose, Edwards, Stewart, rookie Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr.

The Auto Club 400 race will consist of 200 laps/400 miles. It will be televised on FOX with race coverage beginning Sunday at 3:00 pm. The green flag is scheduled to drop at approximately 3:18 pm.

The complete starting lineup for the Auto Club 400:

Position	No.	Driver	Sponsor
1	20	Matt Kenseth	Dollar General Toyota
2	2	Brad Keselowski	Wurth Ford
3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe’s Spring is Calling Chevrolet
4	4	Kevin Harvick	Jimmy John’s Chevrolet
5	15	Clint Bowyer	PEAK Toyota
6	24	Jeff Gordon	Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet
7	22	Joey Logano	AAA Southern California Ford
8	9	Marcos Ambrose	DeWalt Ford
9	99	Carl Edwards	Subway Ford
10	14	Tony Stewart	Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet
11	42	Kyle Larson	Target Chevrolet
12	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Chevrolet
13	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Express Toyota
14	18	Kyle Busch	Interstate Batteries Toyota
15	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	National Guard Chevrolet
16	31	Ryan Newman	Caterpillar Chevrolet
17	41	Kurt Busch	Haas Automation Chevrolet
18	47	AJ Allmendinger	Charter Chevrolet
19	55	Brian Vickers	TreatMyClot.com/Aaron’s Toyota
20	3	Austin Dillon #	Cheerios Chevrolet
21	43	Aric Almirola	Farmland Ford
22	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford EcoBoost Ford
23	7	Michael Annett #	Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet
24	16	Greg Biffle	3M Aerospace Ford
25	1	Jamie McMurray	McDonald’s Chevrolet
26	5	Kasey Kahne	Time Warner Cable Chevrolet
27	10	Danica Patrick	GoDaddy/Get Found Chevrolet
28	51	Justin Allgaier #	Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
29	38	David Gilliland	Love’s Travel Stops Ford
30	27	Matt Crafton (i)	Duracell/Menards Chevrolet
31	13	Casey Mears	GEICO Chevrolet
32	30	Parker Kligerman #	Swan Energy Toyota
33	35	David Reutimann	MDS Transport Ford
34	26	Cole Whitt #	Swan Energy Toyota
35	32	Travis Kvapil	SK Hand Tools Ford
36	36	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet
37	33	Brian Scott (i)	Whitetail Chevrolet
38	98	Josh Wise	Trench Shoring Company Chevrolet
39	23	Alex Bowman #	Dr.Pepper Toyota
40	83	Ryan Truex #	Borla Exhaust Toyota
41	34	David Ragan	Taco Bell Ford
42	66	Joe Nemechek (i)	Land Castle Title Toyota
43	40	Landon Cassill (i)	CRC Brakleen/FiberLock Chevrolet

# Rookie

(i) Ineligible for Driver Points

March 21, 2014