bigbadbrother
08-01-2014, 09:44 PM
Jay Pennell
Team Penske's Joey Logano dominated the first two rounds of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying at Pocono Raceway, but in the opening moments of Round 3 it was rookie Kyle Larson that took the top spot atop the leaderboard.
Posting a lap of 49.063 seconds at 183.438 mph, Larson set a new track record en route to winning the first pole of his career. Making only his second start at the ‘Tricky Triangle' this weekend, Larson finished fifth in his first trip earlier this year.
"I had butterflies in that last round," Larson said. "I knew we had a shot at the pole after the second round. I was nervous and I hit all three corners about as good as I could, so I was really excited about that. Thanks to Target and everybody at the shop. They're making the cars faster and faster every week and we're getting better and better. I really think a win is coming soon maybe before the Chase starts."
Larson started on pole earlier this year at Richmond International Raceway, but earned that pole when qualifying was rained out based on his practice time.
"It's really exciting," he said. "I got the pole at Richmond, but that was in practice. So, this is a legit pole and I'm really happy about that and it looks like a really good weekend."
Logano swept the first two rounds of qualifying, but just missed out on the pole with a lap of 49.071 seconds at 183.408 mph. This is Logano's sixth front row start of the season.
"It felt so good," Logano said of his second-place lap. "I would have put millions of dollars on that lap being the pole. It felt so good. (Crew chief) Todd Gordon made great adjustments after each run. We talked about it and being able to keep up with it. We kept going faster and faster. I thought I nailed all three corners that time and the runs before I didn't really nail them. I thought, 'Oh yeah, I've got it this time.' Then I get beat.
"It sucks. This is our sixth front row start. That's something to be proud of, but at the same time that's how frustrated I am because we've only got one pole out of that. We've been solid. We've still made every round in these qualifying sessions, besides the superspeedway. We've been consistently fast at every race track. I want more poles. I want more flags and all that stuff. Still a good starting spot, good pit box and we'll go from there."
Friday notebook from Pocono: Points racing, fantasy football and family matters
Logano's Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski barely made the cut to advance to the final round, posting the 12th-fastest lap. During the final round, however, Keselowski was able to post the third-fastest lap of the session.
Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick rounded out the top 10.
Failing to advance to the final round included the likes of Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth.
Michael Waltrip Racing's Clint Bowyer had a big moment during the first session when he nearly hit the wall exiting Turn 1 during his first qualifying lap. Bowyer was able to keep the car off the wall and brought the car to pit road without completing his lap. After letting the engine and tires cool on pit road, Bowyer went back on track and posted the 13th-fastest time in the first round.
GoBowling.com 400
Qualifying
Pos Driver Car # Make Qual. Speed
1 Kyle Larson 42 Chevrolet 183.438
2 Joey Logano 22 Ford 183.408
3 Brad Keselowski 2 Ford 182.700
4 Kurt Busch 41 Chevrolet 182.660
5 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 182.611
6 Kevin Harvick 4 Chevrolet 182.090
7 Kyle Busch 18 Toyota 182.020
8 Jamie McMurray 1 Chevrolet 182.017
9 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 Chevrolet 181.741
10 Danica Patrick 10 Chevrolet 181.646
11 Austin Dillon 3 Chevrolet 181.605
12 Kasey Kahne 5 Chevrolet 181.280
13 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota 181.159
14 Clint Bowyer 15 Toyota 181.156
15 Brian Vickers 55 Toyota 180.850
16 Tony Stewart 14 Chevrolet 180.716
17 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 180.502
18 Matt Kenseth 20 Toyota 180.274
19 Martin Truex Jr. 78 Chevrolet 180.133
20 AJ Allmendinger 47 Chevrolet 179.986
21 Ryan Newman 31 Chevrolet 179.878
22 Justin Allgaier 51 Chevrolet 179.412
23 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17 Ford 179.304
24 Casey Mears 13 Chevrolet 179.069
25 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 179.169
26 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 178.998
27 Marcos Ambrose 9 Ford 178.916
28 Aric Almirola 43 Ford 178.912
29 Paul Menard 27 Chevrolet 178.862
30 David Gilliland 38 Ford 178.049
31 Josh Wise 98 Chevrolet 177.704
32 Landon Cassill 40 Chevrolet 177.676
33 Cole Whitt 26 Toyota 177.560
34 Travis Kvapil 32 Ford 177.399
35 Reed Sorenson 36 Chevrolet 177.354
36 Alex Bowman 23 Toyota 176.502
37 Ryan Truex 83 Toyota 176.429
38 Michael Annett 7 Chevrolet 176.412
39 David Ragan 34 Ford 176.094
40 Dave Blaney 37 Chevrolet 174.801
41 Joe Nemechek 66 Toyota 172.285
42 Alex Kennedy 33 Chevrolet 172.199
43 Johnny Sauter 93 Toyota 166.162
Team Penske's Joey Logano dominated the first two rounds of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying at Pocono Raceway, but in the opening moments of Round 3 it was rookie Kyle Larson that took the top spot atop the leaderboard.
Posting a lap of 49.063 seconds at 183.438 mph, Larson set a new track record en route to winning the first pole of his career. Making only his second start at the ‘Tricky Triangle' this weekend, Larson finished fifth in his first trip earlier this year.
"I had butterflies in that last round," Larson said. "I knew we had a shot at the pole after the second round. I was nervous and I hit all three corners about as good as I could, so I was really excited about that. Thanks to Target and everybody at the shop. They're making the cars faster and faster every week and we're getting better and better. I really think a win is coming soon maybe before the Chase starts."
Larson started on pole earlier this year at Richmond International Raceway, but earned that pole when qualifying was rained out based on his practice time.
"It's really exciting," he said. "I got the pole at Richmond, but that was in practice. So, this is a legit pole and I'm really happy about that and it looks like a really good weekend."
Logano swept the first two rounds of qualifying, but just missed out on the pole with a lap of 49.071 seconds at 183.408 mph. This is Logano's sixth front row start of the season.
"It felt so good," Logano said of his second-place lap. "I would have put millions of dollars on that lap being the pole. It felt so good. (Crew chief) Todd Gordon made great adjustments after each run. We talked about it and being able to keep up with it. We kept going faster and faster. I thought I nailed all three corners that time and the runs before I didn't really nail them. I thought, 'Oh yeah, I've got it this time.' Then I get beat.
"It sucks. This is our sixth front row start. That's something to be proud of, but at the same time that's how frustrated I am because we've only got one pole out of that. We've been solid. We've still made every round in these qualifying sessions, besides the superspeedway. We've been consistently fast at every race track. I want more poles. I want more flags and all that stuff. Still a good starting spot, good pit box and we'll go from there."
Friday notebook from Pocono: Points racing, fantasy football and family matters
Logano's Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski barely made the cut to advance to the final round, posting the 12th-fastest lap. During the final round, however, Keselowski was able to post the third-fastest lap of the session.
Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick rounded out the top 10.
Failing to advance to the final round included the likes of Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth.
Michael Waltrip Racing's Clint Bowyer had a big moment during the first session when he nearly hit the wall exiting Turn 1 during his first qualifying lap. Bowyer was able to keep the car off the wall and brought the car to pit road without completing his lap. After letting the engine and tires cool on pit road, Bowyer went back on track and posted the 13th-fastest time in the first round.
GoBowling.com 400
Qualifying
Pos Driver Car # Make Qual. Speed
1 Kyle Larson 42 Chevrolet 183.438
2 Joey Logano 22 Ford 183.408
3 Brad Keselowski 2 Ford 182.700
4 Kurt Busch 41 Chevrolet 182.660
5 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 182.611
6 Kevin Harvick 4 Chevrolet 182.090
7 Kyle Busch 18 Toyota 182.020
8 Jamie McMurray 1 Chevrolet 182.017
9 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 Chevrolet 181.741
10 Danica Patrick 10 Chevrolet 181.646
11 Austin Dillon 3 Chevrolet 181.605
12 Kasey Kahne 5 Chevrolet 181.280
13 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota 181.159
14 Clint Bowyer 15 Toyota 181.156
15 Brian Vickers 55 Toyota 180.850
16 Tony Stewart 14 Chevrolet 180.716
17 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 180.502
18 Matt Kenseth 20 Toyota 180.274
19 Martin Truex Jr. 78 Chevrolet 180.133
20 AJ Allmendinger 47 Chevrolet 179.986
21 Ryan Newman 31 Chevrolet 179.878
22 Justin Allgaier 51 Chevrolet 179.412
23 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17 Ford 179.304
24 Casey Mears 13 Chevrolet 179.069
25 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 179.169
26 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 178.998
27 Marcos Ambrose 9 Ford 178.916
28 Aric Almirola 43 Ford 178.912
29 Paul Menard 27 Chevrolet 178.862
30 David Gilliland 38 Ford 178.049
31 Josh Wise 98 Chevrolet 177.704
32 Landon Cassill 40 Chevrolet 177.676
33 Cole Whitt 26 Toyota 177.560
34 Travis Kvapil 32 Ford 177.399
35 Reed Sorenson 36 Chevrolet 177.354
36 Alex Bowman 23 Toyota 176.502
37 Ryan Truex 83 Toyota 176.429
38 Michael Annett 7 Chevrolet 176.412
39 David Ragan 34 Ford 176.094
40 Dave Blaney 37 Chevrolet 174.801
41 Joe Nemechek 66 Toyota 172.285
42 Alex Kennedy 33 Chevrolet 172.199
43 Johnny Sauter 93 Toyota 166.162