Crash.Net NASCAR News Cup: Atlanta - Qualifying times 1 September 2012 Tony Stewart's lap of 29.787s (186.122mph) in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying early on Friday evening was good enough to give him his first pole position of 2012, 0.076s ahead of Greg Biffle. It's Stewart's 14th career pole in 489 Cup starts.
Stewart credited information received from his team mate Ryan Newman for the success: "I've got to give 100 percent of the credit to Ryan," said owner-driver Stewart. "I'm not sure, if we had run the line I was planning on running, that we would have been that fast. It's awesome to have a teammate like that. He's always thinking outside the box. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be on the pole."
Kyle Busch will start from third place, sharing the second row with Matt Kenseth. Busch is in desperate need of a good showing at Atlanta to have a hope of making the Chase on a "most wins" wild cars, and one of his main rivals for that spot is Jeff Gordon who starts immediately behind him on the third row alongside veteran driver Mark Martin.
Earlier, Martin Truex Jr. had topped the sole practice session on Friday with a lap of 29.932s (185.220 mph) just 0.063s faster than Kyle Busch. Truex also announced on Friday that he had signed a three-year contract extension to stay with Michael Waltrip Racing.
Qualifying times
1. #14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 29.787s (Leader) 186.122mph 2. #16 Greg Biffle Ford 29.863s (-0.076) 185.648mph 3. #18 Kyle Busch Toyota 29.888s (-0.101) 185.492mph 4. #17 Matt Kenseth Ford 29.916s (-0.129) 185.319mph 5. #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 29.918s (-0.131) 185.307mph 6. #55 Mark Martin Toyota 29.930s (-0.143) 185.232mph 7. #11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 29.932s (-0.145) 185.220mph 8. #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 29.945s (-0.158) 185.139mph 9. #20 Joey Logano Toyota 29.954s (-0.167) 185.084mph 10. #9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 29.959s (-0.172) 185.053mph 11. #5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 29.968s (-0.181) 184.997mph 12. #99 Carl Edwards Ford 29.979s (-0.192) 184.930mph 13. #43 Aric Almirola Ford 29.988s (-0.201) 184.874mph 14. #34 David Ragan Ford 30.010s (-0.223) 184.738mph 15. #22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 30.031s (-0.244) 184.609mph 16. #51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 30.038s (-0.251) 184.566mph 17. #39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 30.052s (-0.265) 184.480mph 18. #27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 30.061s (-0.274) 184.425mph 19. #13 Casey Mears Ford 30.117s (-0.330) 184.082mph 20. #1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 30.119s (-0.332) 184.070mph 21. #2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 30.121s (-0.334) 184.058mph 22. #36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 30.172s (-0.385) 183.747mph 23. #10 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 30.184s (-0.397) 183.673mph 24. #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 30.189s (-0.402) 183.643mph 25. #47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 30.211s (-0.424) 183.509mph 26. #31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 30.227s (-0.440) 183.412mph 27. #78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 30.231s (-0.444) 183.388mph 28. #56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 30.234s (-0.447) 183.370mph 29. #38 David Gilliland Ford 30.235s (-0.448) 183.364mph 30. #15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 30.240s (-0.453) 183.333mph 31. #30 David Stremme Toyota 30.289s (-0.502) 183.037mph 32. #21 Trevor Bayne Ford 30.314s (-0.527) 182.886mph 33. #42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 30.335s (-0.548) 182.759mph 34. #249 Jason Leffler Toyota 30.349s (-0.562) 182.675mph 35. #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 30.357s (-0.570) 182.627mph 36. #195 Scott Speed Ford 30.370s (-0.583) 182.549mph 37. #87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 30.398s (-0.611) 182.380mph 38. #191 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 30.430s (-0.643) 182.189mph 39. #23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 30.438s (-0.651) 182.141mph 40. #83 Landon Cassill+ Toyota 30.592s (-0.805) 181.224mph 41. #93 Travis Kvapil+ Toyota 30.710s (-0.923) 180.527mph 42. #32 T.J. Bell+ Ford 30.722s (-0.935) 180.457mph 43. #37 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 30.450s (-0.663) 182.069mph
Did Not Qualify
44. #98 Michael McDowell Ford 30.499s (-0.712) 181.777mph 45. #26 Josh Wise* Ford 30.564s (-0.777) 181.390mph 46. #33 Stephen Leicht* Chevrolet 30.582s (-0.795) 181.283mph 47. #119 Mike Bliss Toyota 30.689s (-0.902) 180.651mph
Friday Practice 1 times
1. #56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 29.932s (Leader) 185.220 mph 2. #18 Kyle Busch Toyota 29.995s (-0.063) 184.831 mph 3. #14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 30.089s (-0.157) 184.253 mph 4. #2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 30.191s (-0.259) 183.631 mph 5. #5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 30.194s (-0.262) 183.613 mph 6. #15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 30.195s (-0.263) 183.607 mph 7. #17 Matt Kenseth Ford 30.296s (-0.364) 182.995 mph 8. #16 Greg Biffle Ford 30.304s (-0.372) 182.946 mph 9. #99 Carl Edwards Ford 30.355s (-0.423) 182.639 mph 10. #43 Aric Almirola Ford 30.365s (-0.433) 182.579 mph 11. #22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 30.400s (-0.468) 182.368 mph 12. #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 30.426s (-0.494) 182.213 mph 13. #27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 30.430s (-0.498) 182.189 mph 14. #51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 30.439s (-0.507) 182.135 mph 15. #78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 30.473s (-0.541) 181.932 mph 16. #11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 30.499s (-0.567) 181.777 mph 17. #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 30.511s (-0.579) 181.705 mph 18. #39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 30.511s (-0.579) 181.705 mph 19. #34 David Ragan Ford 30.517s (-0.585) 181.669 mph 20. #9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 30.519s (-0.587) 181.657 mph 21. #21 Trevor Bayne Ford 30.574s (-0.642) 181.331 mph 22. #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 30.650s (-0.718) 180.881 mph 23. #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 30.656s (-0.724) 180.846 mph 24. #98 Michael McDowell Ford 30.665s (-0.733) 180.792 mph 25. #30 David Stremme Toyota 30.691s (-0.759) 180.639 mph 26. #1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 30.695s (-0.763) 180.616 mph 27. #47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 30.719s (-0.787) 180.475 mph 28. #42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 30.740s (-0.808) 180.351 mph 29. #31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 30.773s (-0.841) 180.158 mph 30. #55 Mark Martin Toyota 30.795s (-0.863) 180.029 mph 31. #38 David Gilliland Ford 30.897s (-0.965) 179.435 mph 32. #13 Casey Mears Ford 31.014s (-1.082) 178.758 mph 33. #37 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 31.017s (-1.085) 178.741 mph 34. #195 Scott Speed Ford 31.044s (-1.112) 178.585 mph 35. #20 Joey Logano Toyota 31.047s (-1.115) 178.568 mph 36. #191 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 31.076s (-1.144) 178.401 mph 37. #23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 31.185s (-1.253) 177.778 mph 38. #33 Stephen Leicht* Chevrolet 31.191s (-1.259) 177.744 mph 39. #249 Jason Leffler Toyota 31.208s (-1.276) 177.647 mph 40. #87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 31.320s (-1.388) 177.012 mph 41. #26 Josh Wise* Ford 31.372s (-1.440) 176.718 mph 42. #10 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 31.373s (-1.441) 176.712 mph 43. #36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 31.441s (-1.509) 176.330 mph 44. #93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 31.442s (-1.510) 176.325 mph 45. #32 Ken Schrader Ford 31.444s (-1.512) 176.313 mph 46. #83 Landon Cassill Toyota 31.452s (-1.520) 176.269 mph 47. #119 Mike Bliss Toyota 31.510s (-1.578) 175.944 mph
* Denotes Rookie |