NASCAR » Cup: Atlanta - Qualifying times

01 September 2012
Reigning champion Tony Stewart took pole position for Sunday's AdvoCare Sprint Cup race, edging series points leader Greg Biffle off the top by less than eight hundredths of a second.
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

Tagged as: qualifying , Kyle Busch , Jeff Gordon , Tony Stewart , Matt Kenseth , Greg Biffle , Atlanta
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