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 Kurt Busch, the new track record holder at Charlotte Motor
Speedway -- and the new record holder for top speed at a 1.5-mile
speedway -- will start 11th in the second race of the Chase's
Contender Round.
It was Kyle Busch, however, who ran the fastest lap when it counted
most in Friday night's time trials. Busch won the pole or Saturday
night's race with a lap at 197.300 mph (27.357 seconds) in the final
round, edging Jeff Gordon (197.217 mph) for the top starting spot by
.024 seconds.
The Coors Light pole award was Busch's third of the year, matching
the single-season high-water mark he achieved in 2013. It was his
second pole at Charlotte and the 16th of his career.
Denny Hamlin, Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate qualified third at
197.087 mph in a session that saw 21 drivers in the first round
break Hamlin's previous track record of 195.624 mph, set in May of
2013.
Tony Stewart (196.542 mph), the only non-Chase driver in the top
five, will start fourth, followed by Ryan Newman (196.442 mph).
But it was Kurt Busch, Kyle's brother, who posted the fastest lap
ever run on a 1.5-mile speedway in the second round of time trials.
Kurt toured Charlotte in a mind-boggling 27.167 seconds in posting
an average speed of 198.771 mph, eclipsing the 198.282 mph run by
Kevin Harvick at Texas in April.
Kurt Busch said his car was at optimum strength in the second
round--hence, the record lap. But he'll start 11th after his car
tightened up in the final session.
"Car was loose the first lap (in Round One), perfect the second lap,
tight the third lap (in the final round)," he said. "Yes, I was
off-throttle some, but never out of it all the way."
Kyle Busch was fifth fastest in the first round, fourth in the
second and the pole winner in the third, though his lap times in
each session were remarkably consistent. The difference was that
other drivers ran slower as the night progressed, a phenomenon Busch
attributed as much to setup as to tire wear.
"It seemed like the guy that was the most consistent was able to win
the pole tonight," said Busch, who is second in the Chase standings.
"I think we had a .38 (27.38 seconds), then a .33 and then a .36--so
pretty good laps there...
"We tested here a few weeks ago, and I was really happy with the
test. We unloaded today and not so happy about it--just Charlotte.
It will be different again tomorrow. You can certainly chalk that up
for sure. We'll see how this weekend goes, and hopefully we can come
out of here with a solid weekend and put ourselves in the right spot
for continuing on in our Chase here."
It was anything but an easy night for two drivers who desperately
need a stellar performance, if not a victory, in Saturday night's
race.
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Jimmie Johnson aborted his first qualifying attempt because his car
was too loose to drive, but he came back to run 10th as time wound
down on Round One and advanced to the second session.
But Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet tightened up on his money lap in the
second round, and the six-time series champion will start 21st on
Saturday night.
"Just didn't have the speed there on that final run," said Johnson,
who is 11th in the Chase standings with a cut to the top eight
looming after the Oct. 19 race at Talladega Superspeedway. "I got
pretty tight off of (Turn) 4."
"I thought we had some hope after the first round, and our second
outing we ran a very good lap. But just didn't have any more there
on that lap through Turns 3 and 4; we got wide and I had to let off
a little bit so I didn't get into the outside wall. It's
disappointing. There's no way around it."
Similarly, Brad Keselowski needed a second attempt in the first
round to advance, but a disappointing effort in the 10-minute second
round left him 17th on the grid for the only night race in the
Chase.
But Keselowski, 10th in the Chase standings, sounded optimistic
despite failing to advance to the final round of qualifying.
"We've been off a little bit in qualifying trim since we've been
here, but I thought our race trim was really good in practice and
that's the most important thing so we'll keep working."
Kasey Kahne, ninth in Chase points, was fastest in the first round
of qualifying but could do no better than 19th in the second round
and will start from that position on Saturday. Dale Earnhardt Jr.,
currently 11th in the Chase standings, advanced to the final round
and will start ninth.
Trevor Bayne failed to make the 43-car field in his first outing in
the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.
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