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 Friday's qualifying session at Pocono Raceway, which saw Kurt Busch
capture the pole for Sunday's Axalta 'We Paint Winners' 400 had them
all.
Throughout the day, Turn 2 -- the Tunnel Turn -- was a major topic
of concern.
"There are grocery store parking lots around the country that are
jealous of those three bumps that have developed there," said Busch,
speculating that an offseason beautification project with water
feature, enhancing the exterior tunnel entry, somehow created the
lumpy racing surface.
Carl Edwards, who qualified second, said, "To me, if they could just
go ahead and take some bumps like that and put them over in the
other corners too, it would be even better. It adds something. As
long as it's not breaking parts, I believe it gives us an
opportunity to set up passes."
Ultimately, the issue with the bumpy track took a back seat when
Denny Hamlin spun in Turn 1 in the final minute of qualifying,
halting the session with 39 seconds remaining and preventing himself
and four other drivers from posting a time in the final round.
"It really is a bizarre set of circumstances," said Jimmie Johnson,
a winner of four races this season but one of the drivers left in
the qualifying cold. "It's just unfortunate (for) the guys that were
on the track. But as long as NASCAR is consistent (with the rule)
through all three series, then we will take our medicine and just
deal with it. We (start) ninth. That is the best we've been in a
while."
Joey Logano, the last driver not from Hendrick Motorsports to win at
Pocono, was not so forgiving. Logano said he already had a
"headache" thanks to the bumps -- and that was before his lap in
progress was negated by Hamlin's spin.
"A car spins out and they throw a red flag for it and then you don't
get an opportunity to go out and make a lap," Logano said. "I don't
understand it. It makes me mad. I don't get it. We didn't even have
a chance to try to put our car up front."
Busch suggested that Pocono Raceway attempt to grind the bumps
before Sunday's race. Earnhardt was encouraged that Pocono Raceway
CEO Brandon Igdalsky was not only aware of the situation but
planning to take action before the Sprint Cup Series returns in late
July.
"I feel like they understand that while we can probably get through
this weekend with what's back there right now, it's probably not in
their best interest to leave it as-is," Earnhardt said. "It will
continue to get worse and I don't think that we can get our race
cars through there if it gets much worse than it is."
Edwards will start second on the grid in Sunday's race.
"My plan with Denny (Joe Gibbs Racing teammate) almost worked out,"
Edwards joked. "But he didn't spin early enough to keep Kurt from
catching me."
Martin Truex Jr. qualified third, unaware that the session was cut
short but well aware of the challenges in Turn 2.
"It's wild," he said. "The first time through there, I thought
either our car was way off or there's something wrong with the
racetrack. The bumps are 10 times bigger than they were last year,
which is crazy. You're going across bumps that are 8-10 inches tall
and, literally, the tires are coming off the ground."
Jeff Gordon qualified fourth and series leader Kevin Harvick, who
posted the fastest lap in each of the first two qualifying sessions,
was fifth. Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne were the other drivers who
were burned by Hamlin's spin, having waited too long to attempt a
lap in the five-minute session.
Kurt Busch noted during practice that he was losing speed in Turns 1
and 3 and elected to focus on the vast majority of the course, not
the troubles in Turn 2. His team also overcame a "wrong gear ratio
in the transmission in third gear."
"There was so much disconnect when we first got here," said Busch,
whose third pole of the season was the 19th of his career. "We had
to drop back, reboot with (crew chief) Tony Gibson, (engineer)
Johnny Klausmeier, the whole gang. Today was a big group-bonding day
and a strength-building day on what this No. 41 team can do
together."
With 43 race entries, all drivers qualified for Sunday's race.
Tony Stewart, mired in 28th in the point standings, was forced to a
backup car after a crash coming out of the Tunnel Turn in the 36th
minute of Friday's practice session. Stewart was 28th in the first
round of qualifying and failed to advance.
"Driver error," said Stewart, who has managed just one top-10 finish
this season. "I was already past the bump. I got loose on the exit
(of the turn) and couldn't catch it."
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying - Axalta 'We Paint Winners' 400
[to top of second column] |
Pocono Raceway
Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Friday, June 05, 2015
1. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 177.599 mph.
2. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 177.550 mph.
3. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 177.522 mph.
4. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 177.211 mph.
5. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 177.200 mph.
6. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 176.526 mph.
7. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 175.967 mph.
8. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 177.676 mph.
9. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 177.385 mph.
10. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 177.193 mph.
11. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 176.800 mph.
12. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 176.070 mph.
13. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 176.036 mph.
14. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 176.005 mph.
15. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 175.943 mph.
16. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 175.895 mph.
17. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 175.699 mph.
18. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 175.671 mph.
19. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 175.531 mph.
20. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 175.466 mph.
21. (55) David Ragan, Toyota, 175.418 mph.
22. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 174.832 mph.
23. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 174.236 mph.
24. (9) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 173.819 mph.
25. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 174.791 mph.
26. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 174.771 mph.
27. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 174.683 mph.
28. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 174.652 mph.
29. (33) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 174.317 mph.
30. (51) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 174.031 mph.
31. (46) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 173.873 mph.
32. (40) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 173.772 mph.
33. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 173.695 mph.
34. (7) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 173.410 mph.
35. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 172.467 mph.
36. (34) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 172.437 mph.
37. (23) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, Owner Points
38. (98) Josh Wise, Ford, Owner Points
39. (35) Cole Whitt, Ford, Owner Points
40. (26) Jeb Burton #, Toyota, Owner Points
41. (83) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, Owner Points
42. (32) Travis Kvapil(i), Ford, Owner Points
43. (62) Brendan Gaughan(i), Chevrolet, Owner Points
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