Kyle Busch claimed pole position for Sunday’s penultimate NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase round at Phoenix while championship leader Jimmie Johnson struggled.
Fresh from a strong third-place finish behind title combatants Johnson and Brad Keselowski at Texas last week, Joe Gibbs Toyota driver Busch set the pace in Friday practice at Phoenix.
He backed up that speed later with a first flying lap in qualifying that knocked Michael Waltrip Racing’s Martin Truex Jr from provisional pole position.
Busch’s lap of 25.934 seconds, at an average speed of 138.766 mph, set a new track record for the one-mile Phoenix International Raceway oval.
Behind him and Truex, Busch’s team-mate Denny Hamlin made it a top-three sweep for Toyota.
Hamlin finished ahead of last year’s event winner Kasey Kahne, who was the best of the Chevrolet drivers in fourth, and Aric Almirola’s Richard Petty Motorsports Ford.
For the first time in the last five races, and for only the third time in the Chase, Keselowski qualified ahead of championship leader Johnson.
Penske driver Keselowski finished the session in 14th, while five-time champion Johnson – a four-time winner at Phoenix – will see the green flag from 24th. The result was Johnson’s worst qualifying of the Chase so far and among his lowest of the season
Michael McDowell was the best of the non-guaranteed drivers in 28th while JJ Yeley failed to make the field.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
1. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota 25.943s
2. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 26.046s + 0.103s
3. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota 26.167s + 0.224s
4. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet 26.186s + 0.243s
5. Aric Almirola Petty Ford 26.237s + 0.294s
6. Kurt Busch Furniture Row Chevrolet 26.276s + 0.333s
7. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 26.279s + 0.336s
8. Regan Smith Phoenix Chevrolet 26.302s + 0.359s
9. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 26.303s + 0.360s
10. Mark Martin Waltrip Toyota 26.303s + 0.360s
11. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 26.310s + 0.367s
12. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 26.331s + 0.388s
13. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 26.339s + 0.396s
14. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 26.350s + 0.407s
15. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota 26.376s + 0.433s
16. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota 26.386s + 0.443s
17. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 26.401s + 0.458s
18. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 26.402s + 0.459s
19. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 26.418s + 0.475s
20. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 26.428s + 0.485s
21. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 26.470s + 0.527s
22. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford 26.489s + 0.546s
23. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 26.559s + 0.616s
24. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 26.580s + 0.637s
25. Casey Mears Germain Ford 26.625s + 0.682s
26. Sam Hornish Jr Penske Dodge 26.633s + 0.690s
27. Landon Cassill BK Toyota 26.677s + 0.734s
28. Michael McDowell Parsons Ford 26.677s + 0.734s
29. David Ragan Front Row Ford 26.680s + 0.737s
30. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 26.776s + 0.833s
31. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 26.791s + 0.848s
32. David Stremme Inception Toyota 26.797s + 0.854s
33. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 26.826s + 0.883s
34. David Reutimann Xxxtreme Ford 26.864s + 0.921s
35. Stephen Leicht Circle Sport Chevrolet 26.942s + 0.999s
36. Mike Bliss Humphrey Smith Toyota 26.951s + 1.008s
37. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 27.077s + 1.134s
38. Josh Wise Front Row Ford 27.105s + 1.162s
39. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota 27.193s + 1.250s
40. Jason Leffler Humphrey Smith Toyota 27.412s + 1.469s
41. Timmy Hill FAS Lane Ford 27.704s + 1.761s
42. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 27.974s + 2.031s
43. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 27.678s + 1.735sDid not qualify:
JJ Yeley Max Q Chevrolet 28.334s + 2.391s
Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/nascar-news/nascar/kyle-busch-takes-phoenix-pole
Mark Anthony Martin Jeremy Allan Mayfield James Christopher McMurray Casey James Mears Juan Pablo Montoya
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