The fastest car in the first round of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series knockout qualifying, Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet, will start 19th in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500, the fifth race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
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.
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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