Six minutes into the final round of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying, Kyle Busch posted the fastest lap to earn the pole for Sunday’s STP 500. Busch posted a fast time of 18.998 seconds, 99.674 mph. The pole today is Busch’s first pole of the 2014 racing season and will be the sixth different pole winner of 2014 in six total races. Busch will try to become the first repeat winner of the year on Sunday.
Starting outside will be Busch’s teammate of Denny Hamlin who is certainly one of the favorites heading into this event. Hamlin posted a fast time of 19.022 seconds, 99.548 mph. Out of 17 totals starts at Martinsville, Sunday will be his 11th start inside the top-10. He was just 0.024 seconds off of the pole sitter’s fastest time.
Rounding out the top-three starters will be Joey Logano with a fast time of 19.045 seconds, 99.428 mph. Logano will make his fifth top-five start this season this weekend and his sixth at the Martinsville Speedway. Logano missed the pole position by 0.047 seconds. This is the first time since Daytona where the front row will not be occupied by a Team Penske driver.
Points leader Carl Edwards will start Sunday from the eighth position. The one driver who didn’t qualify for the STP 500 was David Reutimann. Alex Bowman who will start 19th on Sunday was the highest qualifying rookie.
