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NASCAR New Hampshire: Kyle Busch beats Jimmie Johnson to pole

Kyle Busch qualified quickest at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to take his second NASCAR Sprint Cup pole of the year

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver jostled for position with Tony Stewart, and then Jimmie Johnson in the final 10-minute pole shootout, setting his quickest time on the first flying lap.

Quickest in practice, Johnson qualified second just 0.06 seconds behind Busch, with Denny Hamlin challenging the leaders having found a blistering late pace to finish third - two tenths down on team-mate Busch's pole time.

Stewart completed the top four ahead of Jamie McMurray and Joey Logano in fifth and sixth respectively.

Brad Keselowski was hindered by traffic from the outset but achieved seventh overall when he could finally hook up an untroubled lap.

The first 30-minute session was largely quiet after most of the drivers set their flying laps in the first half before a hive of activity towards the end brought most of the field back out on track.

Jeff Gordon left it late to break into the top 12, pushing Matt Kenseth out of the front pack in the process before eventually finishing 11th in the final session.

Kyle Larson, Carl Edwards and Paul Menard all narrowly missed out on the top 12, but the big losers from the session were Kurt Busch in 18th, and a disastrous qualifying from Dale Earnhardt Jr meant that he managed only 28th, despite setting six laps compared to the two of the quickest runners.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                  Time     Gap
 1.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota          27.574s
 2.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet        27.642s  +0.068s
 3.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota          27.785s  +0.211s
 4.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet    27.786s  +0.212s
 5.  Jamie McMurray      Ganassi Chevrolet         27.798s  +0.224s
 6.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford               27.839s  +0.265s
 7.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford               27.841s  +0.267s
 8.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota            27.862s  +0.288s
 9.  Martin Truex Jr     Furniture Row Chevrolet   27.877s  +0.303s
10.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet        27.970s  +0.396s
11.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet        27.994s  +0.420s
12.  Kevin Harvick       Stewart-Haas Chevrolet    28.024s  +0.450s
13.  Kyle Larson         Ganassi Chevrolet         27.927s  Round 1
14.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford         27.945s  Round 1
15.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota          27.953s  Round 1
16.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet       27.953s  Round 1
17.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota            27.960s  Round 1
18.  Kurt Busch          Stewart-Haas Chevrolet    27.968s  Round 1
19.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                27.971s  Round 1
20.  AJ Allmendinger     JTG Daugherty Chevrolet   27.975s  Round 1
21.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                27.982s  Round 1
22.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford         28.022s  Round 1
23.  Austin Dillon       Childress Chevrolet       28.043s  Round 1
24.  Ryan Newman         Childress Chevrolet       28.064s  Round 1
25.  Justin Allgaier     HScott Chevrolet          28.112s  Round 1
26.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford            28.133s  Round 1
27.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford         28.150s  Round 1
28.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet        28.168s  Round 1
29.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet    28.189s  Round 1
30.  Jeff Burton         Waltrip Toyota            28.189s  Round 1
31.  Casey Mears         Germain Chevrolet         28.283s  Round 1
32.  Josh Wise           Parsons Chevrolet         28.332s  Round 1
33.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford            28.363s  Round 1
34.  Landon Cassill      Hillman Chevrolet         28.506s  Round 1
35.  Cole Whitt          BK Toyota                 28.514s  Round 1
36.  Alex Bowman         BK Toyota                 28.583s  Round 1
37.  Reed Sorenson       Baldwin Chevrolet         28.591s  Round 1
38.  Ryan Truex          BK Toyota                 28.816s  Round 1
39.  Michael Annett      Baldwin Chevrolet         28.916s  Round 1
40.  Eddie MacDonald     FAS Lane Ford             28.951s  Round 1
41.  Mike Bliss          BK Toyota                 29.124s  Round 1
42.  Timmy Hill          Identity Ventures Toyota  29.439s  Round 1
43.  Morgan Shepherd     Circle Sport Chevrolet    29.783s  Round 1

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