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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