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Pocono NASCAR: Kyle Busch's form continues with pole for Joe Gibbs

Kyle Busch claimed NASCAR Sprint Cup pole position in qualifying at Pocono Raceway

Busch is aiming for his fourth consecutive win in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and is now within 23 points of the top-30 championship spot he needs to ensure a Chase place despite missing 11 rounds through injury.

He grabbed pole by just 0.070 seconds from championship leader Kevin Harvick.

Stewart-Haas Racing driver Harvick, who led round two of qualifying, was on top after the opening runs in the third part of qualifying before Busch pipped him to pole with just seconds left in the session.

Joey Logano clinched another top three spot in qualifying ahead of Austin Dillon, who jumped to fourth late on, and opening-round pacesetter Tony Stewart.

Kurt Busch took sixth, while Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards, who took his second consecutive pole last week at Indianapolis, finished the session seventh and eighth.

Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordo, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top 12, who were only separated by half a second.

In round two of qualifying Dale Earnhardt Jr was the biggest scalp.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver could only manage 15th on the grid as he and Richard Childress Racing's Dillon raced down to the wire for the final round three spot, which Dillon clinched.

June Pocono winner Martin Truex Jr, Jamie McMurray and Kasey Kahne also struggled and lost out in round two.

Roush Fenway Racing drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Greg Biffle both failed to make it out of round one, qualifying 25th and 34th respectively.

Kyle Larson could only muster 27th in his Chip Ganassi Chevrolet.

QUALIFYING RESULTS:

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap
1 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.444s -
2 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 50.514s 0.070s
3 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 50.608s 0.164s
4 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.659s 0.215s
5 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 50.667s 0.223s
6 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 50.672s 0.228s
7 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.691s 0.247s
8 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.750s 0.306s
9 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 50.764s 0.320s
10 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.787s 0.343s
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.833s 0.389s
12 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.948s 0.504s
13 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 51.007s -
14 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 51.030s -
15 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51.038s -
16 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51.060s -
17 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 51.061s -
18 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 51.153s -
19 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 51.202s -
20 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 51.262s -
21 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 51.390s -
22 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 51.409s -
23 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 51.504s -
24 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 51.524s -
25 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 51.510s -
26 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 51.614s -
27 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 51.621s -
28 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 51.723s -
29 Landon Cassill Hillman Smith Motorsports Chevrolet 51.771s -
30 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 51.803s -
31 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 51.895s -
32 Brett Moffitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 51.924s -
33 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 51.949s -
34 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 51.971s -
35 J.J. Yeley BK Racing Toyota 52.125s -
36 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 52.137s -
37 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 52.171s -
38 Jeb Burton BK Racing Toyota 52.283s -
39 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 52.364s -
40 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 52.448s -
41 Reed Sorenson Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 53.477s -
42 Alex Kennedy Circle Sport Chevrolet 54.051s -
43 Timmy Hill Premium Motorsports Ford 54.486s -

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