Biffle sets record Darlington Cup pole
Greg Biffle set a new track record at Darlington Raceway during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying for Saturday's Dodge Challenger 500
As expected based on the speeds set during practice, the pole position lap was well under the existing track record, which stood for more than twelve years before a recent repave increased grip levels on the track surface.
Biffle, a two time winner at Darlington, set a lap time of 27.405 seconds at an average speed of 179.442 mph, becoming the fastest man ever at Darlington. Dale Earnhardt Jr had been on pole before that, but the Roush Fenway driver beat him by just over a hundredth of a second.
"We spent a lot of time in race trim and feel like we have a really, really good car for tomorrow night," said Biffle, stressing the new surface has made the track less forgiving.
"The biggest thing is we're two-and-a-half-seconds faster than we had been and it's just the margin for error. Darlington has always been right on the fence.
"That margin for error hasn't gone anywhere other than we're so much faster that it bites you so much quicker and easier now. It's almost tougher now with the speeds we're running."
Earnhardt Jr will start Saturday's race from the front row of the grid, despite being one of the first drivers to complete his qualifying run. He said his lap was far from perfect as he didn't push enough, expecting to get beaten due to the improving track conditions.
"That was a pretty good lap," Earnhardt said. "The car probably had a good [27.30 second] lap in it. We just got a good, clean lap in and kept it off the fence trying to give us a good shot for tomorrow. We've got a great car. We've had one all weekend. That'll do okay."
Starting third will be reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, who ran his backup car after crashing twice during Friday. He first crashed at turn one driving his primary machine in the third practice, and later spun and caused front-end damage to his back up one in the final session before qualifying.
His team swiftly repaired his backup machine, and Johnson showed his two incidents did not affect his confidence, lapping less than half a tenth off Biffle's benchmark on his first flying lap.
"I'm speechless myself with the equipment these guys give me week in and week out," Johnson said. "Fortunately today we were fast the whole time, but I kept hitting things. I'm just glad I got that out of my way and I got a good clean lap in.
"Track position is going to be very important in the race, plus a good pit stall pick. It's going to be tough to pass with the speed in the track."
Tony Stewart was fourth-fastest and the best among the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers. He praised the work done at the track to make it smoother and faster than ever, and for once he recognized Goodyear's efforts to have the right tyres for the new surface.
"This place is very, very fast. It's very, very smooth. They did an awesome job," Stewart said.
"As much as I'll give Goodyear a hard time when they do things wrong, we've been to Charlotte this week testing and have been here and they've brought two good tyres that we've been on this week. I appreciate the effort that they put forth this week. I'm happy."
Dave Blaney was the fastest of the drivers who needed to make the field on time, placing 13th, one place ahead of veteran Sterling Marlin who had a good qualifying effort replacing Dario Franchitti. Regan Smith was the fastest rookie qualifier taking 16th on the grid.
Kasey Kahne crashed on his first qualifying lap and did not set a time but will start the race from the back of the grid in his backup car, thanks to his owner points status.
Pos Driver Make Speed Time 1. Greg Biffle Ford 179.442 27.405 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 179.357 27.418 + 0.013 3. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 179.206 27.441 + 0.036 4. Tony Stewart Toyota 179.076 27.461 + 0.056 5. Kurt Busch Dodge 178.965 27.478 + 0.073 6. Kyle Busch Toyota 178.809 27.502 + 0.097 7. Elliott Sadler Dodge 178.129 27.607 + 0.202 8. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 178.071 27.616 + 0.211 9. Scott Riggs Chevrolet 178.064 27.617 + 0.212 10. Bobby Labonte Dodge 177.775 27.662 + 0.257 11. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 177.736 27.668 + 0.263 12. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 177.659 27.680 + 0.275 13. Dave Blaney Toyota 177.307 27.735 + 0.330 14. Sterling Marlin Dodge 177.134 27.762 + 0.357 15. David Ragan Ford 177.109 27.766 + 0.361 16. Regan Smith Chevrolet 177.109 27.766 + 0.361 17. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 177.077 27.771 + 0.366 18. Michael McDowell Toyota 177.070 27.772 + 0.367 19. Juan Montoya Dodge 176.822 27.811 + 0.406 20. Bill Elliott Ford 176.778 27.818 + 0.413 21. Denny Hamlin Toyota 176.638 27.840 + 0.435 22. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 176.606 27.845 + 0.440 23. Sam Hornish Jr Dodge 176.581 27.849 + 0.444 24. Travis Kvapil Ford 176.568 27.851 + 0.446 25. Jamie McMurray Ford 176.499 27.862 + 0.457 26. A.J. Allmendinger Toyota 176.473 27.866 + 0.461 27. Mark Martin Chevrolet 176.359 27.884 + 0.479 28. Brian Vickers Toyota 176.283 27.896 + 0.491 29. Casey Mears Chevrolet 176.170 27.914 + 0.509 30. David Reutimann Toyota 176.126 27.921 + 0.516 31. J.J. Yeley Toyota 175.848 27.965 + 0.560 32. Ryan Newman Dodge 175.666 27.994 + 0.589 33. David Gilliland Ford 175.578 28.008 + 0.603 34. Matt Kenseth Ford 175.528 28.016 + 0.611 35. Kyle Petty Dodge 175.172 28.073 + 0.668 36. Carl Edwards Ford 174.494 28.182 + 0.777 37. Michael Waltrip Toyota 174.253 28.221 + 0.816 38. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 174.241 28.223 + 0.818 39. Reed Sorenson Dodge 173.271 28.381 + 0.976 40. Robby Gordon Dodge 172.584 28.494 + 1.089 41. Paul Menard Chevrolet 172.572 28.496 + 1.091 42. Kasey Kahne Dodge - - - 43. Patrick Carpentier Dodge 175.166 28.074 + 0.669
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