Biffle takes Atlanta Cup pole
Greg Biffle scored his first Nextel Cup pole of the season and also his first at Atlanta Motor Speedway, edging Kurt Busch in qualifying for Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500, the seventh race of the Chase for the championship
The Roush Fenway driver set a time of 28.807 seconds in the late stages of qualifying at the 1.5-mile oval, running at an average speed of 192.453 mph. He beat the previous benchmark set by Busch in his Penske Dodge, by just four thousandths of second.
"Our car was really fast right off the truck," said Biffle, who had been second fastest in practice. "Once I took the green, then I knew the track was good. (Turns) three and four I didn't come out of the gas all the way. I just felt like the car stuck so good down there that I kept the throttle down there.
"It was just a great lap, the car handled so well and the track had so much grip that I was surprised that there were not more guys in the 28s."
Busch was still happy to be on the front row despite losing pole, having set his time very early in the session. Despite being the third car on track to complete his run, his time stood on top of the leaderboard as track conditions apparently improved for those going out later.
"I was ecstatic with the lap at the time that I did it," Busch said. "I thought our qualifying draw would hurt us at the beginning but then it seemed to play out to where the track was fairly even for everybody and maybe even a little slower at the end. I thought we had the speed to get the pole but were just a little shy tonight."
Veteran Dale Jarrett was the surprise of the day, setting the third fastest time, which was by far his best qualifying effort of the year. He was also among the first group of drivers to set a time and his third place starting position is thus far the best for a Toyota on a 1.5-mile oval.
"Perfect racecar, that's all I can say," said Jarrett who was also surprised to be so far up in the end. "I think we just took over the upset of the year from Appalachian State over Michigan. But we can't leave everything to college football. It's just been that kind of year. You just don't know what to expect."
Kasey Kahne, who had been fastest in practice, ended up fourth in qualifying, while Dale Earnhardt Jr completed the top five. Jimmie Johnson, winner of the spring Atlanta race, was the best placed of those running at the front of the Chase in sixth, followed by Ganassi's David Stremme and points leader Jeff Gordon.
Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth will ironically start together in 16th and 17th, just days after a heated exchange at Martinsville, which has raised some tension within the Roush Fenway garages. Three Chase contenders, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr, will follow them in the starting order on Sunday.
Jeremy Mayfield was not much quicker on his Haas CNC debut at the wheel of the No. 66 Chevrolet than he had been in the No. 36 Bill Davis Racing Toyota. However, he made the field thorough owner points status, as did his former teammate Dave Blaney who will start alongside him in the 21st row.
For the sixth time this season Sam Hornish Jr failed to qualify despite having raced well at this track in the Busch Series in March. David Reutimann, Burney Lamar, Ward Burton also failed to qualify as well as Mike Skinner who was making his first attempt to make the field at the wheel of BDR's No. 36 Toyota.
Pos Driver Car Speed Time 1. Greg Biffle Ford 192.453 28.807 2. Kurt Busch Dodge 192.426 28.811 + 0.004 3. Dale Jarrett Toyota 191.655 28.927 + 0.120 4. Kasey Kahne Dodge 191.595 28.936 + 0.129 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 191.489 28.952 + 0.145 6. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 191.199 28.996 + 0.189 7. David Stremme Dodge 190.975 29.030 + 0.223 8. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 190.719 29.069 + 0.262 9. Ryan Newman Dodge 190.719 29.069 + 0.262 10. Elliott Sadler Dodge 190.706 29.071 + 0.264 11. Bobby Labonte Dodge 190.548 29.095 + 0.288 12. Mark Martin Chevrolet 190.509 29.101 + 0.294 13. David Gilliland Ford 190.365 29.123 + 0.316 14. Brian Vickers Toyota 190.247 29.141 + 0.334 15. Casey Mears Chevrolet 190.058 29.170 + 0.363 16. Carl Edwards Ford 189.818 29.207 + 0.400 17. Matt Kenseth Ford 189.818 29.207 + 0.400 18. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 189.779 29.213 + 0.406 19. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 189.759 29.216 + 0.409 20. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 189.740 29.219 + 0.412 21. Juan Montoya Dodge 189.694 29.226 + 0.419 22. JJ Yeley Chevrolet 189.681 29.228 + 0.421 23. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 189.642 29.234 + 0.427 24. Michael Waltrip Toyota 189.610 29.239 + 0.432 25. Jamie McMurray Ford 189.532 29.251 + 0.444 26. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 189.428 29.267 + 0.460 27. Scott Riggs Dodge 189.409 29.270 + 0.463 28. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 189.370 29.276 + 0.469 29. John Andretti Dodge 189.273 29.291 + 0.484 30. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 189.209 29.301 + 0.494 31. AJ Allmendinger Toyota 189.092 29.319 + 0.512 32. Reed Sorenson Dodge 188.796 29.365 + 0.558 33. Robby Gordon Ford 188.482 29.414 + 0.607 34. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 188.079 29.477 + 0.670 35. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 188.034 29.484 + 0.677 36. Paul Menard Chevrolet 187.786 29.523 + 0.716 37. David Ragan Ford 187.354 29.591 + 0.784 38. Ricky Rudd Ford 187.076 29.635 + 0.828 39. Kyle Petty Dodge 186.679 29.698 + 0.891 40. Tony Raines Chevrolet 186.478 29.730 + 0.923 41. Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet 185.934 29.817 + 1.010 42. Dave Blaney Toyota 43. Bill Elliott Ford Did not qualify: Driver Car Speed Time David Reutimann Toyota 188.758 29.371 + 0.564 Burney Lamar Dodge 188.738 29.374 + 0.567 Sam Hornish Jr Dodge 188.655 29.387 + 0.580 Ward Burton Chevrolet 187.697 29.537 + 0.730 Mike Skinner Toyota 187.665 29.542 + 0.735
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