Braun takes maiden pole in Mexico
Nationwide Series rookie Colin Braun claimed his first pole position in NASCAR after setting the fastest time in qualifying for the Corona Mexico 250 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
The 19-year-old, who is making only his third Nationwide Series start driving for Roush Fenway this weekend, set a best lap of 1:28.817, which was nearly a tenth of a second faster than Scott Pruett's effort.
He had been second fastest in Friday's practice and although he needed to make the field on time, he believes his team have not made too many compromises on the set-up of his car to make it quick for a flying lap and remains optimistic for Sunday's race.
"I've been quick in the cars that I've driven here in the past," said Braun, who was on pole at Mexico a year ago in the Grand-Am series. "It's still basically the same thing, though. You've got to get [the car] to turn and put the power down well and that's something the guys worked really hard on today and our car does really well.
"I think we're quite good on old tyres and I feel like we'll be pretty good this weekend."
Both Braun and Pruett were part of the final group of the session, as drivers were split into eight groups of five according to the results of Friday practice, which Pruett had topped.
Before the eventual top two went on track Carl Edwards had set the benchmark, but he ended up third fastest and nearly two tenths off his Roush Fenway teammate. However he was the fastest among the Sprint Cup Series regulars.
Marcos Ambrose was fourth, followed by road course specialist Boris Said and NASCAR's man of the moment Kyle Busch, who was around seven tenths off Braun's pole time.
Busch suspects that the drivers ahead focused more on qualifying trim than he had.
"We just lost grip in the track I guess," he said. "We didn't go up as high as some other guys did on air pressure and we didn't put as much tape on the nose as other guys did. Maybe we didn't totally max out our car, but I think we'll be fine tomorrow."
Antonio Perez was once again the top local driver in 10th, ahead of Sam Hornish Jr.
Brett Rowe, Morgan Shepherd and Derrick Cope were the three drivers who failed to qualify.
Pos Driver Car Speed Time
1. Colin Braun Ford 102.756 1:28.217
2. Scott Pruett Dodge 102.651 1:28.307 + 0.090
3. Carl Edwards Ford 102.506 1:28.432 + 0.215
4. Marcos Ambrose Ford 102.312 1:28.600 + 0.383
5. Boris Said Ford 102.075 1:28.805 + 0.588
6. Kyle Busch Toyota 101.922 1:28.939 + 0.722
7. Patrick Carpentier Dodge 101.775 1:29.067 + 0.850
8. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 101.749 1:29.090 + 0.873
9. Jason Keller Chevrolet 101.716 1:29.119 + 0.902
10. Antonio Perez Dodge 101.669 1:29.160 + 0.943
11. Sam Hornish Jr Dodge 101.560 1:29.256 + 1.039
12. Steve Wallace Chevrolet 101.520 1:29.291 + 1.074
13. Brad Coleman Ford 101.470 1:29.335 + 1.118
14. Erik Darnell Ford 101.395 1:29.401 + 1.184
15. Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 101.374 1:29.419 + 1.202
16. Ruben Pardo Dodge 101.297 1:29.487 + 1.270
17. Max Papis Chevrolet 101.272 1:29.509 + 1.292
18. Kelly Bires Ford 101.271 1:29.510 + 1.293
19. Mike Wallace Toyota 101.214 1:29.561 + 1.344
20. Michel Jourdain Jr Toyota 101.093 1:29.668 + 1.451
21. Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 100.962 1:29.784 + 1.567
22. Rafael Martinez Ford 100.820 1:29.911 + 1.694
23. David Ragan Ford 100.820 1:29.911 + 1.694
24. Mike Bliss Chevrolet 100.765 1:29.960 + 1.743
25. Kyle Krisiloff Dodge 100.717 1:30.003 + 1.786
26. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 100.353 1:30.329 + 2.112
27. Brian Simo Chevrolet 100.285 1:30.390 + 2.173
28. Brad Keselowski Chevrolet 100.214 1:30.454 + 2.237
29. Jose Luis Ramirez Dodge 100.183 1:30.482 + 2.265
30. DJ Kennington Dodge 100.171 1:30.493 + 2.276
31. Chris Cook Chevrolet 100.106 1:30.552 + 2.335
32. David Green Chevrolet 100.015 1:30.634 + 2.417
33. David Reutimann Toyota 99.953 1:30.691 + 2.474
34. Kevin O'Connell Chevrolet 99.795 1:30.834 + 2.617
35. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 99.79 1:30.839 + 2.622
36. Jason Leffler Toyota 99.758 1:30.868 + 2.651
37. Alex Garcia Chevrolet 99.367 1:31.225 + 3.008
38. Kenny Hendrick Chevrolet 98.866 1:31.688 + 3.471
39. Kertus Davis Chevrolet 98.050 1:32.451 + 4.234
40. Scott Gaylord Ford 97.855 1:32.635 + 4.418
41. Landon Cassill Chevrolet 97.770 1:32.716 + 4.499
42. Kevin Lepage Ford 97.621 1:32.857 + 4.640
43. Larry Gunselman Chevrolet 97.555 1:32.920 + 4.703
Did not qualify:
Brett Rowe Chevrolet
Morgan Shepherd Dodge
Derrike Cope Chevrolet
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