Charlotte NASCAR: Matt Kenseth on pole for Joe Gibbs Racing
Matt Kenseth put his Joe Gibbs Toyota on pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup's longest race as he topped Thursday evening's qualifying session at Charlotte
Kenseth was quickest in round one of qualifying, a close second to Kevin Harvick in round two, and then produced a 27.861-second lap in the pole shootout to beat Joey Logano's Penske Ford to first on the grid for the 600-mile event by 0.204s.
With Carl Edwards and All-Star race winner Denny Hamlin third and fifth - split by Roush Fenway's Greg Biffle - JGR had three of the top five places. Kyle Busch starts 17th in its fourth car.
Harvick could only manage eighth in the final round, though that still made him top Chevrolet. He starts behind Brad Keselowski and recent Michael Waltrip Racing arrival David Ragan.
Hendrick didn't get any of its four cars into the pole session. Jimmie Johnson will be its highest starter in 13th, with Dale Earnhardt Jr 15th, Jeff Gordon 18th and Kasey Kahne down in 33rd after a cut tyre.
An ample 48-car entry, the largest since the Daytona 500, meant five non-qualifiers. Jeb Burton, Mike Bliss, Travis Kvapil, Jeff Green and Brendan Gaughan all missed out.
The race doesn't take place until Sunday night. Further practice sessions follow on Saturday after a break in track activity on Friday.
QUALIFYING RESULTS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 27.799s | - |
2 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 28.003s | 0.204s |
3 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.018s | 0.219s |
4 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 28.092s | 0.293s |
5 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.124s | 0.325s |
6 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 28.142s | 0.343s |
7 | David Ragan | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 28.180s | 0.381s |
8 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 28.232s | 0.433s |
9 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 28.233s | 0.434s |
10 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 28.373s | 0.574s |
11 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.446s | 0.647s |
12 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 29.124s | 1.325s |
13 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.165s | - |
14 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 28.167s | - |
15 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.171s | - |
16 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 28.174s | - |
17 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.209s | - |
18 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.220s | - |
19 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.250s | - |
20 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 28.279s | - |
21 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 28.298s | - |
22 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 28.332s | - |
23 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.424s | - |
24 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 29.394s | - |
25 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Ford | 28.301s | - |
26 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 28.305s | - |
27 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 28.332s | - |
28 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.365s | - |
29 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 28.394s | - |
30 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 28.429s | - |
31 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 28.439s | - |
32 | Landon Cassill | Hillman Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.444s | - |
33 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.470s | - |
34 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 28.528s | - |
35 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.538s | - |
36 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.564s | - |
37 | Cole Whitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 28.590s | - |
38 | Josh Wise | Phil Parsons Racing | Ford | 28.651s | - |
39 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 28.724s | - |
40 | Brett Moffitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 29.060s | - |
41 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota | 29.078s | - |
42 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 29.184s | - |
43 | Alex Kennedy | Circle Sport | Chevrolet | 29.746s | - |
44 | Jeb Burton | BK Racing | Toyota | 28.679s | - |
45 | Mike Bliss | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 28.894s | - |
46 | Travis Kvapil | Circle Sport | Chevrolet | 28.984s | - |
47 | Jeff Green | The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet | 29.337s | - |
48 | Brendan Gaughan | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.807s | - |
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