Edwards takes Watkins Glen pole
Carl Edwards beat Earnhardt Ganassi team-mates Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya to pole position for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Watkins Glen
Roush Fenway racer Edwards carried the momentum from his squad's victory at Pocono with Greg Biffle last week, setting a blistering pace on his qualifying lap to improve on Montoya's benchmark by more than four tenths of a second.
Edwards was the only driver able to break into the 70-second bracket, getting close to the track record that Jeff Gordon still holds from eight years ago. His time of 1m10.882s was set at an average speed of 124.432mph, edging front row partner McMurray by 0.354 seconds.
"Greg Biffle and [crew chief] Greg Erwin helped us a lot with our set-up for qualifying so that was a good team effort," said Edwards, after claiming his fifth Sprint Cup series career pole, his first on a road course.
"We're riding on a wave right now. Roush Fenway and Ford, we're making a comeback here and it feels good."
McMurray just edged team-mate Montoya to the front row by 66 thousandths of a second, in what was the best qualifying efforts for both at Watkins Glen. AJ Allmendinger, fresh from his multi-year deal announcement with Richard Petty Motorsports ended up fourth fastest, joining Montoya on row two.
"It was a good lap, I didn't make any mistakes," Montoya said after earning his best ever road-course start in the series. "It's very hard to get all of it together and you make one mistake here and end up losing half a second. Within check, I'd say it was a really good lap."
Penske's Kurt Busch rounded out the top five as the best Dodge ahead of five-time Watkins Glen winner Tony Stewart, while Red Bull's Scott Speed seemed to be running for pole until losing time at the Carrousel turn, ending as the fastest Toyota in eighth.
Sears Point winner Jimmie Johnson was by far the best from the Hendrick Motorsports camp in ninth, while former event winner Kyle Busch was 10th for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Canadian Patrick Carpentier, making his Sprint Cup series return a year after his last race in the series, was the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers in 17th, while JJ Yeley, Dave Blaney and Tony Ave failed to qualify.
Pos Driver Car Time Gap
1. Carl Edwards Ford 1m10.882s
2. Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 1m11.236s + 0.354s
3. Juan Pablo Montoya Chevrolet 1m11.302s + 0.420s
4. AJ Allmendinger Ford 1m11.348s + 0.466s
5. Kurt Busch Dodge 1m11.403s + 0.521s
6. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 1m11.458s + 0.576s
7. Greg Biffle Ford 1m11.469s + 0.587s
8. Scott Speed Toyota 1m11.493s + 0.611s
9. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 1m11.518s + 0.636s
10. Kyle Busch Toyota 1m11.571s + 0.689s
11. Marcos Ambrose Toyota 1m11.611s + 0.729s
12. Sam Hornish Jr Dodge 1m11.648s + 0.766s
13. Boris Said Toyota 1m11.662s + 0.780s
14. Denny Hamlin Toyota 1m11.744s + 0.862s
15. Robby Gordon Toyota 1m11.795s + 0.913s
16. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 1m11.834s + 0.952s
17. Patrick Carpentier Ford 1m11.921s + 1.039s
18. Joey Logano Toyota 1m11.952s + 1.070s
19. Ryan Newman Chevrolet 1m11.965s + 1.083s
20. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 1m11.990s + 1.108s
21. Ron Fellows Chevrolet 1m12.095s + 1.213s
22. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 1m12.113s + 1.231s
23. Paul Menard Ford 1m12.126s + 1.244s
24. Mark Martin Chevrolet 1m12.171s + 1.289s
25. Martin Truex Jr Toyota 1m12.325s + 1.443s
26. Michael McDowell Toyota 1m12.413s + 1.531s
27. Regan Smith Chevrolet 1m12.419s + 1.537s
28. Max Papis Toyota 1m12.461s + 1.579s
29. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 1m12.525s + 1.643s
30. David Reutimann Toyota 1m12.576s + 1.694s
31. Matt Kenseth Ford 1m12.649s + 1.767s
32. Brad Keselowski Dodge 1m12.650s + 1.768s
33. Andy Lally Chevrolet 1m12.689s + 1.807s
34. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 1m12.728s + 1.846s
35. David Ragan Ford 1m12.885s + 2.003s
36. Kasey Kahne Ford 1m13.135s + 2.253s
37. Joe Nemechek Toyota 1m13.171s + 2.289s
38. Elliott Sadler Ford 1m13.202s + 2.320s
39. PJ Jones Toyota 1m13.341s + 2.459s
40. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 1m13.396s + 2.514s
41. Travis Kvapil Ford 1m14.126s + 3.244s
42. Kevin Conway Ford 1m14.561s + 3.679s
43. David Gilliland Ford 1m13.370s + 2.488s
Retirements:
JJ Yeley Dodge 1m13.876s + 2.994s
Dave Blaney Toyota 1m13.957s + 3.075s
Tony Ave Chevrolet 1m14.062s + 3.180s
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