Engine change costs Busch Cup pole
Kyle Busch claimed pole position for Sunday's Shelby 427 Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway but will start from the back of the field after his engine blew up during Friday's practice session
The Joe Gibbs racer made the best use of his new Toyota powerplant to claim pole at his home track with a lap of 29.033 seconds at an average speed of 185.995 mph, beating his brother Kurt by 48 thousandths of a second.
But for the second week in a row, the Cup pole-sitter will go to the back due to an engine change. Last week Brian Vickers was forced to lose his grid position at California, after his team switched his Toyota motor following qualifying.
Although Kurt Busch qualified second to his brother, Kyle's penalty will actually promote Jimmie Johnson - who qualified third - to pole position. Under NASCAR rules, once Kyle Busch moves out of his original grid slot during the parade laps the inside line behind him all move up one row, rather than the whole field moving up one position.
Busch's engine change will also prevent the local fans from seeing the two Vegas-native brothers from taking the green flag leading the field.
David Reutimann was fourth fastest while Marcos Ambrose impressed with his best ever qualifying effort on an oval, taking fifth. However, both Michael Waltrip Racing drivers were among a total of five Toyota drivers who had been forced to change their engines, thus dropping to the back as well. The other two affected were both Red Bull Racing drivers.
Ryan Newman qualified sixth but will actually start Sunday's race from fourth, while his Stewart Haas teammate Tony Stewart was the best among those making the field on time with the tenth fastest lap.
On a solid day for Penske, both David Stremme and Sam Hornish Jr qualified within the top twelve, while Brad Keselowski made the field for his first race of the season, driving a fifth car for Hendrick Motorsports to the 13th fastest time of the session.
Last year's winner Carl Edwards qualified 16th while his teammate Matt Kenseth, twice a winner at the track and seeking to make history by winning the first three races of the year, was only 45th fastest, lining up 40th on the grid.
Italian Max Papis qualified for his first oval race in the Sprint Cup series, setting the 26th fastest time, while eight drivers failed to qualify for Sunday's event, including Travis Kvapil, Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs, all of whom had been able to make the field for the first two races of the year.
Qualifying times:
Pos Driver Car Speed Time
1. Kyle Busch Toyota 185.995 29.033
2. Kurt Busch Dodge 185.707 29.078 + 0.045
3. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 185.688 29.081 + 0.048
4. David Reutimann Toyota 185.624 29.091 + 0.058
5. Marcos Ambrose Toyota 185.459 29.117 + 0.084
6. Ryan Newman Chevrolet 185.395 29.127 + 0.094
7. Kasey Kahne Dodge 185.382 29.129 + 0.096
8. Mark Martin Chevrolet 185.312 29.140 + 0.107
9. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 185.281 29.145 + 0.112
10. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 185.217 29.155 + 0.122
11. David Stremme Dodge 185.077 29.177 + 0.144
12. Sam Hornish Jr Dodge 184.988 29.191 + 0.158
13. Brad Keselowski Chevrolet 184.786 29.223 + 0.190
14. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 184.565 29.258 + 0.225
15. Michael Waltrip Toyota 184.54 29.262 + 0.229
16. Carl Edwards Ford 184.495 29.269 + 0.236
17. Bobby Labonte Ford 184.432 29.279 + 0.246
18. Regan Smith Chevrolet 184.432 29.279 + 0.246
19. AJ Allmendinger Dodge 184.395 29.285 + 0.252
20. Joey Logano Toyota 184.388 29.286 + 0.253
21. Brian Vickers Toyota 184.168 29.321 + 0.288
22. Joe Nemechek Toyota 184.162 29.322 + 0.289
23. Juan Montoya Chevrolet 184.118 29.329 + 0.296
24. Greg Biffle Ford 184.005 29.347 + 0.314
25. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 183.999 29.348 + 0.315
26. Max Papis Toyota 183.974 29.352 + 0.319
27. Aric Almirola Chevrolet 183.936 29.358 + 0.325
28. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 183.798 29.380 + 0.347
29. John Andretti Chevrolet 183.786 29.382 + 0.349
30. David Gilliland Chevrolet 183.749 29.388 + 0.355
31. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 183.742 29.389 + 0.356
32. Robby Gordon Toyota 183.486 29.430 + 0.397
33. Elliott Sadler Dodge 183.461 29.434 + 0.401
34. Denny Hamlin Toyota 183.293 29.461 + 0.428
35. David Ragan Ford 183.144 29.485 + 0.452
36. Paul Menard Ford 182.921 29.521 + 0.488
37. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 182.772 29.545 + 0.512
38. Jamie McMurray Ford 182.574 29.577 + 0.544
39. Reed Sorenson Dodge 182.469 29.594 + 0.561
40. Matt Kenseth Ford 182.143 29.647 + 0.614
41. Casey Mears Chevrolet 181.928 29.682 + 0.649
42. Scott Speed Toyota 181.257 29.792 + 0.759
43. Todd Bodine Toyota 183.231 29.471 + 0.438
Did not qualify:
Driver Car Speed Time
Travis Kvapil Ford 183.181 29.479 + 0.446
Dave Blaney Toyota 182.673 29.561 + 0.528
Mike Garvey Dodge 182.457 29.596 + 0.563
Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 182.389 29.607 + 0.574
Sterling Marlin Dodge 181.543 29.745 + 0.712
Scott Riggs Toyota 180.820 29.864 + 0.831
Tony Raines Dodge 180.331 29.945 + 0.912
Dexter Bean Dodge 174.154 31.007 + 1.974
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