Leffler grabs Busch pole at Daytona
Braun Racing Toyota driver Jason Leffler took his first pole position of the year today in qualifying for the Winn Dixie 250 Busch Series race at Daytona International Speedway
Leffler, who currently runs fifth in the points, set his fastest lap in the late stages of the session, knocking Tony Stewart down from pole after the former champion had been at the top of the timesheet for nearly the whole session.
Stewart came close to keeping the run of pole positions for the No. 18 Joe Gibbs entry, which had been previously at the front of the grid in the past five superspeedway events.
Aric Almirola completed a good qualifying for the Gibbs cars, claiming third. After the disappointment he went through at Milwaukee, where he was taken out of the car while in third to hand it to Denny Hamlin, his team allowed him to race the No. 18 entry this weekend.
Behind him, New Hampshire winner Kevin Harvick was fourth in the No. 21 Richard Childress car, which he took to victory in the season opener event at Daytona back in February.
The RCR cars were all in the top ten, with Clint Bowyer rounding up the top five and Scott Wimmer in eighth.
Ganassi's Reed Sorenson was the fastest Dodge in tenth, seven places ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya, who had been quick in the first Thursday practice session but had an early qualifying draw today.
Points leader Carl Edwards was only 19th but way ahead of last year's event winner Dale Earnhardt Jr, who could only manage a 35th place in the grid.
This year, however, he drives for his own team JR Motorsports, while a year ago he drove for Dale Earnhardt Inc.
The field for tonight's race is one car short of the usual 43 starters.
Pos Driver Make Time 1. Jason Leffler Toyota 48.765 2. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 48.819 + 0.054 3. Aric Almirola Chevrolet 49.194 + 0.429 4. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 49.234 + 0.469 5. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 49.271 + 0.506 6. Ward Burton Ford 49.277 + 0.512 7. Casey Mears Chevrolet 49.302 + 0.537 8. Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 49.342 + 0.577 9. Dave Blaney Toyota 49.360 + 0.595 10. Reed Sorenson Dodge 49.366 + 0.601 11. David Reutimann Toyota 49.368 + 0.603 12. Brian Vickers Chevrolet 49.379 + 0.614 13. Greg Biffle Ford 49.394 + 0.629 14. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 49.441 + 0.676 15. Kasey Kahne Dodge 49.470 + 0.705 16. Jamie McMurray Ford 49.509 + 0.744 17. J.P.Montoya Dodge 49.523 + 0.758 18. Marcos Ambrose Ford 49.551 + 0.786 19. Carl Edwards Ford 49.553 + 0.788 20. Regan Smith Chevrolet 49.578 + 0.813 21. Stephen Leicht Ford 49.635 + 0.870 22. David Gilliland Ford 49.646 + 0.881 23. Kelly Bires Ford 49.658 + 0.893 24. David Ragan Ford 49.671 + 0.906 25. Kyle Krisiloff Ford 49.710 + 0.945 26. Tony Raines Chevrolet 49.741 + 0.976 27. Brent Sherman Chevrolet 49.758 + 0.993 28. B.Hamilton Jr. Ford 49.831 + 1.066 29. Steve Wallace Dodge 49.845 + 1.080 30. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 49.846 + 1.081 31. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 49.871 + 1.106 32. R.Richardson Chevrolet 49.888 + 1.123 33. Kerry Earnhardt Chevrolet 49.967 + 1.202 34. Larry Foyt Chevrolet 50.021 + 1.256 35. D.Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 50.094 + 1.329 36. Mark Green Chevrolet 50.191 + 1.426 37. Mike Bliss Dodge 50.254 + 1.489 38. Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 50.401 + 1.636 39. Eric McClure Chevrolet 50.501 + 1.736 40. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 50.590 + 1.825 41. D.Neuenberger Ford 51.020 + 2.255 42. Justin Ashburn Chevrolet 51.796 + 3.031
Share Or Save This Story
Montoya's memories of a lost rival and rising star
Montoya: Vettel F1 2019 issues more likely technical than mentality
Leclerc reminds ex-Ferrari president di Montezemolo of young Lauda
Flat-out and energy saving: How Formula E's race format will work in Gen4 era
How Aprilia pulled off its MotoGP dominance
Marquez was “racing with one and a half arms” before French MotoGP crash
Why the BTCC's unexpected star is on borrowed time
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments