Martin claims Kansas pole
Mark Martin's impressive run of success continued at Kansas where the Sprint Cup Series Chase leader claimed his seventh pole of the season
The Hendrick driver, who leads the standing by 10 points over his team-mate Jimmie Johnson, set a time of 30.724 seconds at an average speed of 175.758 mph to beat the previous benchmark set by Dale Earnhardt Jr by 0.084s.
"That's pretty incredible," said Martin, who leads the series in number of pole positions this year with seven, the most he has ever claimed in his career during a single season.
"1989 was the most poles for me in one year. I remember that. That's a pretty crazy stat right there.
"We were on top of the board from the very first lap we took on the track today. Good qualifying run for us. I wish I had known I was that close."
Earnhardt was beaten by his senior team-mate to pole position but will still enjoy his first front-row start of the season on Sunday. He claimed his run was helped by wind, which was not as gusty during his lap as it probably was earlier during the session.
"The run was pretty good all day long, pretty rough, pretty windy," said Earnhardt. "I might have caught a window there in my lap because I didn't have any gust or anything there bothering my car. It is a good front row starting spot for us. We needed that, have needed it for some time."
Brad Keselowski made it a one-two-three for Hendrick Motorsports, setting the third fastest lap of the session and the best among the drivers who needed to qualify on time for Sunday's race.
"Man, that is awesome," said Keselowski after claiming the best qualifying result of his short Sprint Cup career. "I am just so proud of the team. What a great effort to have the top-three cars. Just a great day and a great car. I'm just looking forward to having a good run in these final two race for Hendrick Motorsports."
Jamie McMurray was fourth as the best Ford, while Tony Stewart was able to remain in the top-five despite being the first car out to complete his lap. Kasey Kahne was the fastest Dodge runner in sixth, using the old R5 power plant, while Joe Nemechek was seventh and the best Toyota.
Other Chase notables like reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, who won at Kansas a year ago, qualified eleventh; while Juan Pablo Montoya was fourteenth. Kurt Busch struggled during his lap and ended up down in 41st place as the worst placed in the grid for Sunday's race among the title contenders.
David Gilliland - who was driving a second car for Robby Gordon Motorsports - failed to qualify as well as Michael McDowell. Kevin Hamlin was attempting to make his Sprint Cup debut on Sunday, but he was the slowest qualifier.
Pos Driver Make Speed Time 1. Mark Martin Chevrolet 175.758 30.724 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 175.279 30.808 + 0.084 3. Brad Keselowski Chevrolet 175.205 30.821 + 0.097 4. Jamie McMurray Ford 175.199 30.822 + 0.098 5. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 175.040 30.850 + 0.126 6. Kasey Kahne Dodge 174.984 30.860 + 0.136 7. Joe Nemechek Toyota 174.786 30.895 + 0.171 8. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 174.746 30.902 + 0.178 9. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 174.712 30.908 + 0.184 10. Scott Speed Toyota 174.656 30.918 + 0.194 11. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 174.627 30.923 + 0.199 12. Brian Vickers Toyota 174.610 30.926 + 0.202 13. David Reutimann Toyota 174.577 30.932 + 0.208 14. Juan Montoya Chevrolet 174.565 30.934 + 0.210 15. AJ Allmendinger Dodge 174.514 30.943 + 0.219 16. Bill Elliott Ford 174.216 30.996 + 0.272 17. Carl Edwards Ford 174.109 31.015 + 0.291 18. Joey Logano Toyota 174.109 31.015 + 0.291 19. Mike Bliss Dodge 173.857 31.060 + 0.336 20. Paul Menard Ford 173.796 31.071 + 0.347 21. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 173.768 31.076 + 0.352 22. Denny Hamlin Toyota 173.723 31.084 + 0.360 23. Matt Kenseth Ford 173.522 31.120 + 0.396 24. Dave Blaney Toyota 173.472 31.129 + 0.405 25. David Ragan Ford 173.377 31.146 + 0.422 26. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 173.349 31.151 + 0.427 27. Marcos Ambrose Toyota 173.282 31.163 + 0.439 28. Reed Sorenson Dodge 173.277 31.164 + 0.440 29. Michael Waltrip Toyota 173.121 31.192 + 0.468 30. Ryan Newman Chevrolet 173.099 31.196 + 0.472 31. Greg Biffle Ford 173.060 31.203 + 0.479 32. David Stremme Dodge 172.999 31.214 + 0.490 33. Sam Hornish Jr Dodge 172.695 31.269 + 0.545 34. Kyle Busch Toyota 172.469 31.310 + 0.586 35. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 172.425 31.318 + 0.594 36. Casey Mears Chevrolet 172.150 31.368 + 0.644 37. Robby Gordon Toyota 172.040 31.388 + 0.664 38. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 171.931 31.408 + 0.684 39. Kurt Busch Dodge 171.135 31.554 + 0.830 40. John Andretti Chevrolet 170.670 31.640 + 0.916 41. Erik Darnell Ford 170.326 31.704 + 0.980 42. Elliott Sadler Dodge 170.181 31.731 + 1.007 43. Max Papis Toyota 172.629 31.281 + 0.557
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