Michigan NASCAR: Kenseth leads all-Joe Gibbs Racing top three
Matt Kenseth will start Sunday's 400-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan from pole position, after leading a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of the top three in qualifying

Kenseth ran last in the 12-car second phase and recorded a 36.458 second lap in his Toyota, securing his first pole since the Charlotte event in May.
It was 0.092s clear of team-mate Denny Hamlin, and Carl Edwards completed the team's maiden all-top three qualifying result.
In a rich vein of form, having won five of the last seven Sprint Cup races, JGR also dominated the first phase of qualifying.
Kenseth led the way, with practice pacesetter Edwards, Kyle Busch and Hamlin all covered by 0.085s.
Any hopes the team could become just the fourth in NASCAR history to sweep the top four on the grid ended when Busch lost time through Turns 3 and 4 on his shootout lap.
He dropped more than three tenths compared to Kenseth in the process and will start sixth, behind Austin Dillon and Tony Stewart.
Kevin Harvick was seventh-fastest, ahead of Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Watkins Glen winner Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne and Clint Bowyer.
Having run relatively early in the first phase, based on being 27th in practice, Bowyer's effort to snatch the 12th and final spot in second phase was notable.
He sat atop the timesheets before Johnson and then Kenseth took control as times improved.
Of the drivers currently in The Chase title shootout, Brad Keselowski was the best of those to miss out on a spot inside the top 12 and will start 14th.
The victor at Michigan in June, Kurt Busch will line up 16th ahead of Ryan Newman and Jamie McMurray, while Jeff Gordon will start 21st, Martin Truex Jr 22nd and Paul Menard 24th.
QUALIFYING RESULTS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 36.458s | - |
2 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 36.550s | 0.092s |
3 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 36.683s | 0.225s |
4 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 36.750s | 0.292s |
5 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 36.833s | 0.375s |
6 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 36.838s | 0.380s |
7 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 36.876s | 0.418s |
8 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 36.880s | 0.422s |
9 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 36.945s | 0.487s |
10 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 37.036s | 0.578s |
11 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 37.088s | 0.630s |
12 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 37.189s | 0.731s |
13 | David Ragan | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 37.184s | 0.726s |
14 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 37.199s | 0.741s |
15 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 37.214s | 0.756s |
16 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 37.246s | 0.788s |
17 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 37.246s | 0.788s |
18 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 37.277s | 0.819s |
19 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 37.281s | 0.823s |
20 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 37.300s | 0.842s |
21 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 37.304s | 0.846s |
22 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 37.321s | 0.863s |
23 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 37.350s | 0.892s |
24 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 37.379s | 0.921s |
25 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 37.499s | 1.041s |
26 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 37.534s | 1.076s |
27 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 37.581s | 1.123s |
28 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 37.624s | 1.166s |
29 | Jeb Burton | BK Racing | Toyota | 37.753s | 1.295s |
30 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 37.790s | 1.332s |
31 | Landon Cassill | Hillman Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | 37.885s | 1.427s |
32 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 37.885s | 1.427s |
33 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 38.018s | 1.560s |
34 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 38.049s | 1.591s |
35 | Cole Whitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 38.077s | 1.619s |
36 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 38.110s | 1.652s |
37 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota | 38.145s | 1.687s |
38 | Brett Moffitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 38.193s | 1.735s |
39 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 38.302s | 1.844s |
40 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 38.599s | 2.141s |
41 | Josh Wise | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 38.705s | 2.247s |
42 | Travis Kvapil | Circle Sport | Chevrolet | 39.200s | 2.742s |
43 | Timmy Hill | Phil Parsons Racing | Chevrolet | 39.335s | 2.877s |
44 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Ford | 38.631s | 2.173s |

NASCAR Watkins Glen: Joey Logano wins after Kevin Harvick runs dry
Michigan NASCAR: Dominant Matt Kenseth takes third win of season

Latest news
NASCAR bans Chastain Martinsville wall-ride manoeuvre
NASCAR has decided to ban the wall-ride manoeuvre made famous by Ross Chastain at Martinsville that secured him a place in the Championship 4.
Gasly: Mindset for Alpine is "completely different" to Red Bull F1 move
Pierre Gasly says he has a "completely different" mindset for his Alpine Formula 1 move thanks to lessons taken from his failed stint at Red Bull in 2019.
GTD Pro win a “proper send-off” for retiring IMSA stalwart MacNeil
Winning the GTD Pro class at the Daytona 24 Hours was a fitting way for Cooper MacNeil to retire from racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, says team-mate Jules Gounon.
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team
Saddled with uncompetitive Minardi machinery, Tarso Marques didn't manage to score points in his three partial seasons of Formula 1. But now the Brazilian has the chance to show what he can do in NASCAR, and explains the story of his comeback with new Cup Series entrant Team Stange
The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car
NASCAR’s new stock car generation is encouraging an influx of fresh blood into its top tier. But there are concerns that parts are in short supply as the entire paddock tries to build up stocks at the same time
How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style
After holding his nerve and hip-checking his team-mate on the run to the line, Austin Cindric made a perfect start to life as a full-timer in the NASCAR Cup Series by winning the Daytona 500. Here's how the Penske Ford man emerged first across the line in the first points-scoring race for the much-anticipated Next Generation cars
Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season
There are plenty of uncertainties ahead of the 2022 NASCAR Cup season as an all-new fleet of cars take to the track for the first time. Ahead of this weekend's Daytona 500, our experts explain what you need to know
How NASCAR had to learn a harsh lesson ahead of its Next Gen arrival
The NASCAR Cup kicks off with the Daytona 500 this weekend, but a major overhaul and a subsequent mountain of work has been required to be ready for the arrival of the Next Gen cars
How Larson took the long way round to NASCAR Cup glory
From villain to hero, Kyle Larson’s journey to the 2021 NASCAR Cup title comes straight from the Hollywood blockbuster scripts. While Larson had to reach his lifelong goal the hard way and go through a very public shaming after a ban for using a racial slur, his talents shone long before his name grabbed the headlines for both the right and the wrong reasons
How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022
It’s not just Formula 1 that’s set for upheaval in 2022, as the NASCAR Cup Series adopts its Next Gen cars that will cast any in-built advantages aside and require teams to adopt a totally new way of operating. Far more than just a change of machinery, the new cars amount to a shift in NASCAR's core philosophy
Why Bubba Wallace’s Talladega win is such a big moment for NASCAR
Bubba Wallace claimed his maiden NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega on Monday to become the first Black victor in the category since Wendell Scott in 1963. Both Wallace and Scott had faced obstacles and racism in their paths to their breakthrough wins, and NASCAR is trying to put it right with its range of diversity programmes
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.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.