Texas NASCAR: Tony Stewart surges to pole position
Tony Stewart surged to pole for the Texas NASCAR Sprint Cup race with a run late in qualifying
The three-time series champion reached 195.454mph (27.628s) around the 1.5-mile quad-oval in the dying moments of the session and demoted Brad Keselowski to second place in doing so.
Kevin Harvick was unable to make it an all Stewart-Haas front row, but he did set the fastest ever qualifying lap at the venue when he achieved 198.282mph (27.234s) in the first round of the session.
An in-form Greg Biffle claimed fourth, ahead of his Roush Fenway team-mate Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin, while 2011 Daytona 500 victor Trevor Bayne lines up seventh.
Joey Logano maintained his record of particpating in every final round of qualifying this season and starts 10th, while Martinsville winner Kurt Busch claimed 11th, although he will start from the rear of the field after using his back-up car following a Friday practice crash.
Jimmie Johnson failed to advance to the 12-car shootout for pole for the first time this year and the reigning champion could do no better than 16th, his worst Texas start since 17th in 2010.
Elsewhere, Dave Blaney qualified well by grabbing 35th and makes his first Sprint Cup race start of the season in the Humphry Ford.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
1. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 27.628s
2. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford 27.636s +0.008s
3. Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 27.648s +0.020s
4. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 27.735s +0.107s
5. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 27.744s +0.116s
6. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota 27.746s +0.118s
7. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford 27.763s +0.135s
8. Ryan Newman Childress Chevrolet 27.815s +0.187s
9. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 27.826s +0.198s
10. Joey Logano Penske Ford 27.872s +0.244s
11. Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 27.961s +0.333s
12. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 28.113s +0.485s
13. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet Q2
14. Kyle Larson Ganassi Chevrolet Q2
15. Jamie McMurray Ganassi Chevrolet Q2
16. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet Q2
17. Aric Almirola Petty Ford Q2
18. Martin Truex Jr Furniture Row Ford Q2
19. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet Q2
20. Casey Mears Germain Chevrolet Q2
21. Austin Dillon Childress Chevrolet Q2
22. Justin Allgaier HScott Chevrolet Q2
23. Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota Q2
24. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet Q2
25. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota Q1
26. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota Q1
27. Michael Annett Baldwin Chevrolet Q1
28. Michael McDowell Leavine Ford Q1
29. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota Q1
30. Alex Bowman BK Toyota Q1
31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford Q1
32. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet Q1
33. AJ Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Chevrolet Q1
34. David Reutimann MDS Ford Q1
35. Dave Blaney Humphrey Ford Q1
36. Parker Kligerman Swan Toyota Q1
37. Travis Kvapil Go FAS Ford Q1
38. Reed Sorenson Baldwin Chevrolet Q1
39. David Gilliland Front Row Ford Q1
40. Landon Cassill Hillman Chevrolet Q1
41. Josh Wise Parsons Chevrolet Q1
42. Cole Whitt Swan Toyota Q1
43. David Ragan Front Row Ford Q1
Did not qualify:
David Stremme Circle Sport Chevrolet
Ryan Truex BK Toyota
Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota
JJ Yeley Cohen Chevrolet
Share Or Save This Story
F1 Canadian GP: Antonelli lands F1 2026 blow as Russell retires in Montreal
Russell suffers dramatic exit from F1 Canada GP
Rosenqvist wins 2026 Indy 500 in closest-ever finish
LIVE: F1 Canadian Grand Prix updates - Antonelli leads as Russell and Norris among six retirees
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