Stewart Takes Texas Pole - Starting Lineup

FORT WORTH, TX - RIS - Tony Stewart won the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Duck Commander 500 race at Texas Motor Spedway and in the process added just a little drama to the proceedings. Stewart waited until the very last moments of the final round of Saturday’s Sprint Cup Series knockout qualifying session before making his last run and succeeded in knocking Brad Keselowski from the pole. Keselowski is considered the master at winning poles and front row spots this season with the new qualifying procedure institited by the sanctioning body, fell short this time.

Stewart’s average lap speed of 195.454 mph barely edged Keselowski (195.419 mph). The pole is Stewart’s first of the season and first in the series since the 2012 Atlanta race – a stretch of 39 races.

“The first run I knew I didn’t run a very good lap, and then the second run really wasn’t much different than that but we knew we had a heat cycle on the tires. This thing is fast,” Stewart said of his No. 14 Chevrolet.

“It was good in the first run, and in the second run it was pretty good and we were second and we ran a little bit quicker. We didn’t know what we could run this third time. The good thing is Chad Johnston (crew chief) made a really big change there to try and make it better.”

Kevin Harvick will start third, Greg Biffle fourth and Carl Edwards fifth. Series points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. will line up 19th. Harvick actually set a new track qualifying record in the first round of qualifying with an average lap speed of 198.282 mph. 

Seven Fords start in the top 10 for tonight's race.  That's the first time that has happened in a long time.

Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 27.628 195.454
2 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 27.633 195.419
Row 2: 3 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John's Chevrolet 27.650 195.298
4 16 Greg Biffle 3M/Give Kids A Smile Ford 27.735 194.700
Row 3: 5 99 Carl Edwards Fastenal Ford 27.744 194.637
6 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office/March of Dimes Toyota 27.746 194.623
Row 4: 7 21 Trevor Bayne(i) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 27.763 194.503
8 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 27.815 194.140
Row 5: 9 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford 27.827 194.056
10 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil/Hertz Ford 27.872 193.743
Row 6: 11 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 27.961 193.126
12 24 Jeff Gordon Axalta/Texas A&M Sch of Eng Chevrolet 28.112 192.089
Row 7: 13 27 Paul Menard Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet 27.798 194.259
14 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet 27.823 194.084
Row 8: 15 1 Jamie McMurray Bell Helicopter Chevrolet 27.832 194.021
16 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Spring is Calling Chevrolet 27.834 194.007
Row 9: 17 43 Aric Almirola Eckrich Ford 27.894 193.590
18 78 Martin Truex Jr Furniture Row Chevrolet 27.908 193.493
Row 10: 19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 27.928 193.354
20 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet 27.957 193.154
Row 11: 21 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 27.957 193.154
22 51 Justin Allgaier # Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 27.982 192.981
Row 12: 23 55 Brian Vickers Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota 28.013 192.768
24 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy/Get Found Chevrolet 28.014 192.761
Row 13: 25 15 Clint Bowyer Willie's Duck Diner Toyota 27.694 194.988
26 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 27.744 194.637
Row 14: 27 7 Michael Annett # Accell Construction Chevrolet 27.749 194.602
28 95 Michael McDowell TWD Ford 27.752 194.581
Row 15: 29 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 27.758 194.539
30 23 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota 27.770 194.454
Row 16: 31 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford EcoBoost Ford 27.772 194.440
32 5 Kasey Kahne Time Warner Cable Chevrolet 27.831 194.028
Row 17: 33 47 AJ Allmendinger Bush's Beans Chevrolet 27.891 193.611
34 35 David Reutimann MDS Transport Ford 27.986 192.954
Row 18: 35 77 Dave Blaney Ford 28.049 192.520
36 30 Parker Kligerman # SMS Audio Toyota 28.093 192.219
Row 19: 37 32 Travis Kvapil Ford Owner Points
38 36 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet Owner Points
Row 20: 39 38 David Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford Owner Points
40 40 Landon Cassill(i) Gallery Furniture Chevrolet Owner Points
Row 21: 41 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet Owner Points
42 26 Cole Whitt # Swan Energy Toyota Owner Points
Row 22: 43 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford Owner Points
Did Not Qualify: # 33 David Stremme; # 83 Ryan Truex #; # 66 Joe Nemechek(i); # 44 JJ Yeley(i).
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 21 2 Toyota 8 2
Ford 14 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series