BRICKYARD 400 - Qualifying Results

Carl Edwards wins Brickyard 400 pole. (Photo: Tom Beeler/RIS)

STEWART FASTEST QUALIFIER IN FIRST ROUND, BUT EDWARDS WINS SHOOTOUT FOR INDY POLE

INDIANAPOLIS -RIS- (July 25, 2015) Sprint Cup teams are still rolling the dice on set-ups for Sunday's running of the Crown Royal presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at The Brickyard, but a good number of crews and drivers are hitting their points.

New NASCAR-mandated changes, done in hope of making the usual single-file stock car racing here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway a thing of the past, have caused teams no end of struggles. Yesterday, NASCAR allowed teams to change rear end gearing in the last two of three practice sessions, to better maximize the ability to put power down to pass. Visibility issues with a taller rear wicker spoiler have remained a topic of conversation.

But the Sprint Cup teams have reacted quickly in the abbreviated Brickyard 400 practice schedule. Today, Cup teams were faced with a new qualifying format - a single hot lap - to build the field for tomorrow's 22nd running of the race.

The format produced some interesting qualifying tension. Every competitor was given their chance to deliver their best flying lap, and the fastest twelve would requalify in a final shoot out.

At the end of the first round of qualifying, local favorite Tony Stewart rushed to a best lap of 184+ mph, about four miles per hour below the track record, but all that did was qualify Smoke as last qualifier in the shoot out.

And when the dust settled, Carl Edwards won his fifteenth career pole, and his first at Indy, with a best speed of 183.464 mph in the #19 Stanley Tools Toyota.

Keeping Chevy off the front row was Joey Logano, whose #22 Ford will start alongside Edwards, at 183.139. This marks Logano's 14th top-10 start of the season, and third in seven races here at the Brickyard.

Another Toyota - David Ragan's Aaron's Dream Machine #55 - will start on the inside of the second row, and Stewart's #14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevy wound up fourth, with a lap of 182.823.

Edwards won his second Coors Lite Pole Award of the season, and will make his 11th top-10 start this year.

Jeff Gordon, who is making his last Brickyard 400 start here this weekend, will start 19th in the #24 3M Chevy.

Brett Moffitt is the fastest-qualified rookie, starting 39th in the #34 CSX Play It Safe Ford.

Josh Wise, Jeb Burton, and Reed Sorenson failed to qualify, and are headed home.

Tomorrow's 22nd running of the Brickyard 400 takes the green flag at 3:30 p.m. local time.

NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series

CROWN ROYAL PRESENTS THE JEFF KYLE 400 AT THE BRICKYARD
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
July 24, 2015

QUALIFYING RESULTS

SP CAR DRIVER MFTR SPONSOR BSPEED   BTIME GAP  
1 19   Carl Edwards T Stanley 183.464   49.056 Leader  Top 12
2 22   Joey Logano F Shell Pennzoil 183.139   49.143 0.087  Top 12
3 55   David Ragan T Aaron's Dream Machine 182.886   49.211 0.155  Top 12
4 14   Tony Stewart C Mobil 1 / Bass Pro Shops 182.823   49.228 0.172  Top 12
5 42   Kyle Larson C Target 182.634   49.279 0.223  Top 12
6 4   Kevin Harvick C Jimmy John's/ Budweiser 182.448   49.329 0.273  Top 12
7 15   Clint Bowyer T 5-Hour Energy 182.382   49.347 0.291  Top 12
8 88   Dale Earnhardt Jr C Nationwide 182.308   49.367 0.311  Top 12
9 18   Kyle Busch T Skittles 182.278   49.375 0.319  Top 12
10 1   Jamie McMurray C McDonald's/Cessna 182.238   49.386 0.330  Top 12
11 27   Paul Menard C Duracell / Menards 182.028   49.443 0.387  Top 12
12 48   Jimmie Johnson C Kobalt Tools 181.987   49.454 0.398  Top 12
13 78   Martin Truex Jr C Furniture Row/Visser Precision 183.240   49.116 0.060  
14 41   Kurt Busch C Haas Automation 183.072   49.161 0.105  
15 10   Danica Patrick C GoDaddy 183.001   49.180 0.124  
16 13   Casey Mears C No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS 182.667   49.270 0.214  
17 11   Denny Hamlin T FedEx Express 182.637   49.278 0.222  
18 9   Sam Hornish Jr F Medallion Bank 182.482   49.320 0.264  
19 24   Jeff Gordon C 3M 182.389   49.345 0.289  
20 16   Greg Biffle F Lilly/American Diabetes Assoc Ford Fusion 182.360   49.353 0.297  
21 51   Justin Allgaier C Brandt 182.238   49.386 0.330  
22 43   Aric Almirola F Eckrich 182.113   49.420 0.364  
23 20   Matt Kenseth T Dollar General 182.079   49.429 0.373  
24 40   Landon Cassill C TBA 181.939   49.467 0.411  
25 3   Austin Dillon C Dow - Mycogen 181.928   49.470 0.414  
26 47   AJ Allmendinger C Kroger/Kingsford Charcoat 181.910   49.475 0.419  
27 5   Kasey Kahne C FARMERS 181.386   49.618 0.562  
28 25   Chase Elliott C NAPA Auto Parts 181.036   49.714 0.658  
29 17   Ricky Stenhouse Jr F NOS Energy Drink Ford Fusion 180.963   49.734 0.678  
30 21   Ryan Blaney F Motorcraft / Quick Lane / JDRF 180.919   49.746 0.690  
31 2   Brad Keselowski F Miller Lite 180.854   49.764 0.708  
32 95   Michael McDowell F Thrivent Financial 180.777   49.785 0.729  
33 6   Trevor Bayne F Advocare Ford Fusion 180.469   49.870 0.814  
34 46   Michael Annett C Switch Hitch 180.426   49.882 0.826  
35 7   Alex Bowman C Marsh Supermarkets Chevrolet 180.325   49.910 0.854  
36 33   Brian Scott C Shore Lodge 180.022   49.994 0.938  
37 38   David Gilliland F FFA 179.472   50.147 1.091 Owner Points
38 23   J.J. Yeley T Dr. Pepper 179.412   50.164 1.108 Owner Points
39 34   Brett Moffitt F CSX Play It Safe 179.376   50.174 1.118 Owner Points
40 83   Matt DiBenedetto T VooDoo BBQ & Grill 178.912   50.304 1.248 Owner Points
41 35   Cole Whitt F Speed Stick 177.778   50.625 1.569 Owner Points
42 98   Timmy Hill F Curb Records 166.018   54.211 5.155 Owner Points
43 31   Ryan Newman C Grainger 0.000   0.000 -49.056 Owner Points
                     
Chevrolet 22              
Ford   13              
Toyota   8              

 

Tom Beeler

Tom has been a contributor to RIS since 1992. He was invited to join the staff as a full-time reporter/editor in 1995, and has covered IndyCar, Formula 1, NASCAR, Grand-Am, ALMS and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In addition to his RIS work, Tom has been a contributor for General Motors, Nissan, Toyota and the ACO.

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Volume 2015, Issue 7, Posted 5:04 PM, 07.25.2015