BRICKYARD 400 - Qualifying Results
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.