Truex On the Pole for Sunday's Race at Talladega

Credit:  Rainier Ehrhardt

TALLADEGA, AL – RIS – Even though everyone was talking about a “mystery part” found on the No. 78 Toyota of Martin Truex, the part was confiscated by NASCAR and Truex went on to win the pole of Sunday’s race.  A NASCAR official said it was doubtful the part would result in a points penalty.

“I know people like to think we’re brilliant geniuses that have malicious plans to cheat the system somehow, but sometimes we’re just stupid and make mistakes,”(Truex Crew Chief Cole) Pearn said. “That’s really just what happened and hopefully it doesn’t turn into anything more than that.”

Pearn said the team was changing a spring on Friday and grabbed a 5.5-inch screw instead of an 8-inch screw. That ended up lowering the center of gravity on the left front of the car, which likely wouldn’t help the team.

 “All the crazy talk going on today I think is nonsense,” Truex said after winning the pole. “People speculate on things and don’t know what they are. (The bolt) wasn’t hollow like was reported. No big deal at all.”

In addition, NASCAR pulled three of four Joe Gibbs Racing cars off the grid and made them go through inspection again during qualifying. The move was unusual, but inspectors spotted some manipulation with the decklids and wanted to check, an official said.

All three cars passed inspection again.

Truex turned a lap of 193.423 mph to earn the top starting spot Sunday.

Winner of two races in the first round of the Chase, Truex is winless in round two but above the cutoff point. Four drivers will be cut from the field on Sunday.

Brad Keselowski, in nearly a must-win situation on Sunday, qualified second.

"I feel like qualifying well is certainly a very strong omen for Talladega and Daytona," he said. "I think all of the races I've won here, we've had good starts and the races that we haven't won or been super-competitive we usually don't have any speed in qualifying, so it's certainly a confidence-builder.

Keselowski won at Talladega in May and at Daytona in July.

Matt Kenseth qualified third and was followed by Chase Elliott, who is also in a must-win situation on Sunday.

Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were fifth and sixth and Roush-Fenway Racing put three of its cars into the final round of qualifying as Trevor Bayne was 11th.

Rounding out the top 12 were Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Paul Menard and Reed Sorenson was 12th. It was a huge drop-off for Sorenson, who was the fastest car in the first round of qualifying.

Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 78 Martin Truex Jr (C) Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota 49.508 193.423
2 2 Brad Keselowski (C) Miller Lite Ford 49.523 193.365
Row 2: 3 20 Matt Kenseth (C) DeWalt Flexvolt Toyota 49.568 193.189
4 24 Chase Elliott # (C) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 49.574 193.166
Row 3: 5 16 Greg Biffle Cheez-it Ford 49.585 193.123
6 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Zest Ford 49.623 192.975
Row 4: 7 41 Kurt Busch (C) Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chevrolet 49.682 192.746
8 11 Denny Hamlin (C) FedEx Ground Toyota 49.717 192.610
Row 5: 9 3 Austin Dillon (C) American Ethanol Chevrolet 49.829 192.177
10 27 Paul Menard SYLVANIA/Menards Chevrolet 49.843 192.123
Row 6: 11 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 49.865 192.039
12 55 Reed Sorenson Toyota 50.855 188.300
Row 7: 13 19 Carl Edwards (C) Subway Toyota 49.841 192.131
14 18 Kyle Busch (C) Snickers Halloween Toyota 49.865 192.039
Row 8: 15 21 Ryan Blaney # Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 49.865 192.039
16 22 Joey Logano (C) Shell Pennzoil Ford 49.872 192.012
Row 9: 17 48 Jimmie Johnson (C) Lowe's Pro Services Chevrolet 49.952 191.704
18 99 Ryan Reed(i) LillyDiabetes/AmericanDiabetesAssctn Ford 49.953 191.700
Row 10: 19 88 Alex Bowman(i) Mountain Dew Chevrolet 49.972 191.627
20 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 50.014 191.466
Row 11: 21 14 Tony Stewart Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 50.146 190.962
22 4 Kevin Harvick (C) Jimmy John's Chevrolet 50.197 190.768
Row 12: 23 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 50.296 190.393
24 42 Kyle Larson Energizer Chevrolet 50.357 190.162
Row 13: 25 44 Brian Scott # Goody's Ford 50.393 190.026
26 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 50.399 190.004
Row 14: 27 5 Kasey Kahne UniFirst Chevrolet 50.429 189.891
28 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 50.465 189.755
Row 15: 29 7 Regan Smith Golden Corral Chevrolet 50.483 189.688
30 10 Danica Patrick Nature's Bakery Chevrolet 50.495 189.643
Row 16: 31 38 Landon Cassill FR8 Auctions Ford 50.503 189.612
32 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger/Scott Products Chevrolet 50.529 189.515
Row 17: 33 34 Chris Buescher # Love's Travel Stops Ford 50.602 189.242
34 95 Michael McDowell KLOVE Radio Chevrolet 50.727 188.775
Row 18: 35 93 Matt DiBenedetto Dustless Blasting Toyota 50.823 188.419
36 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Chevrolet 50.913 188.086
Row 19: 37 46 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 50.938 187.993
38 32 Bobby Labonte VisoneRV.com Ford 51.108 187.368
Row 20: 39 83 Jeffrey Earnhardt # Starter Toyota 51.273 186.765
40 23 David Ragan sweetFrog Toyota 51.385 186.358
Did Not Qualify: # 35 David Gilliland.

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2016, Issue 8, Posted 11:30 PM, 10.22.2016