Truex is the Fastest Qualifier at Martinsville

Steve Helber, AP

MARTINSVILLE, VA - RIS -Martin Truex, Jr. continued his hot streak in the second half of the season by winning the pole for Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.  Truex was fast in all three rounds of qualifying, finishing third in the first round, second in the second round and was fastest I the final round.  He nipped Joey Logano by .008 seconds. Logano had won three straight poles at Martinsville. Jimmie Johnson, A.J. Allmendinger, and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five qualifiers.

“I’ve been second here a few times,” Truex said.  This place is so tough and that first pit stall is just so critical to having a shot at winning here.”

Truex saw his chances to advance to the second round of the Chase with a blown engine on his No. 78 Toyota.

It was Truex's sixth pole this season.

Logano’s consecutive pole streak came to an end by the narrowest of margins.

“It would have been neat to get four straight poles, but we’re in the business of winning races, not poles,’ Logano said.Besides Logano and Johnson, the rest of the Chase field didn’t qualify well.  Carl Edwards qualified 7th, Denny Hamlin 8th, and Kyle Busch 9th.  Worse still were Matt Kenseth (17th), Kevin Harvick (20th), and Kurt Busch (23rd).

Sunday's starting lineup:


Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 78 Martin Truex Jr Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 19.282 98.206
2 22 Joey Logano (C) Shell Pennzoil Ford 19.290 98.165


Row 2: 3 48 Jimmie Johnson (C) Lowe's Chevrolet 19.354 97.840
4 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger/Clorox Chevrolet 19.376 97.729


Row 3: 5 24 Chase Elliott # NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 19.382 97.699
6 14 Tony Stewart Haas Automation Chevrolet 19.385 97.684


Row 4: 7 19 Carl Edwards (C) SportClips Toyota 19.399 97.613
8 11 Denny Hamlin (C) FedEx Freight Toyota 19.418 97.518


Row 5: 9 18 Kyle Busch (C) M&M's Halloween Toyota 19.420 97.508
10 88 Jeff Gordon Nationwide Chevrolet 19.436 97.427


Row 6: 11 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet 19.541 96.904
12 23 David Ragan Dr Pepper Toyota 19.556 96.830


Row 7: 13 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 19.437 97.422
14 1 Jamie McMurray Credit One Chevrolet 19.447 97.372


Row 8: 15 21 Ryan Blaney # Virginia Tech Ford 19.463 97.292
16 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 19.463 97.292


Row 9: 17 20 Matt Kenseth (C) Dollar General Toyota 19.477 97.222
18 27 Paul Menard Dutch Boy/Menards Chevrolet 19.487 97.172


Row 10: 19 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 19.507 97.073
20 4 Kevin Harvick (C) Busch Light Chevrolet 19.512 97.048


Row 11: 21 7 Regan Smith Nikko RC/Toy State Chevrolet 19.512 97.048
22 5 Kasey Kahne UniFirst Chevrolet 19.520 97.008


Row 12: 23 41 Kurt Busch (C) State Water Heaters Chevrolet 19.528 96.968
24 10 Danica Patrick Nature's Bakery Chevrolet 19.539 96.914


Row 13: 25 16 Greg Biffle FordPass Ford 19.510 97.058
26 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 19.520 97.008


Row 14: 27 93 Matt DiBenedetto EJ Wade Construction Toyota 19.520 97.008
28 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Chevrolet 19.558 96.820


Row 15: 29 34 Chris Buescher # Love's Travel Stops/Roller Bites Ford 19.589 96.666
30 95 Michael McDowell Malwarebytes Chevrolet 19.591 96.657


Row 16: 31 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 19.608 96.573
32 3 Austin Dillon Dow/Dow Corning Chevrolet 19.616 96.533


Row 17: 33 38 Landon Cassill A&W All American Food Ford 19.788 95.694
34 55 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 19.853 95.381


Row 18: 35 44 Brian Scott # American Red Cross Ford 19.871 95.295
36 30 Gray Gaulding Feed the Children Chevrolet 19.902 95.146


Row 19: 37 83 Dylan Lupton(i) EJ Wade Construction Toyota 19.976 94.794
38 32 Jeffrey Earnhardt # Keen Parts/Rain-X Ford 20.028 94.548


Row 20: 39 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Fastenal Ford 20.362 92.997
40 46 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 0.000 0.000

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 10:43 PM, 10.28.2016