Kurt Busch Sets Record and Wins Texas Pole

Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports

FORT WORTH, TX - RIS - Kurt Busch set a record at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, posting the fastest speed in NASCAR history on a 1.5-mile track.  Busch averaged a record 200.915 mph on his only lap in the final round of qualifying Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. The Stewart-Haas Ford Fusion driver was in one of the five cars that broke the 200-mph mark, with Denny Hamlin qualifying second and the highest of the remaining championship contenders.

"Development, that's the biggest thing. That's just the biggest thing," Hamlin said, when asked about the high qualifying speeds. "And trust me, I don't know of any driver that is comfortable running at the speed we're running right now. Kevin Harvick walked by and as soon as that was over, he said, 'I'm glad that is over.' It's crazy speed."

The top five all surpassed the previous qualifying record at the track, Tony Stewart's 200.111 mph before the fall race three years ago.

Hamlin qualified at 200.617 mph, with the others going over 200 mph on the high-banked track being Harvick (200.372 mph), Erik Jones (200.326 mph) and Kyle Busch (200.252 mph). Hamlin, Harvick and Kyle Busch, the only driver locked into a title shot at Homestead, are all championship contenders.

Martin Truex Jr., leading in points, qualified seventh at 199.431 mph, directly ahead of fellow title contenders Ryan Blaney (199.380 mph), Jimmie Johnson (198.727 mph) and Brad Keselowski (198.478 mph) in the eighth through 10th spots.

The only championship contender starting outside the top 10 was Chase Elliott, who was among seven drivers who didn't make any qualifying laps after not making it through tech inspection in time. He will start 34th on Sunday.

Harvick commented on the stress in qualifying at the just paved track.

"This is a little bit of a nerve-wracking lap because it is so fast," Harvick said. "For me, my heart rate has been up since I started because of the anxiety of getting in the car late, not having time to prep yourself getting in and calm down and then you get in there and it is just lap after lap, but it worked out fine."

Kurt Busch said he saw an old friend Friday who had his two sons with him. The two boys were in awe of the surroundings on pit road when Busch winked at them and gave a prophetic word.

"I said, 'It's going to be over 200 miles per hour today.' And they were like, 'woah,' and then I was able to back it up," Busch said. "So I feel impressed."

Texas Motor Speedway
13th Annual AAA Texas 500
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, November 03, 2017 @ 07:41 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Qualifying Record: Kurt Busch 11/03/17 26.877 200.915
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next
Qualifying Round: 3
1 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford 26.877 200.915 1 1 0.000 0.000
2 11 Denny Hamlin (P) FedEx Office Toyota 26.917 200.617 1 1 0.040 0.040
3 4 Kevin Harvick (P) Mobil 1 Ford 26.949 200.378 1 1 0.072 0.032
4 77 Erik Jones # Sport Clips Toyota 26.956 200.326 1 1 0.079 0.007
5 18 Kyle Busch (P) M&M's Caramel Toyota 26.966 200.252 1 1 0.089 0.010
6 19 Daniel Suarez # ARRIS Toyota 27.055 199.593 1 1 0.178 0.089
7 78 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota 27.077 199.431 1 1 0.200 0.022
8 21 Ryan Blaney (P) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 27.084 199.380 1 1 0.207 0.007
9 48 Jimmie Johnson (P) Lowe's Chevrolet 27.173 198.727 1 1 0.296 0.089
10 2 Brad Keselowski (P) Wurth Ford 27.207 198.478 1 1 0.330 0.034
11 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 27.253 198.143 1 1 0.376 0.046
12 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 27.262 198.078 1 1 0.385 0.009

Qualifying Round: 2
1 77 Erik Jones # Sport Clips Toyota 26.997 200.022 1 1 0.000 0.000
2 11 Denny Hamlin (P) FedEx Office Toyota 27.010 199.926 1 1 0.013 0.013
3 4 Kevin Harvick (P) Mobil 1 Ford 27.015 199.889 1 1 0.018 0.005
4 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford 27.047 199.652 1 1 0.050 0.032
5 78 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota 27.064 199.527 1 1 0.067 0.017
6 18 Kyle Busch (P) M&M's Caramel Toyota 27.090 199.336 1 1 0.093 0.026
7 19 Daniel Suarez # ARRIS Toyota 27.133 199.020 1 1 0.136 0.043
8 21 Ryan Blaney (P) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 27.138 198.983 1 1 0.141 0.005
9 48 Jimmie Johnson (P) Lowe's Chevrolet 27.158 198.836 1 1 0.161 0.020
10 2 Brad Keselowski (P) Wurth Ford 27.159 198.829 1 1 0.162 0.001
11 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 27.228 198.325 1 1 0.231 0.069
12 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 27.301 197.795 1 1 0.304 0.073
13 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 27.315 197.694 1 3 0.318 0.014
14 10 Danica Patrick Aspen Dental $10M for Veterans Ford 27.322 197.643 1 1 0.325 0.007
15 3 Austin Dillon Winter in PyeongChang Chevrolet 27.337 197.534 1 3 0.340 0.015
16 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger ClickList Chevrolet 27.346 197.469 1 1 0.349 0.009
17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide/Justice League Chevrolet 27.350 197.441 1 2 0.353 0.004
18 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 27.374 197.267 1 1 0.377 0.024
19 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips/Justice League Chevrolet 27.397 197.102 1 3 0.400 0.023
20 14 Clint Bowyer Rush Truck Centers/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford 27.477 196.528 1 1 0.480 0.080
21 27 Daniel Hemric(i) Atlas/Menards Chevrolet 27.520 196.221 1 3 0.523 0.043
22 34 Landon Cassill Love's Travel Stops/SpeedCo Ford 27.601 195.645 1 1 0.604 0.081
23 95 Michael McDowell Rohto Jolt Eyedrops Chevrolet 27.807 194.196 1 1 0.810 0.206
24 38 David Ragan TheHouse.com Ford 27.810 194.175 1 1 0.813 0.003
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next

Qualifying Round: 1
1 4 Kevin Harvick (P) Mobil 1 Ford 27.016 199.882 1 1 0.000 0.000
2 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford 27.099 199.269 1 1 0.083 0.083
3 77 Erik Jones # Sport Clips Toyota 27.142 198.954 1 1 0.126 0.043
4 2 Brad Keselowski (P) Wurth Ford 27.164 198.793 1 1 0.148 0.022
5 11 Denny Hamlin (P) FedEx Office Toyota 27.181 198.668 1 1 0.165 0.017
6 18 Kyle Busch (P) M&M's Caramel Toyota 27.221 198.376 1 1 0.205 0.040
7 21 Ryan Blaney (P) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 27.321 197.650 1 1 0.305 0.100
8 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 27.332 197.571 1 1 0.316 0.011
9 19 Daniel Suarez # ARRIS Toyota 27.355 197.404 1 1 0.339 0.023
10 78 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota 27.362 197.354 1 1 0.346 0.007
11 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger ClickList Chevrolet 27.403 197.059 1 1 0.387 0.041
12 48 Jimmie Johnson (P) Lowe's Chevrolet 27.427 196.886 1 1 0.411 0.024
13 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 27.451 196.714 1 1 0.435 0.024
14 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide/Justice League Chevrolet 27.460 196.650 1 1 0.444 0.009
15 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips/Justice League Chevrolet 27.474 196.549 1 1 0.458 0.014
16 3 Austin Dillon Winter in PyeongChang Chevrolet 27.497 196.385 1 1 0.481 0.023
17 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 27.499 196.371 1 1 0.483 0.002
18 38 David Ragan TheHouse.com Ford 27.509 196.299 3 3 0.493 0.010
19 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 27.521 196.214 1 1 0.505 0.012
20 10 Danica Patrick Aspen Dental $10M for Veterans Ford 27.547 196.029 1 1 0.531 0.026
21 27 Daniel Hemric(i) Atlas/Menards Chevrolet 27.554 195.979 2 2 0.538 0.007
22 14 Clint Bowyer Rush Truck Centers/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford 27.598 195.666 3 3 0.582 0.044
23 95 Michael McDowell Rohto Jolt Eyedrops Chevrolet 27.643 195.348 3 3 0.627 0.045
24 34 Landon Cassill Love's Travel Stops/SpeedCo Ford 27.644 195.341 1 1 0.628 0.001
25 31 Ryan Newman Grainger Chevrolet 27.671 195.150 1 1 0.655 0.027
26 37 Chris Buescher Bush's Chili Beans Chevrolet 27.725 194.770 1 1 0.709 0.054
27 13 Ty Dillon # GEICO Military Chevrolet 27.846 193.924 3 3 0.830 0.121
28 32 Matt DiBenedetto Can-Am/Kappa Ford 27.849 193.903 2 2 0.833 0.003
29 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 28.143 191.877 3 3 1.127 0.294
30 * 7 Joey Gase(i) DonateLifeTexas.org Chevrolet 28.717 188.042 3 3 1.701 0.574
31 * 51 Ray Black II(i) Scuba Life Chevrolet 28.861 187.104 2 2 1.845 0.144
32 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt hulu Chevrolet 28.876 187.007 2 2 1.860 0.015
33 * 66 David Starr(i) Moore Freight Service Chevrolet 29.704 181.794 2 2 2.688 0.828
34 24 Chase Elliott (P) Hooters Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0 0 ----- -----
35 20 Matt Kenseth XFINITY Team USA Toyota 0.000 0.000 0 0 ----- -----
36 22 Joey Logano AAA Ford 0.000 0.000 0 0 ----- -----
37 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 0.000 0.000 0 0 ----- -----
38 15 Reed Sorenson Low T Centers Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0 0 ----- -----
39 23 Corey LaJoie # Dr Pepper Toyota 0.000 0.000 0 0 ----- -----
40 * 83 Gray Gaulding # Earthwater Toyota 0.000 0.000 0 0 ----- -----