Kurt Busch Wins Texas Pole as Teammates Take the Top Three Spots

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FORT WORTH, TX – RIS – The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series had last week off, but nothing seems to have changed.  Kurt Busch unloaded quick and was quick enough to win the pole position during weather-shortened qualifying. Only one round was held due to lightening in the area.

Busch turned a lap in 27.360 seconds (197.368 mph) in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at the 1.5-mile track, edging teammate Kevin Harvick (197.116 mph) by .035 seconds. With Martinsville winner Clint Bowyer taking the third qualifying spot, Stewart-Haas will start 1-2-3 in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race for the first time in the organization’s history.

The track record holder at TMS with a lap at 200.915 mph (26.877 seconds) last November, Busch claimed his third Busch Pole Award at the track, his first of the season and the 23rd of his career.

With afternoon storms threatening to shorten qualifying, Busch and his team made a concerted effort to put down a strong lap in the first round.

“You’ve got to play all three rounds as smart as you can,” Busch said. “And so we went a little bit aggressive on that first round, and it paid off. I think in Round 2 we would have picked up even more speed, and then Round 3, that would have been where we would have needed to make a big gamble to see if we could maintain that pace.

“But I’m glad that we had the pace right off the truck, thanks to (crew chief) Billy Scott, Doug Yates and the engine department – those guys are building some good steam… It’s really neat to have our Fords at Stewart-Haas hauling the mail like this. When you go to attack the track and really stand on the gas hard, it’s a great feeling to know that it’s going to stick.”

Harvick was just a tick off Busch’s pole speed.

“We kept it in the family, and that’s a good thing for Stewart-Haas Racing,” said Harvick, a three-time winner already this season. “And maybe we can continue the trend of running well for the rest of the weekend.”

Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney qualified fourth, giving Ford drivers the top four starting spots for the season’s seventh race. Denny Hamlin will start fifth on the grid, next to reigning series champion Martin Truex Jr.

Joey Logano, series leader Kyle Busch, seven-time Texas winner Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Larson claimed the seventh through 10th starting positions, respectively.

Time Trial Results: 22nd Annual O'Reilly Auto Parts 500, Texas Motor Speedway
Qualifying Round 1
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed, Lap #, # Laps, -Fastest, -Next
1, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 27.360, 197.368, 1, 1, 0.000, 0.000
2, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light Ford, 27.395, 197.116, 1, 1, 0.035, 0.035
3, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers Ford, 27.435, 196.829, 1, 1, 0.075, 0.040
4, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Richmond The Water Heater Experts , 27.467, 196.600, 1, 1, 0.107, 0.032
5, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 27.515, 196.257, 1, 1, 0.155, 0.048
6, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota, 27.554, 195.979, 1, 1, 0.194, 0.039
7, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 27.562, 195.922, 3, 3, 0.202, 0.008
8, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 27.583, 195.773, 1, 1, 0.223, 0.021
9, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 27.607, 195.603, 1, 1, 0.247, 0.024
10, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, 27.688, 195.030, 1, 1, 0.328, 0.081
11, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 27.689, 195.023, 1, 1, 0.329, 0.001
12, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 27.693, 194.995, 1, 1, 0.333, 0.004
13, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Performance Plus Ford, 27.715, 194.840, 3, 3, 0.355, 0.022
14, Daniel Suarez, No. 19 STANLEY Racing for a Miracle Toyota, 27.719, 194.812, 1, 1, 0.359, 0.004
15, Darrell Wallace Jr. #, No. 43 Click n' Close Chevrolet, 27.726, 194.763, 3, 3, 0.366, 0.007
16, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 27.729, 194.742, 1, 1, 0.369, 0.003
17, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Symbicort Chevrolet, 27.757, 194.546, 3, 3, 0.397, 0.028
18, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Bush's Beans Chevrolet, 27.758, 194.539, 2, 2, 0.398, 0.001
19, Paul Menard, No. 21 Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 27.774, 194.426, 1, 1, 0.414, 0.016
20, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 27.789, 194.321, 1, 1, 0.429, 0.015
21, Erik Jones, No. 20 Reser's Toyota, 27.810, 194.175, 1, 1, 0.450, 0.021
22, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 27.842, 193.952, 1, 1, 0.482, 0.032
23, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 27.861, 193.819, 3, 3, 0.501, 0.019
24, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet, 27.873, 193.736, 1, 1, 0.513, 0.012
25, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet, 27.905, 193.514, 1, 1, 0.545, 0.032
26, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 SunnyD Ford, 27.913, 193.458, 1, 2, 0.553, 0.008
27, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 27.919, 193.417, 3, 3, 0.559, 0.006
28, Kasey Kahne, No. 95 Procore Chevrolet, 28.030, 192.651, 2, 2, 0.670, 0.111
29, David Ragan, No. 38 1000Bulbs.Com Ford, 28.082, 192.294, 1, 3, 0.722, 0.052
30, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Can-Am/Wholey Ford, 28.184, 191.598, 1, 1, 0.824, 0.102
31, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 LowT Center Chevrolet, 28.325, 190.644, 1, 1, 0.965, 0.141
32, Gray Gaulding, No. 23 Earthwater Toyota, 28.569, 189.016, 1, 1, 1.209, 0.244
33, William Byron #, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 28.694, 188.193, 4, 4, 1.334, 0.125
34, Cole Whitt, No. 72 Rinnai Chevrolet, 28.963, 186.445, 3, 3, 1.603, 0.269
35, Landon Cassill, No. 00 USFRA.ORG Chevrolet, 30.276, 178.359, 1, 1, 2.916, 1.313
36, Harrison Rhodes, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet, 32.729, 164.991, 1, 1, 5.369, 2.453
37, Reed Sorenson, No. 55* Chevrolet, 0.000, 0.000, 0, 0, -----, -----

Starting Line Up by Row: 22nd Annual O'Reilly Auto Parts 500, Texas Motor Speedway
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed
1, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 27.360 sec, 197.368 mph
2, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light Ford, 27.395, 197.116
3, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers Ford, 27.435, 196.829
4, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Richmond TheWtrHtrExprts Ford, 27.467, 196.600
5, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 27.515, 196.257
6, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota, 27.554, 195.979
7, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 27.562, 195.922
8, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 27.583, 195.773
9, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 27.607, 195.603
10, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, 27.688, 195.030
11, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 27.689, 195.023
12, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 27.693, 194.995
13, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Performance Plus Ford, 27.715, 194.840
14, Daniel Suarez, No. 19 STANLEY Racing for a Miracle Toyota, 27.719, 194.812
15, Darrell Wallace Jr. #, No. 43 Click n' Close Chevrolet, 27.726, 194.763
16, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 27.729, 194.742
17, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Symbicort Chevrolet, 27.757, 194.546
18, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Bush's Beans Chevrolet, 27.758, 194.539
19, Paul Menard, No. 21 Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 27.774, 194.426
20, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 27.789, 194.321
21, Erik Jones, No. 20 Reser's Toyota, 27.810, 194.175
22, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 27.842, 193.952
23, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 27.861, 193.819
24, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet, 27.873, 193.736
25, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet, 27.905, 193.514
26, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 SunnyD Ford, 27.913, 193.458
27, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 27.919, 193.417
28, Kasey Kahne, No. 95 Procore Chevrolet, 28.030, 192.651
29, David Ragan, No. 38 1000Bulbs.Com Ford, 28.082, 192.294
30, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Can-Am/Wholey Ford, 28.184, 191.598
31, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 LowT Center Chevrolet, 28.325, 190.644
32, Gray Gaulding, No. 23 Earthwater Toyota, 28.569, 189.016
33, William Byron #, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 28.694, 188.193
34, Cole Whitt, No. 72 Rinnai Chevrolet, 28.963, 186.445
35, Landon Cassill, No. 00 USFRA.ORG Chevrolet, 30.276, 178.359
36, Harrison Rhodes, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet, 32.729, 164.991
37, Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Chevrolet, 0.000, 0.000

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

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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