Kurt Busch Wins Inaugural Charlotte Roval Pole

Chuck Burton AP

CONCORD, NC – RIS – After spending two days at a simulator learning the new road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch put his Ford on the pole for the inaugural race on the newly configured track, won the pole late in the final round of qualifying. 

Busch’s hope was to do well enough to advance to the second round of the playoffs for one who is very close to the cutoff position.

"I turned 40 this year and there I am on the simulator acting like it's a video game," Busch said with a laugh. "But you have to do those things."

It was Busch’s fourth pole of the season, one that showed only one win of the season (Bristol night race), much like his 2017 season.

The roval, as it is called is a 17-turn, 2.28-mile course that includes much of the oval track.  Many drivers complained it was slick on Friday, but not enough to impede Busch’s pole-winning speed.  Track President Marcus Smith has said that the track would revert to the 1.5-mile traditional oval for the annual Memorial weekend 600-mile race.

Busch the said key is to not "overdrive "in the next corner trying to pick up time lost in the previous corner.

"I think that's an important fundamental aspect of going into a new style of track," Busch said.

Denny Hamlin, one of four drivers on the outside looking in at the playoff race and in need of a strong finish Sunday, was one of several drivers who had problems adjusting to the new circuit which runs part of the race in the infield at CMS.

He wrecked earlier in practice and qualifying and will start 27th.

That came after Hamlin ran over the blue "turtle" curbs designed to keep drivers off the chicanes and hit the wall in practice. He crashed again in qualifying, and — sensing the urgency of the moment — got out of the car and began helping his crew fix the damage to help him get back on the track.

The “Big 4” NASCAR drivers (Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex, and Brad Keselowski) failed to reach the final round of qualifying.

It was a great day for Chevrolet fans as eight of the top ten qualifiers were in Camaro ZL1’s, unusual for the brand who has struggled in 2018. 

 Driver Date Time Speed
Track Qualifying Record: Kurt Busch (P) 09/28/18 76.805 106.868
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next
Qualifying Round: 2
1 41 Kurt Busch (P) Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford 76.805 106.868 1 1 0.000 0.000
2 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger ClickList Chevrolet 76.846 106.811 1 1 0.041 0.041
3 88 Alex Bowman (P) Axalta Chevrolet 76.854 106.800 1 1 0.049 0.008
4 9 Chase Elliott (P) SunEnergy1 Chevrolet 77.001 106.596 1 1 0.196 0.147
5 42 Kyle Larson (P) Clover/First Data Chevrolet 77.017 106.574 1 1 0.212 0.016
6 48 Jimmie Johnson (P) Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet 77.098 106.462 1 1 0.293 0.081
7 14 Clint Bowyer (P) Mobil 1/Advance Auto Parts Ford 77.192 106.332 1 1 0.387 0.094
8 1 Jamie McMurray DC Solar Chevrolet 77.358 106.104 1 1 0.553 0.166
9 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Menards/Pennzoil Ford 77.493 105.919 1 1 0.688 0.135
10 37 Chris Buescher Maple Cheerios Chevrolet 77.760 105.556 1 1 0.955 0.267
11 * 8 Daniel Hemric(i) Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet 77.796 105.507 1 1 0.991 0.036
12 20 Erik Jones (P) Reser's Toyota 77.868 105.409 1 1 1.063 0.072
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next
Qualifying Round: 1
1 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger ClickList Chevrolet 76.956 106.658 1 1 0.000 0.000
2 * 8 Daniel Hemric(i) Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet 77.126 106.423 1 1 0.170 0.170
3 88 Alex Bowman (P) Axalta Chevrolet 77.130 106.418 1 1 0.174 0.004
4 9 Chase Elliott (P) SunEnergy1 Chevrolet 77.133 106.414 1 1 0.177 0.003
5 37 Chris Buescher Maple Cheerios Chevrolet 77.138 106.407 1 1 0.182 0.005
6 48 Jimmie Johnson (P) Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet 77.140 106.404 1 1 0.184 0.002
7 42 Kyle Larson (P) Clover/First Data Chevrolet 77.184 106.343 1 1 0.228 0.044
8 14 Clint Bowyer (P) Mobil 1/Advance Auto Parts Ford 77.227 106.284 1 1 0.271 0.043
9 1 Jamie McMurray DC Solar Chevrolet 77.257 106.243 1 1 0.301 0.030
10 41 Kurt Busch (P) Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford 77.292 106.195 1 1 0.336 0.035
11 20 Erik Jones (P) Reser's Toyota 77.308 106.173 2 2 0.352 0.016
12 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Menards/Pennzoil Ford 77.350 106.115 1 3 0.394 0.042
13 78 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 77.390 106.060 3 3 0.434 0.040
14 18 Kyle Busch (P) M&M's Toyota 77.575 105.807 1 3 0.619 0.185
15 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 77.589 105.788 1 3 0.633 0.014
16 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Rehydrate Ford 77.618 105.749 3 3 0.662 0.029
17 19 Daniel Suarez Lenox Toyota 77.663 105.687 1 3 0.707 0.045
18 34 Michael McDowell K-LOVE Radio Ford 77.668 105.681 1 3 0.712 0.005
19 4 Kevin Harvick (P) JimmyJohn'sNew9GrainWheatSub Ford 77.947 105.302 3 3 0.991 0.279
20 10 Aric Almirola (P) Smithfield Ford 78.031 105.189 1 3 1.075 0.084
21 24 William Byron # Unifirst Chevrolet 78.082 105.120 4 4 1.126 0.051
22 21 Paul Menard Motorcraft/QuickLaneTire&Auto Ford 78.101 105.095 1 3 1.145 0.019
23 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. SunnyD Ford 78.258 104.884 1 3 1.302 0.157
24 3 Austin Dillon (P) Dow Chevrolet 78.389 104.709 4 4 1.433 0.131
25 2 Brad Keselowski (P) Alliance Truck Parts Ford 78.435 104.647 1 1 1.479 0.046
26 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 78.455 104.620 3 3 1.499 0.020
27 11 Denny Hamlin (P) FedEx Freight Toyota 78.561 104.479 3 3 1.605 0.106
28 32 Matt DiBenedetto Superior Logistics Services Inc. Ford 78.657 104.352 3 3 1.701 0.096
29 31 Ryan Newman Grainger/American Red Cross Chevrolet 78.665 104.341 1 3 1.709 0.008
30 38 David Ragan MDS Transport Ford 78.898 104.033 1 2 1.942 0.233
31 15 Justin Marks(i) GoPro Motorplex/Pickers Vodka Chevrolet 78.972 103.936 3 3 2.016 0.074
32 95 Regan Smith Procore Chevrolet 79.267 103.549 3 3 2.311 0.295
33 72 Cole Whitt Rinnai Chevrolet 79.489 103.260 1 3 2.533 0.222
34 43 Bubba Wallace # World Wide Technology Chevrolet 79.910 102.716 2 2 2.954 0.421
35 * 7 Ross Chastain(i) SOKAL Media Group Chevrolet 79.940 102.677 1 1 2.984 0.030
36 23 JJ Yeley(i) Adirondack Tree Surgeons Toyota 80.444 102.034 1 1 3.488 0.504
37 * 96 Jeffrey Earnhardt iK9/Xtreme Concepts Toyota 80.510 101.950 1 4 3.554 0.066
38 00 Landon Cassill(i) Dairi O Chevrolet 81.196 101.089 4 4 4.240 0.686
39 51 Stanton Barrett Jacob Companies Ford 81.871 100.255 1 2 4.915 0.675
40 * 66 Timmy Hill(i) Ternio Toyota 82.022 100.071 2 2 5.066 0.151

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 2018, Issue 9, Posted 10:29 PM, 09.28.2018