Tony Stewart has never been known as much of a qualifier.
Tony Stewart Claims First Cup Pole Since 2005
So his qualifying effort today at Texas – a lap which earned him the pole for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race – came as quite the surprise.
Stewart won his first pole since Martinsville in October 2005, which is only the 11th of his career (he has more than three times as many wins as poles, with 37).
Preparing to make his 400th career start this weekend, Stewart out-qualified Sam Hornish Jr., Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne.
Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Stewart’s teammate Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10 qualifiers.
Other notables: Kurt Busch was 11th, Jeff Gordon was 12th, Carl Edwards was 20th, Denny Hamlin was 29th and Mark Martin was 30th.
Three cars went home: Johnny Sauter, Terry Cook and David Stremme each failed to qualify for the race.
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