Martin Truex Jr., he of the endless and possibly annoying “NAPA Know How” commercials (depending on how many times you’ve seen the ads), has won the pole for Sunday’s Autism Speaks 400 Sprint Cup race at Dover.
Martin Truex Jr. Has Know-How To Win Dover Pole
The pole was the fifth of Truex’s career, and it hasn’t been all that long since his last: He won three poles last season.
But this was his first with his new team, Michael Waltrip Racing, and with the No. 56, the old number he used to run as he came up through the ranks.
“That has always been so special to me,” he said. “Making my first Nationwide start here with that number on the car. All those little things make it special.”
Truex out-qualified Kasey Kahne by just six thousandths of a second.
Mark Martin was third, followed by Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer.
AJ Allmendinger, Carl Edwards and Sam Hornish Jr. rounded out the top 10.
Two drivers – Max Papis and Todd Bodine – failed to qualify for the race.
Among the drivers with disappointing efforts: Past Dover winner Greg Biffle (24th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (27th) and points leader Kevin Harvick (30th).
Casey Mears, who is subbing in the Red Bull Racing No. 83 car for the ailing Brian Vickers, qualified 39th.
One other note: Kevin Conway and Robby Gordon were alarmingly slow. Both drivers had average laps of around 151 mph, which was six mph slower than the leaders.
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