An already eventful week for Kurt Busch became even more so when he set a track record in qualifying to win the pole for Saturday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
NASCAR Darlington 2013 qualifying results: Kurt Busch wins Southern 500 pole
Kurt Busch smashed the track record to claim the pole for the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Streeter Lecka
Busch’s week began in Sunday’s NASCAR race when he flipped on his roof in a harrowing wreck at Talladega Superspeedway. This was followed by an IndyCar test Thursday where he topped 218 mph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
And on Friday, Busch blazed to his first pole position since June 2011 with a lap of 181.918 mph, breaking the previous track record held by Kasey Kahne.
“Running around at 218 is definitely faster than running around at 181 average,” Busch said. “But when you do it with a stock car with no downforce and all the weight that it carries, it’s really tough.”
The 2004 Sprint Cup champion is in his first season driving for Furniture Row Racing, which won the Southern 500 two years ago in what was the team’s only victory to date.
Jimmie Johnson was the provisional pole until Busch’s run and will start on the outside of the front row just ahead of Busch’s younger brother, Kyle, who lines up third. Kahne and Martin Truex Jr. complete the top five.
In what will be his 700th career start -- all consecutive -- Jeff Gordon will roll off from the eighth position.
After wrecking in practice and having to go to a backup car, Danica Patrick struggled to find speed in her qualifying run and will start 40th.
Complete Bojangles’ Southern 500 Starting Lineup:
1) Kurt Busch
2) Jimmie Johnson
3) Kyle Busch
4) Kasey Kahne
5) Martin Truex Jr.
6) Denny Hamlin
7) Matt Kenseth
8) Jeff Gordon
9) Greg Biffle
10) Kevin Harvick
11) Jeff Burton
12) Juan Pablo Montoya
13) Clint Bowyer
14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
15) Paul Menard
16) Dale Earnhardt Jr.
17) Carl Edwards
18) Aric Almirola
19) Casey Mears
20) Tony Stewart
21) Ryan Newman
22) Mark Martin
23) Bobby Labonte
24) Marcos Ambrose
25) Jamie McMurray
26) Brad Keselowski
27) Regan Smith
28) Travis Kvapil
29) David Gilliland
30) Joey Logano
31) David Ragan
32) Landon Cassill
33) David Reutimann
34) Josh Wise
35) Michael McDowell
36) Scott Speed
37) Dave Blaney
38) Mike Bliss
39) David Stremme
40) Danica Patrick
41) Timmy Hill
42) JJ Yeley
43) Joe Nemechek
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