Martin Truex Jr. has a knack for running well at his home track, and in doing so he took a little bit of the spotlight away from NASCAR’s Chase drivers – at least for a day.
NASCAR Dover Starting Lineup: Martin Truex Jr. Leads Qualifying For Third Chase Race Of 2011
Truex won the pole for Sunday’s Dover International Speedway race, and will lead the starting lineup ahead of Kurt Busch, Paul Menard, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.
The Michael Waltrip Racing driver earned his fifth career pole, and first since May 2010 – when he also won it at Dover. Truex, a New Jersey native, won his only career Cup race at Dover.
Truex was the only driver to top 159 mph (Busch had an average lap speed of 158.983) and surprisingly one of nine non-Chase drivers in the top 14.
Jimmie Johnson was sixth, Denny Hamlin 11th and Brad Keselowski 15th, but other Chase drivers struggled.
Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick occupied spots 20-22, and points leader Tony Stewart faltered with a 28th-place qualifying run.
Jeff Gordon was the lowest-qualifying Chase driver of all, managing just a 34th-place starting spot.
Here’s the starting lineup for Sunday’s NASCAR race at Dover (Chase driver names in bold):
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Kurt Busch
- Paul Menard
- Carl Edwards
- Kyle Busch
- Jimmie Johnson
- AJ Allmendinger
- Bobby Labonte
- Kasey Kahne
- Greg Biffle
- Denny Hamlin
- Marcos Ambrose
- Jeff Burton
- David Reutimann
- Brad Keselowski
- Regan Smith
- Mark Martin
- Matt Kenseth
- David Ragan
- Ryan Newman
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Kevin Harvick
- Jamie McMurray
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Landon Cassill
- Josh Wise
- Clint Bowyer
- Tony Stewart
- Scott Speed
- Brian Vickers
- David Stremme
- Travis Kvapil
- Joey Logano
- Jeff Gordon
- Michael McDowell
- David Gilliland
- Andy Lally
- Reed Sorenson
- Casey Mears
- Mike Bliss
- Dave Blaney
- Joe Nemechek
- JJ Yeley
DNQ: Mike Skinner
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