Kyle Busch won the NASCAR All-Star Race pole for Saturday night’s exhibition race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, using a clean pit stop to pick up his third career All-Star pole.
NASCAR All-Star Race, Sprint Showdown Starting Lineups 2012
Qualifying is different in All-Star qualifying, as drivers are required to do three laps that include a mandatory four-tire pit stop. The key is getting on and off pit road as quickly as possible with a fast pit stop.
“It’s just a whole team effort, that’s what it boils down to,” Busch said. “...We knew we’d be pretty quick here, and we felt like we had a good shot for the pole.”
Ryan Newman was on the pole until Busch knocked him off as the last car to go out, and he’ll have to settle for a second-place start.
Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.
Kasey Kahne crashed during his qualifying effort and will need a backup car for Saturday night’s race.
In other news, AJ Allmendinger won the pole for the Sprint Showdown (the race preceding the All-Star event).
Here’s the starting lineup for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race:
- Kyle Busch
- Ryan Newman
- Denny Hamlin
- Greg Biffle
- Kevin Harvick
- Jimmie Johnson
- Paul Menard
- Jeff Gordon
- Tony Stewart
- Regan Smith
- Trevor Bayne
- Clint Bowyer
- Carl Edwards
- David Ragan
- Matt Kenseth
- Mark Martin
- Kurt Busch
- Marcos Ambrose
- Brad Keselowski
- Kasey Kahne
- Sprint Showdown winner
- Sprint Showdown runner-up
- Sprint Fan Vote winner
And here is the starting lineup for the Sprint Showdown:
- AJ Allmendinger
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Jeff Burton
- Aric Almirola
- Landon Cassill
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Bobby Labonte
- Travis Kvapil
- David Stremme
- Casey Mears
- David Reutimann
- Joey Logano
- Stephen Leicht
- Scott Speed
- David Gilliland
- Mike Bliss
- JJ Yeley
- Jamie McMurray
- Joe Nemechek
- Josh Wise
- Tony Raines
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By NASCAR Wire Service
