Matt Kenseth returned to the scene of his Daytona 500 victory on Friday and showed he has plenty of restrictor-plate power again, winning the pole position for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
NASCAR Daytona Starting Lineup 2012 (UPDATED): Matt Kenseth Leads Coke Zero 400 Qualifying
The pole was Kenseth’s first pole of the season – which will lock him into next season’s Daytona Shootout – and his first since the fall Phoenix race last year.
But Kenseth doesn’t often win the pole; Friday’s achievement was only the eighth of Kenseth’s 13-year NASCAR career.
A pair of Stewart-Haas Racing teammates were next – Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman – and Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle rounded out the top five.
UPDATE: Tony Stewart has failed post-qualifying inspection and will have to start the Coke Zero 400 at the rear of the field. His qualifying time was disallowed due to an open cooling hose in the cockpit (which is capable of providing an aerodynamic advantage).
Stewart had qualified second before the penalty.
Here’s the starting lineup for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway:
- Matt Kenseth
- Ryan Newman
- Kasey Kahne
- Greg Biffle
- Jeff Gordon
- Bill Elliott
- Casey Mears
- AJ Allmendinger
- Brad Keselowski
- Marcos Ambrose
- Kevin Harvick
- Carl Edwards
- Paul Menard
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Trevor Bayne
- Jimmie Johnson
- Aric Almirola
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Joey Logano
- Jeff Burton
- Mike Bliss
- Kyle Busch
- Denny Hamlin
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Regan Smith
- David Stremme
- David Ragan
- Michael Waltrip
- Clint Bowyer
- Jamie McMurray
- Josh Wise
- David Gilliland
- Dave Blaney
- Terry Labonte
- Kurt Busch
- Joe Nemechek
- Stephen Leicht
- Landon Cassill
- David Reutimann
- Travis Kvapil
- Bobby Labonte
- Tony Stewart (was second)
- JJ Yeley
DNQ: Robert Richardson Jr.
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