With a record-breaking lap in excess of 128 mph around the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway oval, Kyle Busch sped to the pole-position for Sunday’s Food City 500.
NASCAR Bristol 2013 qualifying results: Kyle Busch wins pole with new track record
Setting a new track record in qualifying, Kyle Busch won the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Drew Hallowell
Busch’s lap of 14.813 seconds broke the previous track record held by Ryan Newman and gave him his first pole of 2013. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver will share the front row with Kasey Kahne, who broke a Toyota stranglehold of the top three spots when he went out late in qualifying.
While Busch has won five Cup races at Bristol, Friday marked just the third time in 17 races that he had qualified inside the top 10. His previous best starting position was ninth in the 2008 August event.
“I’ve won plenty of races starting from deep in the field,” Busch said. “It will feel a little bit different leading the field to green this time around.”
Denny Hamlin, Brian Vickers and Paul Menard round out the top five, with Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano positions six-10 on the grid.
Sunday will mark Vickers first Sprint Cup Series start of the season, as he is driving a limited schedule for Michael Waltrip Racing. In this race last year, Vickers led 125 laps before sliding back to finish fifth.
Both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick struggled during their two qualifying laps. Earnhardt Jr. turned in the 32nd-fastest time with Patrick 41st out of 44 cars.
Scott Riggs was the only driver who did not qualify.
Complete Food City 500 starting lineup:
1) Kyle Busch
2) Kasey Kahne
3) Denny Hamlin
4) Brian Vickers
5) Paul Menard
6) Jamie McMurray
7) Brad Keselowski
8) Tony Stewart
9) Martin Truex Jr.
10) Joey Logano
11) Jeff Gordon
12) Matt Kenseth
13) Jimmie Johnson
14) David Gilliland
15) Casey Mears
16) Jeff Burton
17) Juan Pablo Montoya
18) Kevin Harvick
19) Kurt Busch
20) Aric Almirola
21) Carl Edwards
22) Marcos Ambrose
23) Clint Bowyer
24) Greg Biffle
25) David Reutimann
26) David Stremme
27) Scott Speed
28) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
29) AJ Allmendinger
30) David Ragan
31) Ryan Newman
32) Dale Earnhardt Jr.
33) Dave Blaney
34) Michael McDowell
35) JJ Yeley
36) Mike Bliss
37) Travis Kvapil
38) Joe Nemechek
39) Bobby Labonte
40) Josh Wise
41) Danica Patrick
42) Landon Cassill
43) Terry Labonte
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