NASCAR Dover 2014 qualifying results: Brad Keselowski smashes track record, wins FedEx 400 pole

As a field of 12 drivers waited for the optimum moment to hit the track and put down a lap in Sprint Cup qualifying, Brad Keselowski grew sick of playing the waiting game. So the Team Penske driver broke the trend and recorded an early time Friday at Dover International Speedway.

Keselowski was rewarded for his impatience, as favorable cloud cover aided his efforts in winning the pole for Sunday’s FedEx 400.

“I just got bored,” Keselowski told Fox. “I’m like Clint Bowyer when he doesn’t take his 5-Hour Energy -- I get anxious and jittery. We had a good car today and I just wanted to get going.”

Before the season, Keselowski was not regarded as an ace qualifier. But NASCAR’s shift from single-car, two-lap time-trial runs to a group format where drivers can take multiple laps has proved beneficial. In nine of 13 races this season, Keselowski has qualified third or better, and his 6.8 average starting position (prior to Dover) leads all drivers.

Keselowski’s speed of 164.444 mph smashed Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s track record by 2.5 mph. Overall, 28 drivers exceeded the track record.

“It has been a good year for qualifying, and I would say most years that has not been the case,” Keselowski said. “I am not going to complain by any stretch of the imagination.”

Kyle Busch, the fastest qualifier in Round 1, will start second. Keselowski’s teammate, Joey Logano, qualified third. Eight-time Dover winner Jimmie Johnson and rookie Kyle Larson rounded out the top five.

“Our car was really good in practice,” Busch said. “We weren’t quite able to get the speed we wanted in qualifying. I don’t think anybody really did. Overall, we slowed down a little more than others, I guess.

All 43 qualifiers made Sunday’s race.