NASCAR Fontana 2015 qualifying results: Kurt Busch continues comeback, speeds to pole

Following months of negative publicity, Kurt Busch is grabbing headlines in a more positive fashion for the second consecutive week.

Busch sped to the pole in Friday qualifying for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. His time of 185.142 mph topped Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick, who’s won the past two races and hasn’t finished worse than second in seven straight races dating to last season.

Busch missed the first three races of the season when NASCAR suspended him on Feb. 20, following a Delaware Family Court commissioner ruling that Busch was not to contact former girlfriend Patricia Driscoll. In his ruling, Commissioner David Jones determined “more likely than not,” Busch committed an act of domestic abuse.

On March 5, the Delaware Attorney General’s office declined to criminally charge Busch due to a lack of evidence. After Busch completed certain terms and conditions set forth by the sanctioning body, NASCAR rescinded its suspension one week later.

“It’s my love. It’s my passion. It’s what I do,” Busch said. “I love to go out there and to drive fast. ... I’m just staying focused. I’m keeping up with numbers, watching film, and knowing that if I give it my best effort, good things will come.”

In his first race back, Busch finished fifth last week at Phoenix International Raceway. The pole-run Friday, his first since May 2013, puts him in good position to snap a nearly yearlong winless streak.

Because he missed three races, Busch will need a victory to earn a Chase for the Sprint Cup berth and be no lower than 30th in points. He is ranked 33rd overall, 17 points behind the cutoff.

“This is huge for (SHR co-owner) Gene Haas,” Busch said. “That is what I wanted to start the interview with is thank you Gene for believing in me. This is my job. Come to the track, drive the car and put it up on the pole and go for wins. That is what Gene has told me to do from the get go and I’m glad I have this chance to go back out there and live up to why he hired me. It feels good.”

Rounding out the top-five qualifiers were Matt Kenseth, David Ragan and Kyle Larson. Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer will start sixth through 10, respectively.

Substituting for Brian Vickers, Brett Moffitt struggled and hit the wall. He will start 30th. Vickers announced Friday a reoccurrence of blood clots, an issue he’s battled throughout his career. There is no timetable on when Vickers may return.

“We need to find some speed,” Moffitt said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to fix the car and go to work on race trim tomorrow.”

Travis Kvapil and Reed Sorenson failed to qualify.​