Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the lone NASCAR Sprint Cup track where Toyota remains winless, but the carmaker is well positioned to end that drought after a strong showing in qualifying Saturday.
NASCAR 2015 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway qualifying results: Carl Edwards, Toyota lead the way in Brickyard qualifying
Carl Edwards captured the pole for the second week in a row.
Led by No. 1 qualifier Carl Edwards, Toyota saw four of its drivers start 10th or better for Sunday’s Crown Royal 400. David Ragan will line up third, with Clint Bowyer seventh and Kyle Busch 10th. Edwards also won the pole last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a race won by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Busch, who’s won three of the past four races.
Rounding out the top 10: Joey Logano (second), Tony Stewart (fourth), Kyle Larson (fifth), Kevin Harvick (sixth), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (eighth) and Jamie McMurray (10th).
Chevrolet has dominated Cup races at Indianapolis, winning 12 consecutive races and 16 of 21 overall. Ford, the other manufacturer in Sunday’s race, last won in 1999.
“To be able to win here would be huge, Toyota hasn’t won one (here) yet, so we’d like to do that,” Edwards said.
Stewart’s qualifying effort was a highlight in what has been a career-worst season. He enters Indianapolis with just a single top-10 finish all season and sits 26th in points. To make the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff that begins mid-September, he will need to win one of the next seven races, something Stewart hasn’t done in over two years.
A native Hoosier, Stewart posted the fastest time in Round 1, but bobbled on his Round 2 lap and had to back off the throttle. Nonetheless, he’s hoping this indicates a turnaround is afoot.
“It could all be for nothing,” Stewart said. “It’s the way you want to start the weekend for sure is to have two good runs in qualifying and have a decent starting spot.
Said Edwards: “Tony had me nervous. He was so fast in that first round.”
Jeff Gordon struggled in his final start in front of his home state fans. The defending race-winner, who moved to Pittsboro, Ind., as a teenager, will start 19th.
“I’m really disappointed,” Gordon said. “The car was good. The car was plenty good enough to get a top 12. It’s just on me. I didn’t get the lap. It’s really hard to gauge just how much more speed is in the track and in the cars right now, even with the sun out. I felt like the car did what I needed it to do. I just didn’t go fast enough.”
Josh Wise, Jeb Burton and Reed Sorenson failed to qualify.
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