Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green in Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway after capturing the pole position Friday, positioning himself nicely to snap a 28-race winless streak that dates back nearly 11 months.
NASCAR Dover 2017: Starting grid, lineup for AAA 400 Drive for Autism
Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Busch will share the front row with Martin Truex Jr., who scored a dominating win at Dover last fall, followed by rookie Daniel Suarez, Matt Kenseth, and Kyle Larson, who is the only non-Toyota driver to qualify in the top five. Kurt Busch, rookie Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon, and Denny Hamlin round out the top 10.
Kenseth is the defending race winner. He held off Larson in a stirring battle that saw the two race side-by-side for several laps before Kenseth emerged with his third Dover win. Larson won the Xfinity Series race Saturday over Ryan Blaney, who will start 15th on Sunday.
The 39 drivers making up the starting lineup will race 400 laps around the one-mile concrete track, with the race divided into three stages. The first and second stages are 120 laps, respectively, with the final stage consisting of 160 laps.
Dover is the 13th race of the 2017 Monster Energy Cup Series season, and represents the regular season midpoint. Eight drivers have virtually secured themselves one of 16 playoff spots by having already won a race this season. A ninth driver, Joey Logano, technically has a win (April 30 at Richmond International Raceway), but the benefits of that victory were stripped after Logano’s car failed post-race inspection.
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