JGR Qualifying Report - Texas
Date: Nov. 2, 2007
Event: Dickies 500 (Round 34 of 36)
Series: NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Dale Earnhardt Inc. (27.964 seconds at 193.105 mph)
JGR Lineup: Denny Hamlin (7th, 28.106 seconds at 192.130 mph)
Tony Stewart (15th, 28.244 seconds at 191.327 mph)
J.J. Yeley (38th, 28.706 seconds at 188.114 mph)
Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Kinko’s Chevrolet, qualified seventh to lead the three-car Joe Gibbs Racing contingent during time trials for Sunday’s Dickies 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Hamlin turned a lap of 28.106 seconds at 192.130 mph on the 1.5-mile oval.
“The car was really comfortable and we turned in a good lap today,” said Hamlin, who has never finished outside the top-10 in four career Nextel Cup starts at Texas. “The times were so close… looks like all we needed was a tenth of a second. Just a little more speed and we would’ve had this No. 11 FedEx Kinko’s Chevy right at the top of the board. But as it stands, we have ourselves in good shape for Sunday. This car was good off the truck and we made only small changes in race trim to get where we felt really comfortable. My hat goes off to Mike (Ford, crew chief) and the crew for all their hard work.”
Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates – Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet and J.J. Yeley in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet – qualified 15th and 38th, respectively. Stewart turned a lap of 28.244 seconds at 191.327 mph, while Yeley stopped the clocks in 28.706 seconds at 188.114 mph.
“I’m pretty happy with the car,” said Stewart, who is the defending winner of the Dickies 500, “and I’m really happy with the adjustments Greg (Zipadelli, crew chief) made for qualifying. It was a good run. I normally either break even or slow down. I screw up here a lot in qualifying, so I was pretty happy with that.”
“I’m so confused I’m at a loss for words,” said Yeley, whose No. 18 team won back-to-back poles at Texas in 2003 and 2004. “We started practice in race trim and switched over and made three qualifying runs and struggled a bit. We made some adjustments leading into qualifying and hoped to get the car to travel a bit more. It drove the best since we’ve been here in qualifying trim, but it was just slow and I don’t know why. It would be different if we were in 30th-place and just a tick off, but not three-quarters of a second off. It’s a tough deal, but we’ll focus on Sunday and try our best.”
Martin Truex Jr., captured his first career pole position with a time of 27.964 seconds at 193.105 mph. Rounding out the top-five in qualifying were Jeff Gordon (28.063 seconds at 192.424 mph), Juan Pablo Montoya (28.064 seconds at 192.417 mph), Kevin Harvick (28.090 seconds at 192.239 mph) and A.J. Allmendinger (28.090 seconds at 192.239 mph).
Forty-eight drivers attempted to qualify for the Dickies 500. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Ward Burton, John Andretti, Michael Waltrip, Burney Lamar and Kevin Lepage.
As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took the top spot thanks to Truex’s pole-winning mark. Dodge was next best at the hands of Montoya. Allmendinger carried the flag for Toyota, while the top Ford came via Matt Kenseth’s 18th-place time of 28.244 seconds at 191.191 mph.
The Dickies 500 gets underway on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. EST. ABC will broadcast the event live and in high-definition beginning with its pre-race show at 3 p.m.
