 |
||
|
The Joe Gibbs Racing Qualifying Report Presented by Interstate BatteriesNASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Samsung 500
JGR Lineup: Kyle Busch (3rd, 28.561 seconds at 189.069 mph) Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, led the three-car Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) contingent in time trials at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth by qualifying third for Sunday’s Samsung 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Busch turned a lap of 28.551 seconds at 189.069 mph on the 1.5-mile oval. “Our Interstate Batteries Camry was pretty good right there,” said Busch, whose third-place qualifying effort was a career-best at Texas. “It felt like a great lap. It just didn’t quite have the speed in it like we had at Las Vegas (where Busch won the pole). Overall, we weren’t overly excited about qualifying. We knew that if we could get a top-10 qualifying start or somewhere near the front, we would be good for the race. This place is going to be pretty aero-sensitive on Sunday, so we have to keep it up front.” Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates – Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota and Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota – qualified 14th and 24th, respectively. Hamlin turned a lap of 28.725 seconds at 187.990 mph while Stewart stopped the clocks in 28.847 seconds at 187.195 mph. “The lap was pretty good,” said Hamlin, who won last weekend’s Sprint Cup race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. “Obviously, we didn’t get enough there. The track got more grip than we expected. We just missed it and were on the tight side there. Our car came to run really good and better than I thought it would. I just underestimated the grip on the race track.” “I ran quicker than what I had in practice,” said Stewart, who earned his first and only Texas win in November 2006. “I was loose in practice getting into (turn) one, and according to the ‘lap tracker’ part of it I lost a lot of time getting into turn one, but the exit was good. We’re sneaking up on it.” Dale Earnhardt Jr., captured his eighth career pole, his first of the season and his second at Texas with a time of 28.286 seconds at 190.907 mph. Carl Edwards will start alongside Earnhardt on the outside of row one, as he timed in at 28.498 seconds at 189.487 mph. Busch was third, while Ryan Newman (28.565 seconds at 189.043 mph) and Jimmie Johnson (28.606 seconds at 188.772 mph) rounded out the top-five. Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the Samsung 500. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were 2007 Indianapolis 500 winner and NASCAR rookie Dario Franchitti, Chad McCumbee, who was tabbed earlier this week to fill-in for regular driver Kyle Petty in the No. 45 Dodge, and Burney Lamar. As far as manufacturers went, qualifying was a model of parity, with each manufacturer represented in the top-four. Chevrolet took the top spot thanks to Earnhardt’s pole. Ford was next best at the hands of Edwards. Toyota posted the third-quickest time via Busch. And Newman carried the flag for Dodge. The Samsung 500 gets underway at 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 6 with live, high-definition coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 1:30 p.m. The race will also be broadcast on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128. |
||
© 2008 Joe Gibbs Racing | HomeSite MapSite Design and Maintenance: Official Race Shop |
||