The Joe Gibbs Racing Qualifying Report Presented by Interstate Batteries
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Camping World RV 400
Date: Sept. 19, 2008
Event: Camping World RV 400 (Round 28 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Dover (Del.) International Speedway (1-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports (22.921 seconds at 157.061 mph)
JGR Lineup: Denny Hamlin (3rd, 23.001 seconds at 156.515 mph)
Kyle Busch (11th, 23.151 seconds at 155.501 mph)
Tony Stewart (33rd, 23.410 seconds at 153.780 mph)
Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, led the three-car Joe Gibbs Racing contingent in time trials at Dover (Del.) International Speedway by qualifying third for Sunday’s Camping World RV 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Hamlin turned a lap of 23.001 seconds at 156.515 mph on the 1-mile oval.
“That was a great lap,” said Hamlin, whose best Sprint Cup result at Dover is third, notched last September. “This is what we needed. We’ve worked so hard on qualifying today and it paid off.”
Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates – Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota and Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota – qualified 11th and 33rd, respectively. Busch turned a lap of 23.151 seconds at 155.501 mph, while Stewart stopped the clocks in 23.410 seconds at 153.780 mph.
“Our race trim is pretty good,” said Busch, who in seven career Sprint Cup races at Dover has finished in the top-five five times, including a win in June and back-to-back runner-up results in the 2005 June and September races. “Qualifying trim just didn’t act to where we wanted it to. We’ll work on it here tomorrow and try to make race trim a little better.”
“We’re better in race trim than we are in qualifying trim,” said Stewart, who swept the two Sprint Cup races at Dover in 2000. “That’s what we spent more time working on in practice. As the race goes on here, it historically tightens up. It seems like from the start time to the end it cools off quite a bit, so it always ends up getting a little bit tighter. So, we spent more time on that than anything.”
Jeff Gordon captured his 66th career pole, his third of the season and his fourth at Dover with a time of 22.921 seconds at 157.061 mph. Mark Martin will start alongside Gordon on the outside of row one, as he timed in at 22.922 seconds at 157.054 mph. Hamlin was third, while Kurt Busch (23.021 seconds at 156.379 mph) and Greg Biffle (23.035 seconds at 156.284 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-five drivers attempted to qualify for the Camping World RV 400. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Chad Chaffin and Johnny Sauter. Stanton Barrett was on the entry list, but did not make a qualifying attempt after crashing in practice.
As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet swept the front row via the runs made by Gordon and Martin. Toyota was next best at the hands of Hamlin. Dodge was the third-fastest make thanks to Kurt Busch, and carrying the flag for Ford was Biffle, who won last Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
The Camping World RV 400 gets underway at 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 21 with live, high-definition coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 1 p.m. The race will also be broadcast on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.
