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Apr
20th

NASCAR: Matt Kenseth knocks former teammate Carl Edwards off Kansas pole

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It doesn't matter to Matt Kenseth if he's driving a Ford or a Toyota, he's still one of the best at Kansas Speedway.

Kenseth, who joined Joe Gibbs Racing this year, set a track qualifying record of 191.864 mph at the Speedway. Last year he won the fall race in a Roush Fenway Ford.

On the other hand this was only his ninth pole in 480 Sprint cup starts.

Trying to explain why he is so comfortable there the former Cup champion said "It's one of those tracks when you first get on it and you come here with them first couple of runs, you have a hard time feeling where the edge is.

"Whenever you go to a new race track, you have to bring a relatively hard and durable tire just because the track has so much grip. Here and Michigan, it gets a little better every lap you run and the longer you're here, but they're difficult tracks to get the balance right."

Edwards, one of two local heroes including Clint Bowyer and Kenseth's teammate last year, was second quick with a lap of 191.748. Rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified third in another Ford his best qualifying effort in the Cup series.

"We had the pole for two or three minutes there and that felt real good," Edwards said. "This is a special place and we've got a very fast Aflac Ford. Hopefully, it races as well as it runs in qualifying trim. I really messed up my first lap. My second lap was pretty good, but it still wasn't as fast as what we ran in practice.

"I think we'll hold up for second, so that's a great starting spot. I just want to win this race. That's it."

Sam Hornish took fourth place.

Four-time Sprint Cup champion, Jeff Gordon, crashed during the qualifying session, but was not injured.

Joe Nemechek, on the other hand, failed to qualify altogether.

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