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One day after driving an IndyCar at Indianapolis Darlington polesitter Kurt Busch may be feeling that he had push-to-pass in his NASCAR Chevrolet SS.
The 2004 Sprint Cup Champion turned a lap of 181.918 mph Friday breaking a two-year old mark of 181.254 mph held by Kasey Kahne. It was his third career pole at the egg shaped 1.366-mile, oval.
Asked what it felt like after the speeds at Indy Busch said “when I first went out onto the track the car moved all around and had so much suspension movement. Yes, it was different, but I had to just zone right back into what I have done my whole career and that is driving stock cars. Secondly, you have to show respect to this track because it will jump up and bite you. I mean running around at 218 (mph) is definitely faster than running around at 181 (mph) average.”
Busch credited the tiny Furniture Row team which had gone to Victory Lane with Regan Smith here previously for giving him a fast car even if it didn't feel like it.
“Maybe I left a little bit on the table getting into (Turn) 3, but it didn't feel that fast,” said the 2004 Spring Cup champion. “And when it doesn't, that means the car was stuck really well. So that's just a tribute to these Furniture Row guys. The confidence they had coming here this weekend stems from the years ago when they won here with Regan Smith.
“All the changes we made in practice, all of them made sense. Sometimes we took a step back; sometimes we took a step forward. But we had a distinct definition on each of the changes. So the car has been feeling pretty good.”
Jimmie Johnson was second fastest qualifier with a speed of 180.974. Rounding out the top-10 in order were: Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick.
In addition to passing a Rookie Orientation Program at Indianapolis it's literally been a wild week for Busch who went airborne, last week at Talladega, landing former teammate, Ryan Newman's car.
“Yeah, it's been surreal. It's been an amazing ride,” said Busch.
“To have Andretti lineup a deal to where you can go and drive his Indy car in the month of May and post some speeds that are worthy of making the show. I had to pinch myself. That was a kid in the candy store feel. Then showing up today it's full on race mode. It is pretty sweet to get the pole and to lay down a track record at the same time.”
The 2004 Sprint Cup Champion turned a lap of 181.918 mph Friday breaking a two-year old mark of 181.254 mph held by Kasey Kahne. It was his third career pole at the egg shaped 1.366-mile, oval.
Asked what it felt like after the speeds at Indy Busch said “when I first went out onto the track the car moved all around and had so much suspension movement. Yes, it was different, but I had to just zone right back into what I have done my whole career and that is driving stock cars. Secondly, you have to show respect to this track because it will jump up and bite you. I mean running around at 218 (mph) is definitely faster than running around at 181 (mph) average.”
Busch credited the tiny Furniture Row team which had gone to Victory Lane with Regan Smith here previously for giving him a fast car even if it didn't feel like it.
“Maybe I left a little bit on the table getting into (Turn) 3, but it didn't feel that fast,” said the 2004 Spring Cup champion. “And when it doesn't, that means the car was stuck really well. So that's just a tribute to these Furniture Row guys. The confidence they had coming here this weekend stems from the years ago when they won here with Regan Smith.
“All the changes we made in practice, all of them made sense. Sometimes we took a step back; sometimes we took a step forward. But we had a distinct definition on each of the changes. So the car has been feeling pretty good.”
Jimmie Johnson was second fastest qualifier with a speed of 180.974. Rounding out the top-10 in order were: Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick.
In addition to passing a Rookie Orientation Program at Indianapolis it's literally been a wild week for Busch who went airborne, last week at Talladega, landing former teammate, Ryan Newman's car.
“Yeah, it's been surreal. It's been an amazing ride,” said Busch.
“To have Andretti lineup a deal to where you can go and drive his Indy car in the month of May and post some speeds that are worthy of making the show. I had to pinch myself. That was a kid in the candy store feel. Then showing up today it's full on race mode. It is pretty sweet to get the pole and to lay down a track record at the same time.”