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Kyle Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Matt Kenseth, claimed the front row in qualifying for Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 in a pair of Toyotas at Daytona International Speedway.
Busch, who won the 2008 summer classic in Daytona, lapped the high banked superspeedway at 193.723 mph. Kenseth's speed was 193.299mph.
“Whether it's speedways or whether it's open race tracks, we seem to be qualifying a lot better this year,” Busch said. “I just wish that our finishing average was as good as our qualifying average because (my team has) done a really, really good job of all of that - helping me be fast this year on these one laps.”
Not known for his qualifying to date it was Busch's third pole of the season, 13th of his career, but first for a restrictor-plate race.
"I've not had many opportunities for me to win poles at restrictor-plate races, so I've got to thank the team, all the guys at Joe Gibbs Racing that did such a good job building a slick race car," Busch said.
"It's a team effort coming to these places and having great race cars. I'm really excited to be starting up front, especially with my teammate Matt Kenseth on the front row with us."
Kenseth a two-time winner of the Daytona 500 felt good about his speed.
“It's been pretty good the first two plate races,” said Kenseth of their restrictor-plate program. “We were pretty strong and we led a lot of laps and didn't get to win either of them, but we led a lot of laps and were in position. I'm excited for tomorrow night.”
Rounding out the top five were Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne and Bowyer's Michael Waltrip Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr. The top qualifying rookie was Roush Fenway Racing's Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who will roll off ninth.
In related news NASCAR, 16 cars failed pre-qualifying inspection for unapproved roof flaps. All JGR cars including Busch, Kenseth and Denny Hamlin were among those which failed. Penalties are likely, but, won't be announced until next week.
Busch, who won the 2008 summer classic in Daytona, lapped the high banked superspeedway at 193.723 mph. Kenseth's speed was 193.299mph.
“Whether it's speedways or whether it's open race tracks, we seem to be qualifying a lot better this year,” Busch said. “I just wish that our finishing average was as good as our qualifying average because (my team has) done a really, really good job of all of that - helping me be fast this year on these one laps.”
Not known for his qualifying to date it was Busch's third pole of the season, 13th of his career, but first for a restrictor-plate race.
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| Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota Camry (Photo: Kyle Busch) |
"I've not had many opportunities for me to win poles at restrictor-plate races, so I've got to thank the team, all the guys at Joe Gibbs Racing that did such a good job building a slick race car," Busch said.
"It's a team effort coming to these places and having great race cars. I'm really excited to be starting up front, especially with my teammate Matt Kenseth on the front row with us."
Kenseth a two-time winner of the Daytona 500 felt good about his speed.
“It's been pretty good the first two plate races,” said Kenseth of their restrictor-plate program. “We were pretty strong and we led a lot of laps and didn't get to win either of them, but we led a lot of laps and were in position. I'm excited for tomorrow night.”
Rounding out the top five were Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne and Bowyer's Michael Waltrip Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr. The top qualifying rookie was Roush Fenway Racing's Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who will roll off ninth.
In related news NASCAR, 16 cars failed pre-qualifying inspection for unapproved roof flaps. All JGR cars including Busch, Kenseth and Denny Hamlin were among those which failed. Penalties are likely, but, won't be announced until next week.