“I was giving it all I had,” Busch said Friday, praising crew chief Tony Gibson for his adjustment on the last round of qualifying. “I’m really proud of the team to help me get to that third round. I was overdriving the car and I needed to settle in.
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“I was hoping to put on a show for the home crowd, get the pole, but now we’ve got to go to work tomorrow. I hope we can get the car dialed in for long run speed for Sunday.”
Busch set a track record with a speed of 196.328 mph and claimed his second pole after starting in front last week in Atlanta.
Sunday’s Kobalt 400 begins at 3:30 p.m. ET, and will have Joey Logano joining Busch on the front row. Matt Kenseth qualified third, followed by Brad Keselowski and Austin Dillon. Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, driving a backup car following a crash in Thursday testing, qualified ninth.
UPDATE: Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray will use backup cars on Sunday and start in the back of the field.
Starting lineup for Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (car numbers in parentheses)
- Kurt Busch (41), Chevrolet, 196.328 mph 2. Joey Logano (22), Ford, 195.851 mph 3. Matt Kenseth (20), Toyota, 195.780 mph 4. Brad Keselowski (2), Ford, 195.666 mph 5. Austin Dillon (3), Chevrolet, 195.624 mph 6. Kevin Harvick (4), Chevrolet, 195.454 mph 7. Aric Almirola (43), Ford, 195.291 mph 8. Kasey Kahne (5), Chevrolet, 195.284 mph 9. Denny Hamlin (11), Toyota, 195.080 mph 10. Martin Truex Jr. (78), Toyota, 194.974 mph 11. Jimmie Johnson (48), Chevrolet, 193.986 mph 12. AJ Allmendinger (47), Chevrolet, 193.126 mph 13. Chase Elliott (24), Chevrolet, 194.665 mph 14. Ryan Blaney (21), Ford, 194.658 mph 15. Paul Menard (27), Chevrolet, 194.356 mph 16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (17), Ford, 194.301 mph 17. Kyle Larson (42), Chevrolet, 193.889 mph 18. Danica Patrick (10), Chevrolet, 193.625 mph 19. Brian Vickers (14), Chevrolet, 193.597 mph 20. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88), Chevrolet, 193.444 mph 21. Ryan Newman (31), Chevrolet, 193.334 mph 22. Casey Mears (13), Chevrolet, 192.933 mph 23. Kyle Busch (18), Toyota, 192.795 mph 24. Carl Edwards (19), Toyota, 195.101 mph 25. Chris Buescher (34), Ford, 193.050 mph 26. Greg Biffle (16), Ford, 192.933 mph 27. Landon Cassill (38), Ford, 192.754 mph 28. Trevor Bayne (6), Ford, 192.726 mph 29. Jamie McMurray (1), Chevrolet, 192.342 mph 30. Michael McDowell (95), Chevrolet, 192.020 mph 31. David Ragan (23), Toyota, 191.870 mph 32. Brian Scott (44), Ford, 191.144 mph 33. Regan Smith (7), Chevrolet, 190.873 mph 34. Matt DiBenedetto (83), Toyota, 190.154 mph 35. Clint Bowyer (15), Chevrolet, 189.036 mph 36. Cole Whitt (98), Chevrolet, 188.422 mph 37. Michael Annett (46), Chevrolet, 188.409 mph 38. Jeffrey Earnhardt (32), Ford, 187.846 mph 39. Josh Wise (30), Chevrolet, 185.810 mph
