Kyle Busch had the quickest time in the only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice of the day, then put his car on the pole Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR
Kyle Busch qualified the way he practiced on Friday — at the top of the chart.
Edging Kasey Kahne by .003 seconds and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin by .004, Busch won the pole for Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with a lap at 133.417 mph.
The last of 44 drivers to make a qualifying attempt — because he was fastest in opening practice — Busch prevailed in an intensely competitive Friday qualifying session to win his first Coors Light pole award of the season, his first at New Hampshire and the ninth of his career.
Kahne (133.403 mph) will start next to Busch on the front row, with Hamlin (133.399 mph) taking the green flag from the third starting spot in the 19th Cup race of the season. Martin Truex Jr. (133.338 mph) will start fourth, followed by two-time New Hampshire winner Clint Bowyer (133.319 mph).
Ryan Newman qualified sixth, followed by the Hendrick Motorsports trio of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Reigning Cup champion Tony Stewart, last week’s winner at Daytona, starts 10th. Series leader Matt Kenseth will take the green deep in the field, from the 27th position on the grid.
Busch came perilously close to the outside wall near the end of his money lap but kept his car clean.
“I got in the throttle really early in (turns) 3 and 4, trying to make speed and was able to finish it,” Busch said. “But the car slipped right at the last second when you get to that older asphalt — it seems like this tire (new from Goodyear for this race) is different from the older tire, where you lose just a pinch of grip — it slid out right to the cushion point, I guess you’d say. But, no, there’s no mark on the car, so it’s a good day.”
Hamlin posted his lap despite the absence of crew chief Darian Grubb, who is celebrating the birth of his daughter Gabriella, who arrived Monday morning. Mike Wheeler, Hamlin’s race engineer, took Grubb’s place on the pit box.
Hamlin thought he lost the pole coming to the green on his first qualifying lap.
“Yeah, I thought maybe I could have gotten to the green a little bit better,” Hamlin said. “You know your first lap’s going to be the money lap, so I typically run into turn 1 — really at all racetracks — a little bit easier and try to make up the ground as I go.
“But with qualifying as tight as it is, you’ve got to maximize everything to get poles, and obviously that was the difference.”
Mike Bliss was the slowest of eight drivers required to qualify on speed and failed to make the 43-car field.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Loudon, NH
Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Qualifying – July 13, 2012
1 18 Kyle Busch 28.548 133.417
2 5 Kasey Kahne 28.551 133.403
3 11 Denny Hamlin 28.552 133.399
4 56 Martin Truex Jr. 28.565 133.338
5 15 Clint Bowyer 28.569 133.319
6 39 Ryan Newman 28.578 133.277
7 48 Jimmie Johnson 28.583 133.254
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9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 28.628 133.045
10 14 Tony Stewart 28.651 132.938
11 16 Greg Biffle 28.665 132.873
12 29 Kevin Harvick 28.666 132.868
13 27 Paul Menard 28.730 132.572
14 51 Kurt Busch 28.735 132.549
15 55 Brian Vickers 28.762 132.425
16 20 Joey Logano 28.762 132.425
17 78 Regan Smith 28.769 132.393
18 47 Bobby Labonte 28.782 132.333
19 34 David Ragan 28.797 132.264
20 9 Marcos Ambrose 28.811 132.200
21 99 Carl Edwards 28.814 132.186
22 2 Brad Keselowski 28.836 132.085
23 43 Aric Almirola 28.891 131.833
24 22 Sam Hornish Jr. 28.952 131.556
25 31 Jeff Burton 28.972 131.465
26 10 David Reutimann 29.016 131.266
27 17 Matt Kenseth 29.023 131.234
28 1 Jamie McMurray 29.023 131.234
29 83 Landon Cassill 29.034 131.184
30 93 Travis Kvapil 29.112 130.833
31 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 29.150 130.662
32 26 Josh Wise 29.267 130.140
33 13 Casey Mears 29.336 129.834
34 87 Joe Nemechek 29.342 129.807
35 36 Dave Blaney 29.371 129.679
36 98 Michael McDowell 29.406 129.525
37 32 Ken Schrader 29.453 129.318
38 49 JJ Yeley 29.463 129.274
39 38 David Gilliland 29.490 129.156
40 30 David Stremme 29.504 129.094
41 23 Scott Riggs 29.557 128.863
42 79 Kelly Bires 29.637 128.515
43 33 Stephen Leicht 29.714 128.182
Did Not Qualify: Mike Bliss
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