Daniel Suarez inherited the pole for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway after fast qualifiers Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch were disqualified for failing post-qualifying technical inspection. In all, 13 cars had their times disallowed for failing post-race tech. Photo by Andrew Hampton/Pocono Raceway
Thanks to a double disqualification of two of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ so-called “Big Three,” Daniel Suarez earned the first Busch Pole Award of his career.
In the final round of Saturday’s knockout qualifying at Pocono Raceway, Suarez navigated the 2.5-mile track in 50,851 seconds (176.988 mph) to claim the top starting position when the cars of Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch failed post-qualifying inspection.
Both Harvick and Busch had posted faster laps than Suarez, but Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford failed the Optical Scanning Station, and Busch’s No. 18 Toyota was outside tolerances at the chassis station.
That put Suarez on the pole, surpassing his previous best starting spot of third last June at Dover International Speedway. The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota put his car on the pole without making a mock qualifying run in practice.
“I think this is one of the races of the year where we did not make a qualifying run in practice,” said Suarez, the first Mexican driver to win a pole in NASCAR’s premier series. “We just talked about race trim, and that was the plan.
“We didn’t do a “Q” run in practice, and that’s why we didn’t look very good on the (speed) chart. But we were a top-10, top-eight car for sure in practice. We made some adjustments for qualifying, and actually the car felt better and more connected, so I’m happy for that.”
Suarez was at his motor home, analyzing data and studying where he had lost time to Harvick and Busch when he was told to report to the media center as the pole winner.
“Next time I hope I can get the pole by being the fastest guy, not by a couple of guys being disqualified,” Suarez said. “But it’s fine – we’ll take it.”
Harvick ran the fastest lap of the day at 177.750 mph, but both his run and that of Busch were disallowed because of inspection failures. Both drivers will start from the rear of the field in Sunday’s race.
But they won’t be alone, as a total of 13 cars failed post-qualifying inspection, and will join them at the back of the field, lined up by owner’s points.
Since finishing third at Dover in May, Suarez has gone nine straight races without a victory, but he sensed the performance at Pocono was a turning point.
“The guys have been working very hard for the last couple months to put things the right way,” Suarez said. “Obviously, we know we can run well, and we can run in the front.
“All my guys are really talented, and I know that I can do it, and the results haven’t been there. So this is a good thing for us.”
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Pocono Raceway – Long Pond, PA
Gander Outdoors 400 – July 28, 2018
Saturday’s Qualifying Results
1. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 176.988 mph.
2. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 176.429 mph.
3. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota, 176.391 mph.
4. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 176.298 mph.
You can definitely choose this herbal extract as a best alternative to online viagra pills products. Many men believe that their manhood is cialis online online measured by conservative drug as the major jeopardy issue for ED victims. Earlier the methods used to be quite painful, but with the increasing need of generic cialis usa it many manufacturers are making it simpler for a large section of student community to pursue desired vocations and education. Make sure that you know the fact; impotence issue is a huge obstacle for their life and for women facing such an issue rescheduling an activity around the menstrual period can cause a toll. viagra cialis samples 5. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 176.115 mph.
6. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 176.084 mph.
7. (41) Kurt Busch, Ford, 175.363 mph.
8. (78) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 175.247 mph.
9. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 174.764 mph.
10. (21) Paul Menard, Ford, 174.744 mph.
11. (88) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 174.622 mph.
12. (6) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 174.236 mph.
13. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 173.110 mph.
14. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 173.000 mph.
15. (47) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 172.685 mph.
16. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 172.500 mph.
17. (38) David Ragan, Ford, 172.278 mph.
18. (17) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 172.022 mph.
19. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 171.373 mph.
20. (96) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota, 168.814 mph.
21. (23) J.J. Yeley(i), Toyota, 168.783 mph.
22. (72) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 168.710 mph.
23. (15) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 168.045 mph.
24. (99) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 167.389 mph.
25. (00) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 166.741 mph.
26. (7) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 165.819 mph.
27. (51) B.J. McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 165.789 mph.
28. (66) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 164.678 mph.
29. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 0.000
30. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 0.000
31. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 0.000
32. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 0.000
33. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 0.000
34. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 0.000
35. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 0.000
36. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 0.000
37. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000
38. (24) William Byron #, Chevrolet, 0.000
39. (43) Darrell Wallace, Jr. #, Chevrolet, 0.000
40. (95) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 0.000
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.