Kurt Busch was fastest in the final round of qualifying to take the pole for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
While the Big Three watched the second and final round of qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the big screen with the fans, Kurt Busch scored the pole on Friday evening for Sunday’s Bank of America 400.
Busch tamed a wild Charlotte road course that has chewed up and spit out both Cup Series and Xfinity cars all weekend long. He took the pole with a lap time of 76.805 seconds (106. 868 MPH).
It’s Busch’s 26th career Cup Series pole and his fourth of 2018.
“It’s pretty special to get the pole at an inaugural event and to do it here at the Roval, I mean, there’s so much going on,” Busch said. “There’s so much that everybody has to manage, crew chief, lead engineer, myself, engine tuners, everybody chipped in on this 41 car the right way. We had a plan for the first two rounds and it paid off. I struggled this year qualifying at Watkins Glen and at Sonoma, so we came here with a plan and it worked.”
Road course ace A.J. Allmendinger was second on the charts after pacing round 1.
Both Busch and Allmendinger are moving on from their rides after the season, and this race is an opportunity for both to shine as they work on plans for 2019.
Allmendinger says there was no one area of the track where he lost speed.
“(It was) all of it. I mean this is the way this place is. It’s what makes it interesting and fun,” Allmedinger said after the session. “I kind of look back like my Champ Car days it’s a street course. Yeah, you can nitpick and say I could have got a little more here or there, but you could also be in the wall very easily. We weren’t very good in practice, so Trent and all the boys went to work on this Kroger Clicklist Chevy. Got it way better than in practice because I was not very happy. That close, but good starting spot…Hell, I’ve got nothing to lose, I don’t have a job, so we just go out there and hang it out.”
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott will start Sunday’s race in third and fourth, respectively. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson rounded out the top five.
With their backs against the wall in the playoffs, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer qualified sixth and seventh. Jamie McMurray was eighth, Ryan Blaney ninth and Chris Buescher 10th.
Youngsters Daniel Hemric and Erik Jones completed the 12 drivers who made the second round.
Playoff drivers not making the second-round cut included Martin Truex, Jr. (13th), Kyle Busch (14th), Joey Logano (15th), Kevin Harvick (19th), Austin Dillon (24th), Brad Keselowski (25th) and Denny Hamlin (27th). Hamlin will start at the back of the field as his team elected to go to a backup car after suffering damage in qualifying.
There are definite playoff implications – it’s still largely unknown how difficult it will be to pass and where the passing zones will be. Keselowski can breathe easy with his win at Las Vegas, while Kyle Busch also has a pass thanks to his win at Richmond. Truex and Harvick will make it through on points, but for the drivers facing elimination, only seven points separate safety in 10th place and elimination in 13th. Austin Dillon has a 10-point cushion over Bowyer going in, but starts 24th, essentially erasing any advantage at the drop of the flag.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course – Concord, NC
Bank of America 400 – September 28, 2018
Friday’s Qualifying Results
1. (41) Kurt Busch (P), Ford, 106.868 mph.
2. (47) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 106.811 mph.
3. (88) Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 106.800 mph.
4. (9) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 106.596 mph.
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6. (48) Jimmie Johnson (P), Chevrolet, 106.462 mph.
7. (14) Clint Bowyer (P), Ford, 106.332 mph.
8. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 106.104 mph.
9. (12) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 105.919 mph.
10. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 105.556 mph.
11. (8) Daniel Hemric(i), Chevrolet, 105.507 mph.
12. (20) Erik Jones (P), Toyota, 105.409 mph.
13. (78) Martin Truex, Jr. (P), Toyota, 106.060 mph.
14. (18) Kyle Busch (P), Toyota, 105.807 mph.
15. (22) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 105.788 mph.
16. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 105.749 mph.
17. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 105.687 mph.
18. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 105.681 mph.
19. (4) Kevin Harvick (P), Ford, 105.302 mph.
20. (10) Aric Almirola (P), Ford, 105.189 mph.
21. (24) William Byron #, Chevrolet, 105.120 mph.
22. (21) Paul Menard, Ford, 105.095 mph.
23. (17) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 104.884 mph.
24. (3) Austin Dillon (P), Chevrolet, 104.709 mph.
25. (2) Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, 104.647 mph.
26. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 104.620 mph.
27. (11) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 104.479 mph.
28. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 104.352 mph.
29. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 104.341 mph.
30. (38) David Ragan, Ford, 104.033 mph.
31. (15) Justin Marks(i), Chevrolet, 103.936 mph.
32. (95) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 103.549 mph.
33. (72) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 103.260 mph.
34. (43) Bubba Wallace #, Chevrolet, 102.716 mph.
35. (7) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 102.677 mph.
36. (23) J.J. Yeley(i), Toyota, 102.034 mph.
37. (96) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota, 101.950 mph.
38. (00) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 101.089 mph.
39. (51) Stanton Barrett, Ford, 100.255 mph.
40. (66) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 100.071 mph.
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