Martin Truex, Jr. poses for a photo after winning the pole award during qualifying for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. Photo by Sean Gardner/NASCAR via Getty Images
Martin Truex, Jr. freely admitted it took time for the No. 78 Furniture Row team to get the hang of three-round knockout qualifying.
From the look of Friday’s time trials at Kansas Speedway, however, the problem appears to be solved.
Charging around the 1.5-mile track in 28.284 seconds (190.921 mph), Truex posted the fastest lap of the day in the money round to earn the pole position for Saturday night’s Go Bowling 400.
The Coors Light Pole Award was the eighth of Truex’s career and his first since April 2012 at Texas, a string of 147 races.
“It kind of took us a while to figure out this three-round deal,” said Truex, who edged fellow Toyota driver Matt Kenseth (190.564 mph) for the top starting spot by .053 seconds.
“It feels good to get another pole. It’s been a long time. We’ve been really close with our Furniture Row team the past two years—we qualified second a handful of times—and we’ve been right there at it. We’ve led the first round, we’ve led the second round. We just haven’t quite figured out how to lead that third round …
“Hopefully we’ll be able to finish the deal (Saturday) night.”
Kenseth was fastest in each of the first two knockout rounds but came up short when the pole was decided.
“All of our Toyotas had a lot of speed in ’em,” said Kenseth, who led all three of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates into the final 12. “I just couldn’t quite get that last lap that I wanted.
“We had a lot of speed, but we just got a little off our balance there at the end, and Martin was able to get it.”
JGR driver Denny Hamlin (190.402 mph) qualified third, followed by Kurt Busch (190.134 mph) and Brad Keselowski (189.907 mph), who was one of four Ford drivers to crack the top 12.
It was an off day for the Hendrick Motorsports contingent. Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader Chase Elliott qualified 13th, missing the cutoff for the final 12 by .086 seconds. Jimmie Johnson, who overcame engine problems earlier in the day, will start 15th, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 22nd and Kasey Kahne 27th.
Like Kahne, Kevin Harvick was bumped out of the top 24 in the opening round and will take the green flag in 26th position.
Kurt Busch, the top qualifying Chevrolet driver, confessed to overdriving turn 3 during his final run but was optimistic because of positive adjustments made to his car between rounds.
“Yeah, I feel good because we made three spring changes going into that qualifying run,” Busch said. “Those are things we wanted to try for the race, and we ran out of practice time to do so. It’s nice that it turned out positive and the pace in qualifying is fast, yes, but the race will be at nightfall whereas we practiced in the daytime.
“This speed should be right in the middle of what we just ran and what changes we made. I think we’re cooking up the right batch (for the race).”
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Kansas Speedway – Kansas City, KS
Go Bowling 400 – May 6, 2016
Friday’s Qualifying Results
1. 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Toyota 28.284 190.921
2. 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 28.337 190.564
3. 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 28.361 190.402
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5. 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 28.435 189.907
6. 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 28.440 189.873
7. 21 Ryan Blaney # Ford 28.470 189.673
8. 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 28.488 189.553
9. 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Ford 28.532 189.261
10. 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 28.628 188.627
11. 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 28.706 188.114
12. 19 Carl Edwards Toyota 28.730 187.957
13. 24 Chase Elliott # Chevrolet 28.571 189.003
14. 22 Joey Logano Ford 28.574 188.983
15. 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 28.614 188.719
16. 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 28.634 188.587
17. 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 28.637 188.567
18. 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 28.641 188.541
19. 43 Aric Almirola Ford 28.664 188.390
20. 16 Greg Biffle Ford 28.715 188.055
21. 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 28.739 187.898
22. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Chevrolet 28.875 187.013
23. 10 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 28.906 186.812
24. 83 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota 28.954 186.503
25. 34 Chris Buescher # Ford 28.811 187.428
26. 4 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 28.853 187.156
27. 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 28.854 187.149
28. 44 Brian Scott # Ford 28.866 187.071
29. 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 28.925 186.690
30. 95 Michael McDowell Chevrolet 28.927 186.677
31. 13 Casey Mears Chevrolet 28.933 186.638
32. 7 Regan Smith Chevrolet 28.972 186.387
33. 15 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 28.987 186.290
34. 23 David Ragan Toyota 29.112 185.491
35. 38 Landon Cassill Ford 29.199 184.938
36. 30 Josh Wise Chevrolet 29.419 183.555
37. 98 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 29.502 183.038
38. 32 Joey Gase(i) Ford 29.678 181.953
39. 46 Michael Annett Chevrolet 30.263 178.436
40. 55 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 30.426 177.480
Did Not Qualify
None
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